Climate Conversations: Pathways to Action

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Climate Conversations: Science Policy Crossroads

November 3, 2025

10:00 AM - 10:40 AM (ET)

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Join us for a discussion about how science is incorporated in policymaking.

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Science can inform policymaking through research, data, and expert analysis that guide decisions on public issues. Federal agencies, advisory committees, and non-governmental organizations like the National Academies provide evidence and recommendations to ensure policies are grounded in the best available knowledge and insights.

This Climate Conversation was held in-person and streamed virtually as part of the Greater Baltimore Climate Summit, where speakers Ben Zaitchik (Johns Hopkins University) and Lauren Wustenberg (Fork Legal Design) discussed how science is incorporated into policy at different levels of government, and opportunities for science and scientists to engage in this space.

Participant Bios

Ben Zaitchik is a professor and department chair of Earth and Planetary Sciences at John Hopkins University where leads several interdisciplinary projects exploring the propagation of climate stresses through complex natural-human systems, including work co-designed with community members. Ben is also the 2025-2026 President-Elect of the American Geophysical Union. Prior to Johns Hopkins, Ben served as a AAAS Fellow at the U.S. Department of State and a research associate at NASA. He also served as a commissioner on the Baltimore City Sustainability Commission to advance racial equity in sustainability.

Lauren Wustenberg is founder of Fork Legal Design, her solo practice law firm where she combines her legal expertise and interdisciplinary science background to work with advocates on food, agriculture, and environmental issues. Before starting Fork Legal Design, Lauren was at the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and before that, served as Counsel to the Democratic Staff of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, & Forestry.

Climate Conversations: Pathways to Action is a monthly webinar series from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine that aims to convene high-level, cross-cutting, nonpartisan conversations about issues relevant to policy action on climate change.

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Climate Crossroads

climatecrossroads@nas.edu

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It is essential to the National Academies mission of providing evidence-based advice that participants in any of our meetings or events avoid political or partisan statements or commentary and maintain a culture of mutual respect. The statements and presentations during our meetings or events are solely those of the individual participants and do not necessarily represent the views of other participants or the National Academy of Sciences, which is a non-partisan, tax exempt organization that includes under its Charter the National Academy of Engineering and National Academy of Medicine, and that operates the National Research Council.

Webinar

Air Pollution in India: Ramanathan Climate Conversation 2025

September 29, 2025

1:15 PM - 2:30 PM (ET)

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Join us for a discussion about the interactions between air pollution, climate change, and public health in India.

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Poor air quality remains one of the most pressing environmental and public health challenges in India. Driven by emissions from vehicle exhaust and agricultural practices like crop residue burning, air pollution poses significant risks to human health and contributes to climate change. While certain pollutants can have localized cooling effects, greenhouse gases contribute to warming on a global scale. With Indian cities such as Delhi ranking among the most polluted in the world, gaining a deeper understanding of the complex dynamics between air pollution, human health, and climate change is critical for improving global health outcomes and addressing climate change.

Jen Burney (Stanford University) moderated a conversation between Meha Jain (University of Michigan), Meera Mahadevan (UC San Diego), and Pallavi Pant (Health Effects Institute) exploring the drivers and impacts of air pollution in India, with a special focus on agricultural practices, and actions that are being taken to address public health concerns.

The fourth annual Ramanathan Climate Conversation took place at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, UC San Diego on September 29 as a part of RamFest 2025—a symposium dedicated to celebrate the career and retirement of Professor Veerabhadran Ramanathan. To learn more about the symposium, please visit: RamFest2025.

Ramanathan Climate Conversations are annual webinars in honor of National Academy of Sciences member Veerabhadran “Ram” Ramanathan, and are made possible through generous support provided by Sunanda Basu. Recognizing that climate change is a global challenge that requires global solutions, Ramanathan Climate Conversations focus on climate resilience in South and East Asia, aiming to identify pathways to action relevant to viewers and policymakers around the world. They are part of the Climate Conversations: Pathways to Action monthly webinar series from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, which aims to convene high-level, cross-cutting, nonpartisan conversations about issues relevant to policy action on climate change.

