Speakers
Micah Muscolino
Professor and Paul G. Pickowicz Endowed Chair in Modern Chinese History
UC San Diego
Micah Muscolino is a leading scholar of modern China’s environmental history, examining how human–nature relations have shaped today’s ecological challenges. His recent book, “Remaking the Earth, Exhausting the People” (2025), uses archival and oral history research to analyze state-led soil and water conservation campaigns on the Loess Plateau from the 1940s to 1960s. He is editor of the forthcoming “Revolutionary Natures” (2026) and the author of earlier works on war, fisheries, and environmental change in China.
Michael Davidson
Associate Professor
UC San Diego
Michael Davidson holds a joint faculty appointment at UCSD’s School of Global Policy and Strategy and the Jacobs School of Engineering. His research addresses the engineering and institutional challenges of scaling renewable energy, specifically within the context of Chinese politics, climate change, and U.S.-China relations.
A former Fulbright Fellow and NRDC climate policy coordinator, he is currently a senior associate at CSIS and a National Committee on U.S.-China Relations Fellow alum. His recent work examines wind power integration in China’s grid, the political economy of energy technology, and essential reforms for China’s electricity sector.