Cascade Institute On-Campus Talk: The Earth-Space System

The Cascade Institute is excited to present an in-person talk with the University of British Columbia's Dr. Michael Byers and Dr. Aaron Boley.

Discussion topic: As humanity rapidly changes its use of outer space, there is potential for both transformative benefits and environmental tragedies. We must critically examine our activities now and work toward establishing healthy relationships between space expansionism and the Earth and space environments. In this talk, we outline multiple interwoven risks associated with space use and discuss some of the difficult steps needed to prevent potentially serious damage to the Earth-Space system, with consequences for the environment, society, and natural and cultural heritage.

Michael Byers holds the Canada Research Chair in Global Politics and International Law at the University of British Columbia. He is the co-director of the Outer Space Institute. Dr. Byers has been a Fellow of Jesus College, Oxford University; a Professor of Law at Duke University; and a Visiting Professor at the universities of Cape Town, Tel Aviv, Nord (Norway) and Novosibirsk (Russia). He is the author of International Law and the Arctic (Cambridge University Press, 2013) and the co-author of Who Owns Outer Space? (Cambridge University Press, 2023). He is a regular contributor to the Globe and Mail newspaper.

Aaron Boley is a Canada Research Chair in Planetary Astronomy and an associate professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy at the University of British Columbia. His research explores a wide range of topics, including planetary dynamics, astrophysical discs, meteoritics, artificial satellites, space sustainability, and space policy.  Before joining the faculty at UBC, Boley was a NASA Sagan Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Florida and a postdoctoral researcher at the Institute for Theoretical Physics at the University of Zurich. He is the Co-Director of the Outer Space Institute.

This event is for on-campus students, staff and faculty. Space is very limited. Please RSVP to Nicole Pointon to attend.