Participant Bios

Jennifer Burney is a Professor in Global Environmental Policy and Earth System Science in the Doerr School of Sustainability at Stanford University. Her research focuses on the coupled relationships between climate and food security – measuring air pollutant emissions and concentrations, quantifying the effects of climate and air pollution on land use and food systems, understanding how food production and consumption contribute to climate change, and designing and evaluating technologies and strategies for adaptation and mitigation among the world’s farmers. She has a PhD in Physics from Stanford University and was named a National Geographic Emerging Explorer in 2011. Prior to joining the Doerr School, she served on the faculty at UC San Diego's School of Global Policy and Strategy and Scripps Institution of Oceanography.
Meha Jain is an Associate Professor in the School for Environment and Sustainability and is also part of the Sustainable Food Systems Initiative at the University of Michigan. Jain's research examines the impacts of environmental change on agricultural production, and strategies that farmers may adopt to reduce negative impacts. To date her work has focused on the impacts of weather variability and groundwater depletion on agricultural production in smallholder systems, and whether farmers are able to adapt their cropping practices to mitigate these impacts. She has a B.A. in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology from Princeton University and a Ph.D. in Ecology, Evolution, and Environmental Biology from Columbia University.

Meera Mahadevan is an Assistant Professor at the School of Global Policy and Strategy at UC San Diego. Her research lies at the intersection of development, energy, and environmental economics, focusing on public service delivery, infrastructure, and political economy in low- and middle-income countries. She currently works on projects on electricity transitions, water markets, and governance in South Asia. Mahadevan holds a Ph.D. in economics from the University of Michigan, an M.Sc. in economics for development from the University of Oxford and a B.A. (Hon.) in economics from Delhi University.
Pallavi Pant is an air quality scientist with more than 15 years of experience working on air pollution and health, particularly in low- and middle-income countries. Her research has focused on air quality, source apportionment, and exposure assessment. She currently serves as the Head of Global Initiatives at the Health Effects Institute. She serves on editorial boards for Air Quality, Atmosphere & Health and PLOS Global Public Health, chairs the Governing Board of OpenAQ, and also advises on global air quality and health efforts for the World Health Organization and the Climate and Clean Air Coalition. Dr. Pant holds a Ph.D. in Environmental Health from the University of Birmingham, UK and a Masters in Environmental Sciences from the TERI School of Advanced Studies, India.

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Climate Crossroads

climatecrossroads@nas.edu

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It is essential to the National Academies mission of providing evidence-based advice that participants in any of our meetings or events avoid political or partisan statements or commentary and maintain a culture of mutual respect. The statements and presentations during our meetings or events are solely those of the individual participants and do not necessarily represent the views of other participants or the National Academy of Sciences, which is a non-partisan, tax exempt organization that includes under its Charter the National Academy of Engineering and National Academy of Medicine, and that operates the National Research Council.

Webinar

Climate Conversations: Educational Pathways for a Climate-Ready Workforce

August 22, 2025

12:30 PM - 1:45 PM (ET)

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Join us for a discussion on the roles higher education can serve in developing a workforce for a climate-resilient future.

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As the impacts of climate change intensify, a growing number of employers are exploring ways to integrate skills in resiliency and adaptability into their workforces. From deploying renewable energy and modernizing the electric grid to designing resilient infrastructure and supporting community adaptation, workers across sectors will be central to building a climate-resilient future. This discussion explored how colleges, universities, community colleges, and trade schools prepare learners for careers that support climate solutions.

Neil Leary (Dickinson College) moderated a conversation between Leah Dundon (Vanderbilt Climate Change Initiative) and Jim Limbaugh (West Los Angeles College) on how to expand pathways for resiliency-focused jobs while also examining how institutions are integrating competencies into a wide range of disciplines to address the skills needed to address the effects of climate change.

Participant Bios

Neil Leary has been the Director of Dickinson College’s Center for Sustainability Education since 2008. Neil teaches courses on climate change risks, resilience and action and has taken students to conduct research at U.N. climate conferences in Copenhagen, Durban, Lima, and Paris. Neil has had leadership roles in climate change assessments of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and START International that have engaged hundreds of researchers, policymakers, and practitioners from 80+ countries.

Leah Dundon is the Director of the Vanderbilt Climate Change Initiative which focuses on interdisciplinary climate change education at the science and policy interface. She also is the lead PI on an NSF supported program that brings students together from a number of institutions to provide professional development opportunities in climate science and policy.

