Human activities threaten Earth’s inhabitants in so many ways that no one issue fully describes what is truly global change; not climate change, land degradation, acidic deposition, species loss, excess reactive nitrogen, fossil fuel energy development, or the many other tags that describe contemporary socio-environmental predicaments. Integrated research is necessary not only to develop fundamental understanding of human and Earth system processes, but to develop tools for identifying risks and opportunities for connected problems that do not create new ones. Tony Janetos (1954-2019) lived at the center of this integrated universe, where, as a leader in global change sciences, he developed, communicated, promoted, and mentored others in the use of science-based information for effective decision-making. Tony carved a critical scientific niche at the intersection of science and policy: how can large national and international assessments be produced and successfully applied to policy and management? The nexus of human, energy, and environmental systems lies at the center of today’s global change issues, and Tony brought ecologists, social scientists, economists, engineers, and policy makers together using a range of tools from indicators to models to remote sensing. Tony’s untimely death left much unfinished business related to global change science and this is the topic of this Ignite session. We present short talks by Tony Janetos’ many collaborators, students, and friends about how they are carrying forward his science and science communication legacies in in the field of climate and global change effects on society.