Mark Maslin: Our Human Planet: co-evolution of human society and its environmental impact

Guest lecture


Meteorites, mega-volcanoes, plate tectonics and now human beings; the old forces of nature that transformed Earth many millions of years ago are joined by another: us. Our actions have driven Earth into a new geological epoch, the Anthropocene. For the first time in our home planet's 4.5-billion year history a single species is dictating Earth's future.


To some the Anthropocene symbolises a future of superlative control of our environment. To others it is the height of hubris, the illusion of our mastery over nature. Whatever your view, just below the surface of this odd-sounding scientific word, the Anthropocene, is a heady mix of science, philosophy, religion and politics linked to our deepest fears and utopian visions. Prof. Mark Maslin traces the co-evolution of human society and its environmental impact revealing when and why humans began to dominate the Earth and shows us what the new epoch means for all of us.



This lecture is part of the DIAS Minds Group. Read more here: https://www.sdu.dk/en/forskning/dias/research-projects/dias-minds-group


About Mark Maslin

Mark Maslin FRGS, FRSA is a Professor of Earth System Science at UCL. He is the Director of the London NERC Doctoral Training Partnership, a member of the Cheltenham Science Festival Advisory Board, a CSR Board member of Sopra-Steria, NetZeroNow and Sheep Included Ltd and a member of the Climate Crisis Advisory Group.



Maslin is a leading scientist with particular interest in understanding the climate change and the major challenges facing humanity in the 21st century. He has published over 180 papers in journals such as Science, Nature, and The Lancet, with a current citation count according to Google Scholar over 23,000 (H=69 and i10 index=173) with 48 papers that have been cited over 100 times. He was the climatologist on the original 2009 The Lancet report on climate change and global health and is an author on the annual Lancet Countdown reports since 2015. He has received research and training funding of over £75m from government, charities, NGOs and the private sector.



Mark has written 10 books and over 60 popular articles (e.g., for New Scientist, Independent, Guardian, Telegraph, New York Times and The Conversation – currently with over 3 million reads). He appears regularly on radio and television, including BBC One David Attenborough’s ‘Climate Change: the fact’. His books include ‘Climate Change: A Very Short Introduction’ (4th edition OUP, 2021), ‘The Cradle of Humanity’ (OUP, 2017 and 19), ‘The Human Planet’ co-authored with Simon Lewis (Penguin, 2018) and his latest book is ‘How to save our planet: the facts’ (Penguin, 2021).



Mark also co-founded Rezatec Ltd in 2012, which employs 45 staff, and is now one of the world’s leading geospatial analytics company providing AI “big data” solutions to environmental issues for companies, NGOs, and local and national Governments. He was included in Who’s Who for the first time in 2009, made a Royal Society Industrial Fellow in 2012 and was granted a Royal Society Wolfson Research Merit Scholarship in 2011 for his work on East Africa. Mark is also the UNFCCC designated point of contact and COP26 lead for UCL.


This lecture takes place at the DIAS auditorium. The lecture will be livestreamed on our YouTube Channel.