Titles

• Senior Global Futures Scientist, Julie Ann Wrigley Global Futures Laboratory
• Professor of Practice, School of Sustainability, College of Global Futures
• Professor of Practice, Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communications
• Affiliated Faculty, Center for Biodiversity Outcomes, Global Institute of Sustainability and Innovation

Biography

Peter Byck is a professor of practice at Arizona State University, in both the School of Sustainability and the Cronkite School of Journalism. He is the director, producer and writer of carbon nation. Byck is currently in production for carbon nation 2.0 - an on-going series of short films produced in collaboration with ASU. He is also working with scientists and ranchers on soil health & soil carbon storage research via regenerative grazing - the focus of the 1st cn 2.0 short film Soil Carbon Cowboys, and many more cn 2.0 short films: www.soilcarboncowboys.com.

Public Speaking Agenda - Insights
Byck’s public speaking engagements highlight his most unique discovery during the 10 years since starting carbon nation: liberals and conservatives in the U.S. are not polarized, as the popular press presents. Through Byck’s humor, curious mind and respectful approach, he gets to the core of people’s beliefs – listening carefully for common ground. And in the realm of energy and soil health, he’s realized that if the subject of climate change is tabled, there is vast agreement on how the country should approach our use of energy and agriculture: people are chomping at the bit for clean energy, energy efficiency, smart land use & healthy food. A large portion of Americans are willing to make sacrifices to get us to a low carbon economy – they’re just waiting for someone to lead. And, regarding soil health, people trust nature - no matter their political affiliation.

Public Speaking Experience
TV & Radio: Byck has appeared twice on HBO’s Real Time with Bill Maher (Link #1, Link #2) & NPR’s Science Friday. As a public speaker, Byck has presented at Google, Facebook, McDonald’s, Boeing, Nike, Microsoft, Shell, Walmart.com, Cargill, SC Johnson, TetraPak, St. Gobain (& more co’s). Aspen Ideas Festival, Greenbiz, Chicago Ideas Week, Urban Land Institute, AAAS, BSR, SXSW ECO, EcoAmerica, Conservation International, Pew, NetImpact (& many more conferences). White House OST & CEQ, World Bank, Prince Charles’ B.E.P. program @ Cambridge University, House of Commons & U.S. Embassies in London, Berlin and Vienna, various U.S. Consulates in Scotland, Ireland and Germany (& more government agencies across the U.S.). Stanford, Yale, Duke, UC Davis, Arkansas, Washington State, Rice (& more universities across the U.S. and internationally).

Filmmaking Experience
Byck has over 25 years experience as a director and editor. His 1st documentary, “Garbage,” won the South by Southwest Film Festival, screened in scores of festivals and played at the Museum of Modern Art and Lincoln Center. Byck’s 2nd documentary, carbon nation, has screened all over the world; it won the IVCA Clarion Award, and was runner-up for the EMA Award. Byck has directed shows for MTV starring Will Smith, John Travolta, Nicholas Cage, Drew Barrymore, Gwyneth Paltrow & David Duchovny. In addition, he has edited documentaries for Peter Jackson’s “Lord of the Rings” and “King Kong,” as well as documentaries and promotional shorts for Warner Bros., Universal Pictures, 20th Century Fox, MTV, Vh1, BBC, Disney and MGM, including “The West Wing,” “The Matrix,” “Scrubs,” “er” and many more.

Byck has a Bachelor of Fine Arts from California Institute of the Arts.
He is married with 2 young sons.

Education

• BFA, Fine Arts, California Institute of the Arts, 1986

Expertise

• Life on Land
• Climate Action
• Responsible Consumption and Production
• Clean Water and Sanitation