For people who want to be EMPOWERED,
not overwhelmed.
not overwhelmed.
One morning in Miami Beach, an unexpected guest showed up in a luxury condominium complex’s parking garage: an octopus. The image quickly went viral. But the octopus—and the combination of infrastructure quirks and climate impacts that left it stranded—is more than a funny meme. It’s a potent symbol of the disruptions that a changing climate has already brought to our doorsteps and the ways we will have to adjust.
Engaging and accessible for nonexpert concerned citizens, The Octopus in the Parking Garage empowers readers to face the climate crisis and shows what we can do to adapt and thrive.
I'm a climate law scholar who designed climate-resilience policies in the Obama administration. I teach at Loyola University New Orleans, where I hold an endowed chair, and also at Tulane. Through my work at the Center for Progressive Reform, I work with other scholars to help communities become more resilient and just. I host the podcast "Connect the Dots" too. It's super cool.
I have the best students ever.
More than 3 million likes!
@fineee.kyraa he was so happy □□! #lawschool #foryou #foryoupage #surprise #teachersoftiktok
♬ original sound - James Blake
BIO
Rob Verchick is one of the nation’s leading scholars in disaster and climate change law and a former EPA official in the Obama administration. He holds the Gauthier-St. Martin Eminent Scholar Chair in Environmental Law at Loyola University New Orleans. Professor Verchick is also a Senior Fellow in Disaster Resilience at Tulane University and the President of the Center for Progressive Reform, a research and advocacy organization that advocates for solutions to our most pressing societal challenges.
Verchick has written more than 60 articles and four books, including the award-winning, Facing Catastrophe: Environmental Action for a Post-Katrina World (Harvard University Press 2010). His work has appeared in many venues, including the California Law Review, the Southern California Law Review, and the environmental law reviews at Harvard, Stanford, and Berkeley.
He has taught as a visiting professor at Yale University, Peking University, and Aarhus University in Denmark. He has received several teaching awards, including at Loyola, Tulane, and Harvard.
Verchick comments frequently on radio shows such as NPR’s All Things Considered and has written commentary for the Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times, Slate, and other publications. A popular speaker, he has addressed audiences throughout the country and on nearly every continent. His documentary-style podcast, CPR’s Connect the Dots, is in its sixth season.
In 2009 and 2010, Professor Verchick served in the Obama administration as Deputy Associate Administrator for Policy at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. In that role he helped develop climate change adaptation policy for the EPA and served on President Obama's Interagency Climate Change Adaptation Task Force.
Verchick, who grew up in the sun-scorched Las Vegas desert and survived Hurricane Katrina as a resident of New Orleans, has spent a career studying environmental resilience across the country. Committed to “place-based” analysis, he has paddled swamps, scaled glaciers, and dived among endangered corals, all to understand what is at stake and how we can protect the things we need—and love.
Verchick graduated with distinction and honors from Stanford University and with honors from Harvard Law School. His new book, The Octopus in the Parking Garage: A Call for Climate Resilience, intended for a general audience, will be available in Spring 2023.
Rob Verchick is one of the nation’s leading scholars in disaster and climate change law and a former EPA official in the Obama administration. He holds the Gauthier-St. Martin Eminent Scholar Chair in Environmental Law at Loyola University New Orleans. Professor Verchick is also a Senior Fellow in Disaster Resilience at Tulane University and the President of the Center for Progressive Reform, a research and advocacy organization that advocates for solutions to our most pressing societal challenges.
Verchick has written more than 60 articles and four books, including the award-winning, Facing Catastrophe: Environmental Action for a Post-Katrina World (Harvard University Press 2010). His work has appeared in many venues, including the California Law Review, the Southern California Law Review, and the environmental law reviews at Harvard, Stanford, and Berkeley.
He has taught as a visiting professor at Yale University, Peking University, and Aarhus University in Denmark. He has received several teaching awards, including at Loyola, Tulane, and Harvard.
Verchick comments frequently on radio shows such as NPR’s All Things Considered and has written commentary for the Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times, Slate, and other publications. A popular speaker, he has addressed audiences throughout the country and on nearly every continent. His documentary-style podcast, CPR’s Connect the Dots, is in its sixth season.
In 2009 and 2010, Professor Verchick served in the Obama administration as Deputy Associate Administrator for Policy at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. In that role he helped develop climate change adaptation policy for the EPA and served on President Obama's Interagency Climate Change Adaptation Task Force.
