Join the Royal Tyrrell Museum for a special presentation!
Who: Dr. Emlyn Koster, Director Emeritus, Royal Tyrrell Museum of Palaeontology
What: Free talk, “The Anthropocene: A Crucial Moment in Earth History”
Where: Auditorium, Royal Tyrrell Museum of Palaeontology
When: Wednesday, September 20, 11 a.m.
Now is a Crucial Time in Earth History
In the vastness of Earth history, 2023 is a crucial moment for two, not yet connected, reasons.
One is that geologists are divided on how to define the ‘Anthropocene,’ which recognizes human disruption of environments and climates. When proposing it in 2002, Nobel laureate Paul Crutzen stressed that “a daunting task lay ahead for scientists and engineers to guide society towards environmentally sustainable management.” The other is that the UN has declared that its 2015-2030 ‘Transforming the World’ plan needs rescuing.
Should the Anthropocene be an ‘epoch’ that began with mid-20th Century atomic bomb testing, or a much longer and ongoing ‘event’ that profiles the cumulative impacts of human evolution? Dr. Koster considers that the latter is optimal and can frame an ‘Anthropocene renaissance’ as a new worldview respectful of Indigenous ways in pursuit of greater harmony among and between environmental and societal movements.
About Dr. Emlyn Koster
Emlyn Koster was born in the Suez Canal Zone and has British, Canadian, and American citizenships. A geologist in three World Heritage Sites, including Dinosaur Provincial Park, he was appointed to the helm of four nature and science museums, beginning with the Royal Tyrrell Museum after its 1985 opening. Emlyn was elected 50th anniversary chair of the Geological Association of Canada in 1996 and recognized by the American Conference on Diversity with a Humanitarian of the Year award in 2008. For the UN, Dr. Koster has been an advocate for public education about climate change following its Paris Agreement and a stakeholder forum panelist for its Transforming the World life on land goal.