David Degner

Duke University · Climate Week NYC

Three people talking aboard a ferry with industrial cranes across the water.
On the ferry to Governors Island, Climate Week NYC.

The Work Between the Sessions

Across Governors Island and Manhattan, Duke’s Climate Week program takes up extreme heat, climate finance, power grids and resilience. These photographs follow the discussions and the conversations around them.

A person pauses beside the Governors Island waterfront, facing a misty Lower Manhattan skyline.
A pause by the harbor, with Lower Manhattan across the water.
Attendees talk beside a climate project display.
At the New York Climate Exchange, a display becomes a point of conversation.
An attendee reaches to greet another in the audience.
An introduction at Duke’s climate technology showcase on Governors Island.
A woman poses on Governors Island with the Manhattan skyline behind her.
On Governors Island, with Manhattan beyond.

Climate Week NYC brings people working on climate change together across New York each September, alongside the United Nations General Assembly. Duke returns with faculty, students, alumni and partners for panels, showcases and conversations about extreme heat, energy, climate finance and resilience.

Three attendees talk in a reception space.
An exchange at Duke’s Nest reception.
Two people talk beside a glass wall overlooking Manhattan.
A conversation beside the city, Climate Week NYC.
Panelists discuss extreme heat before a seated audience.
A Duke discussion on extreme heat and resilience.
Three attendees gather for a selfie after a session.
A group photograph after the extreme-heat discussion.
Panel participants are silhouetted against the New York skyline.
A Duke discussion of debt-for-nature swaps, with New York beyond the windows.
A dense grid of New York streets and buildings viewed from above.
New York from above, outside the gathering.

I’ve photographed Duke’s Climate Week work for several years. Often I’m photographing conferences and meetings, watching for the conversations around the formal program. My favorite photographs come when we step outside: taking the ferry to Governors Island or walking New York’s streets with the city in the frame. I like being able to show where this work is happening, as well as who is doing it.

More work: New York City photography and portrait photography.

Two panelists talk onstage before a blue backdrop.
A Duke panel on AI-ready electric grids.
A resilience panel seen through reflected light and a rainbow.
A resilience panel seen through reflections in the venue glass.
Two women continue a conversation by a window.
A conversation after Duke’s debt-for-nature discussion.
Small groups talk after a session; one woman gestures in the foreground.
Attendees talk after Duke’s resilience sessions.
Guests talk beside windows with the New York skyline beyond.
Guests at Duke’s climate alumni gathering above Manhattan.
A woman speaks with other guests at an evening reception.
A conversation at the Duke climate alumni gathering.
Lower Manhattan and the harbor at dusk from a high window.
Manhattan at dusk from the alumni gathering.