Jim Limbaugh is in his ninth year as the 11th President of West Los Angeles College. During his tenure, he has focused on student success, capital construction, and the establishment of the California Center for Climate Change Education.

Climate Conversations: Pathways to Action is a monthly webinar series from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine that aims to convene high-level, cross-cutting, nonpartisan conversations about issues relevant to policy action on climate change.

Contact

Climate Crossroads

climatecrossroads@nas.edu

Disclaimer

It is essential to the National Academies mission of providing evidence-based advice that participants in any of our meetings or events avoid political or partisan statements or commentary and maintain a culture of mutual respect. The statements and presentations during our meetings or events are solely those of the individual participants and do not necessarily represent the views of other participants or the National Academy of Sciences, which is a non-partisan, tax exempt organization that includes under its Charter the National Academy of Engineering and National Academy of Medicine, and that operates the National Research Council.

Webinar

Climate Conversations: Reducing and Removing Methane Emissions

June 13, 2025

12:30 PM - 1:45 PM (ET)

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Join us for a webinar about tackling methane emissions.

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Methane is a powerful greenhouse gas that is more potent than carbon dioxide at heating our atmosphere. Reducing methane emissions – with methods including plugging abandoned and orphaned oil and gas wells, improving agricultural practices, reducing food waste, capturing methane from landfills and coal mines, and repairing leaks in oil and gas infrastructure – is critical, but these efforts alone may not be enough. As a result, scientists have begun exploring ways to remove methane directly from the air.

Gabrielle Dreyfus (Institute for Governance & Sustainable Development) moderated a conversation between Deborah Gordon (RMI) and Hinsby Cadillo-Quiroz (Arizona State University) on why methane removal is being considered as part of the portfolio of strategies to manage methane, the different mitigation and methane removal approaches being explored, and challenges associated with advancing these solutions.

Climate Conversations: Pathways to Action is a monthly webinar series from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine that aims to convene high-level, cross-cutting, nonpartisan conversations about issues relevant to policy action on climate change.

Participant Bios

Gabrielle Dreyfus is a Chief Scientist at the Institute of Governance & Sustainable Development working at the interface of science and policy to advance knowledge and action to slow warming in the near and long-term. She chaired the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine Committee on Atmospheric Methane Removal: Development of a Research Agenda and is an adjunct professor at Georgetown University.

Deborah Gordon is a Senior Principal at RMI and a methane emissions expert who began her career as a chemical engineer in the oil industry and has worked in the public and nonprofit sectors as an energy and climate policy analyst. In addition to leading RMI’s oil and gas climate initiative, she serves as a senior fellow at the Watson Institute of International and Public Affairs at Brown University. Gordon’s research spearheaded the development of the Oil Climate Index plus Gas (OCI+)- a first-of-its-kind analytic tool that compares the life-cycle climate impact of global oil and gas resources- which is the topic of her book, No Standard Oil (Oxford University Press, 2022 and due out in paperback, 2025).

Hinsby Cadillo-Quiroz is an Associate Professor at Arizona State University with a dual appointment in the School of Life Sciences and Biodesign Institute and leads the Ecology of Microorganisms and Ecosystems laboratory. His expertise spans the microbial physiology of methanogens and methanotrophs, ecosystem studies of methane emissions, as well as collaborations on landscape-level assessments of atmospheric methane. Cadillo-Quiroz’s current research focuses on methane production, consumption, and possible management questions including microbial interaction tests with pure cultures, small to medium scale bioreactors, as well as environmental studies of landfills, northern forest, and tropical peatlands in the Amazon Basin. He has been recognized with a Fulbright Scholarship, a Presidential Scholarship at Cornell University, a National Science Foundation CAREER Award, and an Honorific Doctorate in Forestry by the National University of the Peruvian Amazon. Cadillo-Quiroz received a B.S. in biology and microbiology from Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos, Peru and a Ph.D. in microbiology with a minor in ecology from Cornell University.

