Ecologist Jeremy Jackson will discuss and sign copies of his book coauthored with journalist Steve Chapple, Breakpoint: Reckoning with America’s Environmental Crises. Together they traveled the length of the Mississippi River interviewing farmers, fishermen, scientists, and policymakers to better understand the mounting environmental problems ravaging the United States. Along their journey, the pair uncovered connections between ecological systems and environmental crises across the country.

The book examines the looming threats from recent hurricanes and fires, industrial agriculture, river mismanagement, extreme weather events, drought, and rising sea levels. Despite these challenges, the authors provide optimistic and practical solutions for addressing these multidimensional issues to achieve greater environmental stability, human well-being, and future economic prosperity.

Jackson is an emeritus professor at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography and a senior scientist emeritus at the Smithsonian Institution.