Registration will open soon

The Geopolitics of Rare Earths and other Critical Minerals

Wednesday, November 18, 2026  -  5:30 PM -7:30 pm

The Venue for this event will be the Industry Room (3rd floor), UW Union South, 1308 W. Dayton St, Madison WI. 

Parking is available in Lot 80 beneath Union South (enter from W. Dayton St.), and at Lot 20 at 1390 University Ave.

Reception with appetizers and cash bar 5:30 - 6:00, presentation with Q&A 6:00 - 7:30.  

Registration fee for this event is $35 per person for MCFR Members.  Non-member registration fee is $45 per person.

Be sure to register on time!

The last day to register for this event:

Friday, November 13

UW Professor Julie Klinger will speak on the Geopolitics of Rare Earth Elements and Critical Minerals.

Dr. Julie Klinger

Dr. Julie Michelle Klinger is an Associate Professor of Environmental Studies at the University of Wisconsin–Madison Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies. She is a geographer whose prominent research focuses on the geopolitics of critical mineral supply chains, outer space politics, and community survival strategies.

Dr. Klinger is a faculty member at UW–Madison and a research affiliate at the Center for Sustainability and the Global Environment. Her core fieldwork covers critical minerals (specifically rare earth elements), global space politics, and rural/Indigenous community resilience. She has conducted extensive, multilingual ethnographic and quantitative fieldwork across China, Brazil, and the United States over the past 15 years.

Dr. Klinger authored the award-winning book Rare Earth Frontiers: From Terrestrial Subsoils to Lunar Landscapes, published by Cornell University Press.

Be sure to register on time!

Registrations and payments will not be accepted after Friday, October 16.   

• Registration for in-person events closes the week prior to the date of the event to provide the meal count to the Madison Club.
• Payment must be received before the registration deadline. Neither registrations nor payments will be accepted after the registration deadline.
• All registrations and payments for events must be made online with a credit card. We will not be able to accept checks as payment for event registrations.
• Registrations are confirmed only if payment is received before the registration deadline.
• Only those with confirmed registrations will be admitted to a program.

MCFR members, share MCFR with your friends!

Members are our best means of recruiting new members. We encourage members to invite guests to our programs.

• You may invite as many guests as you like.

• Each guest may attend one program per season.

• To use the online system to register guests, you must register them when you register yourself. Otherwise contact us at: info@mcfr.info to have your guests registered.

Cancelation and refund policy:

• All cancelations must be in writing to info@mcfr.info.
• Cancelations received before registration closes will be fully refunded.
• We will not be able to refund registration fees for cancelations received after registration closes.

If you have questions about registering, please see our "Registration Tips For Members" or contact us at info@mcfr.info.