2008 at the Foundation For the Future
For more than a decade the Foundation For the Future has pursued its mission to
increase and diffuse knowledge concerning the long-term future of humanity.
We have done this largely by bringing together leading thinkers from
multiple disciplines to discuss the important
issues, then publishing transcripts of
those conversations. Through the years our programs have grown and
expanded. In 2008 we look forward to a seminar in Paris co-hosted with UNESCO, a workshop on climate change in the fall, seminars for young scholars, and our first local-citizens event, as well as the awarding of four prizes.
Planned Events
 Paris, France | June 3–5, 2008
The UNESCO-FFF seminar “Future of Planet Earth” is intended to provide a forum for dialogue amongst academics, scientists, conservationists, resource managers, and practitioners in international environment relations to explore a critical component of the human-environment relationship with significant implications for the future of Planet Earth.
 Genome research pioneer J. Craig Venter has been selected by the Foundation For the Future as the 2008 winner of the Kistler Prize, which is awarded annually for original work that significantly increases knowledge and understanding of the relationship between the human genome and society. The Kistler Prize includes a cash award of US$100,000 and a 180-gram gold medallion. Dr. Venter is being honored for a body of pioneering work in genome science.
 Bellevue, Washington | September 12–14, 2008
Foundation For the Future's workshop “Anthropogenic Climate Destabilization: A Worst-case Scenario” takes into consideration the IPCC reports and other research conclusions leading to assessments of worst-case scenarios. Those assessments project the worst case to 2030; a few of the studies project the worst case to 2050. The purpose in this workshop is to look at the worst case beyond
those “short-term” assessments – to the end of this century and to the next several
centuries. Climate experts from all over the world are being invited to participate in this important workshop.
Recent Events
 In April 2008, Foundation For the Future hosted its first “local” seminar, bringing together leading citizens from Washington State for focused discussions on how to “think globally, act locally.” Fourteen community leaders gathered to engage in a one-day discussion on the long-term future of humanity from a “community inquiry” perspective. Keynote addresses were given by Dr. William H. Calvin, author of Global Fever: How to Treat Climate Change, and Dr. P.S. Reilly, President of Athena Institute. More…
 Could Climate Change Eradicate Humanity – Again?
Paleoanthropologist Christopher B. Stringer, Ph.D., FRS, received the 2008 Walter P. Kistler Book Award for his book Homo britannicus: The Incredible Story of Human Life in Britain in an award ceremony March 13, 2008, at Kane Hall, University of Washington, Seattle, following a reception in his honor. Dr. Stringer, Britain’s foremost expert on human origins, spoke on the evidence that climate change has caused humankind to utterly disappear from what is now British soil, not once but at least 7 times in the past 700,000 years. [Flyer] More…
 Foundation For the Future presented the Walter P. Kistler Science Teacher Award for the first time on November 2. The award was created to recognize outstanding science teachers across the United States who have demonstrated ongoing enthusiasm and capability in providing programs that significantly increase the knowledge and understanding of students in science subjects. More…
 Dr. Spencer Wells, Population Geneticist and Project Director of National Geographic and IBM’s Genographic
Project, received the 2007 Kistler Prize, which is
awarded annually for original work that significantly increases knowledge
and understanding of the relationship between the human genome and
society. The five-year Genographic Project uses genetic markers on
the DNA chain to understand the great journey that took Homo
sapiens from their ancestral homeland in Africa to the far reaches of the world.
Wells has written a book and written/narrated a PBS documentary
film. More…
 Thomas
Levenson was presented the first Walter P. Kistler Science
Documentary Film Award for his work on Origins,
a NOVA miniseries that aired on PBS in 2004. Levenson was Executive
Producer of the four-part series, and writer, producer, and director
of the fourth program, Back
to the Beginning. Origins addresses questions on how the universe became suitable to
harbor life and what the births of our Earth and Moon were like. Back
to the Beginning focuses on the Big Bang and the race among scientists
to capture lingering echoes of the event. More…
Review of Foundation Activities 1996–2006
 In 2006 the Foundation For the Future celebrated the completion of its
first 10 years. This report summarizes the accomplishments of the Foundation
during this 10-year period, describes its current programs and activities,
and outlines its plans for the future.
(Download 1.4
MB PDF)
Copyright © 1996–2008 Foundation For the Future
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