Verchick, who grew up in the sun-scorched Las Vegas desert and survived Hurricane Katrina as a resident of New Orleans, has spent a career studying environmental resilience across the country. Committed to “place-based” analysis, he has paddled swamps, scaled glaciers, and dived among endangered corals, all to understand what is at stake and how we can protect the things we need—and love.
Verchick graduated with distinction and honors from Stanford University and with honors from Harvard Law School. His new book, The Octopus in the Parking Garage: A Call for Climate Resilience, intended for a general audience, will be available in Spring 2023.
podcast
EVENTS
Recent
November 9, 2022
University of Sydney (Sydney, Australia), "A Legal Framework for Resilient Electricity Infrastructure"
November 3, 2022
Stanford Law School, "The Octopus in the Parking Garage: A Call for Climate Resilience" (remote)
September 16, 2022
Center for Progressive Reform, 20th Anniversary Roundtables and Reception: A Legacy for Progressive Policy for the Public Good (Washington, D.C.)
August 25, 2022
American Bar Association, Section on Environment, Energy, and Resources, “Solution or Pollution? Carbon Capture and Storage on Public Lands as a Tool for Decarbonization” (remote)
June 19-21, 2022
Indiana Supreme Court's Graduate Program for Indiana Judges (French Lick, IN), "Upheavals in Climate, Ecology, and Law"
April 12, 2022
Yale Law School, "Climate+: Disaster and Displacement" (remote)
April 7, 2022
Centre de Recherches Insulaires et Observatoire de l’Environnement (CRIOBE), Mo`orea, French Polynesia, "Climate Resilience and Marine Management"
March 17, 2022
University of California Gump South Pacific Research Station, Mo`orea, French Polynesia, “Climate Resilience and Environmental Protection”
March 10, 2022
Deep South Center for Environmental Justice/Center for Progressive Reform, “The False Promise of Carbon Capture in Louisiana”
Jan. 31, 2022
University of California, Berkeley, "The Octopus in the Parking Garage: Reaching Beyond Carbon Toward Climate Resilience"
Dec. 21, 2021
University of Sydney, ""Purging Carbon from Louisiana’s Industry-Heavy Economy” (remote)
Oct. 29, 2021
University of Sydney, "Climate, Energy, & Justice" (remote)
Oct. 27, 2021
U.S. Green Building Council--Louisiana, Keynote, "Climate Change Adaptation and Migration in Louisiana" (with Camille Manning-Broome)
Oct. 4, 2021
Roma Tre University (Rome), "Is International Disaster Law Protecting Us?"
Recent
November 9, 2022
University of Sydney (Sydney, Australia), "A Legal Framework for Resilient Electricity Infrastructure"
November 3, 2022
Stanford Law School, "The Octopus in the Parking Garage: A Call for Climate Resilience" (remote)
September 16, 2022
Center for Progressive Reform, 20th Anniversary Roundtables and Reception: A Legacy for Progressive Policy for the Public Good (Washington, D.C.)
August 25, 2022
American Bar Association, Section on Environment, Energy, and Resources, “Solution or Pollution? Carbon Capture and Storage on Public Lands as a Tool for Decarbonization” (remote)
June 19-21, 2022
Indiana Supreme Court's Graduate Program for Indiana Judges (French Lick, IN), "Upheavals in Climate, Ecology, and Law"
April 12, 2022
Yale Law School, "Climate+: Disaster and Displacement" (remote)
April 7, 2022
Centre de Recherches Insulaires et Observatoire de l’Environnement (CRIOBE), Mo`orea, French Polynesia, "Climate Resilience and Marine Management"
March 17, 2022
University of California Gump South Pacific Research Station, Mo`orea, French Polynesia, “Climate Resilience and Environmental Protection”
March 10, 2022
Deep South Center for Environmental Justice/Center for Progressive Reform, “The False Promise of Carbon Capture in Louisiana”
Jan. 31, 2022
University of California, Berkeley, "The Octopus in the Parking Garage: Reaching Beyond Carbon Toward Climate Resilience"
Dec. 21, 2021
University of Sydney, ""Purging Carbon from Louisiana’s Industry-Heavy Economy” (remote)
Oct. 29, 2021
University of Sydney, "Climate, Energy, & Justice" (remote)
Oct. 27, 2021
U.S. Green Building Council--Louisiana, Keynote, "Climate Change Adaptation and Migration in Louisiana" (with Camille Manning-Broome)
Oct. 4, 2021
Roma Tre University (Rome), "Is International Disaster Law Protecting Us?"