Lara Fowler, professor of teaching with Penn State Dickinson Law, will give the talk "Multisolving the deluge: building community-led solutions to flooding challenges" at 4 p.m. on Monday, Oct. 19, in 112 Walker Building at Penn State University Park. The talk will also be available via Zoom.
The event is part of the 2026-27 EarthTalks: Flood Risk and Resilience in the Mid-Atlantic series hosted by the Earth and Environmental Systems Institute (EESI) and the Center for Climate Risk Management (CLIMA). The talk is free and open to the public.
As the climate continues to change, natural hazards like flooding become more frequent and intense.
"Flooding is Pennsylvania's top natural disaster and affects many other states as well," said Fowler, who is also the director of outreach for Prepare PA (Partners for a Resilient Pennsylvania). "We are already seeing more frequent and more severe floods, both in floodplains and in areas distant from any rivers or streams, with predictions for more."
Fowler will present her perspective on effective community engagement to address potential flooding impacts.
"Through an approach called 'multisolving,' a term coined by Elizabeth Sawin, we can explore ways not just to manage flooding, but solve multiple problems at once," Fowler said.
Fowler is the director of outreach and engagement for Penn State's Center for Energy Law and Policy, a leadership fellow for the Social Science Research Institute and affiliate faculty with the School of International Affairs. She has held several roles at Penn State, including as Penn State's chief sustainability officer from 2022-2025. Prior to joining Penn State in 2012, Fowler worked for the Oregon Water Resources doing water policy, attended University of Washington for law school, and worked as an attorney, mediator, and facilitator on complex natural resource challenges such as addressing flooding impacts in Washington's second largest river basin. She was a Fulbright Scholar in Sweden from 2019-2020 and currently serves as Board President for the Chesapeake Bay Journal, the jury chair for the Stockholm Junior Water Prize, a nominator for the global Earthshot Prize, and on the board of COPA STEP (the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Science and Technology Policy Program).
About EarthTalks
EarthTalks is a seminar series hosted by the Earth and Environmental Systems Institute (EESI) and Center for Climate Risk Management (CLIMA). EarthTalks features distinguished researchers and practitioners from Penn State, as well as from other universities, government agencies and nonprofit organizations to explore critical environmental issues. The 2026-27 series is focused on flood risk and resilience in the Mid-Atlantic region.