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Climate Crossroads

climatecrossroads@nas.edu

Disclaimer

It is essential to the National Academies mission of providing evidence-based advice that participants in any of our meetings or events avoid political or partisan statements or commentary and maintain a culture of mutual respect. The statements and presentations during our meetings or events are solely those of the individual participants and do not necessarily represent the views of other participants or the National Academy of Sciences, which is a non-partisan, tax exempt organization that includes under its Charter the National Academy of Engineering and National Academy of Medicine, and that operates the National Research Council.

Webinar

Climate Conversations: Coral Reefs

May 16, 2025

12:30 PM - 1:45 PM (ET)

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Join us for a discussion about how climate change is impacting our coral reefs.

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Coral reefs are among the most biodiverse ecosystems on the planet, supporting a wide range of marine life and providing essential services to coastal communities. However, rising ocean temperatures, acidification, and extreme weather events are putting increasing pressure on these fragile systems. Around the world, coral reefs are experiencing more frequent and severe bleaching events, threatening both ecological health and local economies. In response, researchers are exploring innovative approaches to help reefs adapt and recover. Maiya May (PBS) moderated a conversation between Andrew Baker (University of Miami) and Katie Cramer (Arizona State University) about the impacts of climate change on coral reefs and how researchers are working to preserve them for future generations.

Climate Conversations: Pathways to Action is a monthly webinar series from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine that aims to convene high-level, cross-cutting, nonpartisan conversations about issues relevant to policy action on climate change.

Participant Bios

Maiya May hosts Weathered — a PBS series that aims to educate the public on climate science and our most common natural disasters, how they’re changing, and what we can do to prepare. Maiya is a storyteller determined to build a legacy rooted in her love for nature. Inspired by David Attenborough, she creates thought-provoking, nature-related content that strengthens our knowledge, appreciation, and connection to the natural world. She studied geography and atmospheric science at the University of Missouri-Columbia and has previously produced weather and climate-related content for KOMU-TV (Columbia, Mo.), Fox 5 Atlanta (WAGA-TV), WSB-TV (ABC), and The Weather Channel.

Andrew Baker is a professor and marine biologist whose research focuses on coral reefs and climate change. He directs the Coral Reefs Futures Lab at the University of Miami’s Rosenstiel School of Marine Atmospheric and Earth Science, focusing on the development and testing of methods to increase coral reef resilience and leads a new Miami-based project (X-reefs) to develop next-generation hybrid reefs. Dr. Baker is a Pew Fellow in Marine Conservation, a former Fullbright Scholar, adjunct faculty member of Columbia University, Fellow of the Explorers Club, and Inventor-in-Residence at the Frost Museum of Science in Miami. He recently served on the National Academy of Sciences Committee on Interventions to Increase the Persistence and Resilience of Coral Reefs. He has an undergraduate degree from Cambridge University and a Ph.D. from the University of Miami.

Katie Cramer is an Associate Research Professor at the Center for Biodiversity Outcomes at Arizona State University, a Research Associate at Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, and a National Geographic Explorer. Katie is a historical ecologist whose work reconstructs long-term changes in marine ecosystems due to human activities to motivate and inform conservation interventions. Her current research is focused on understanding the role of long-standing human disturbances such as land development and fishing in recent Caribbean coral reef declines and how mitigating these stressors impacts reef resilience to climate change. Her work is interdisciplinary, spanning the fields of marine ecology, paleobiology, marine policy, and fisheries science.

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Climate Crossroads

climatecrossroads@nas.edu

Disclaimer

It is essential to the National Academies mission of providing evidence-based advice that participants in any of our meetings or events avoid political or partisan statements or commentary and maintain a culture of mutual respect. The statements and presentations during our meetings or events are solely those of the individual participants and do not necessarily represent the views of other participants or the National Academy of Sciences, which is a non-partisan, tax exempt organization that includes under its Charter the National Academy of Engineering and National Academy of Medicine, and that operates the National Research Council.

Webinar

Climate Conversations: Powering AI

April 28, 2025

3:00 PM - 4:15 PM (ET)

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Join us for a discussion navigating the challenges of power demand, emissions, and sustainability of AI.

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Increasing investment in artificial intelligence (AI) is prompting a larger discussion around sustainability, from the huge demand for electricity to power data centers to the life cycle emissions of hardware needed to enable this technology. Globally, companies and governments are preparing for significant increases in energy use and raw material extraction to meet demand. On the other hand, evolving technology and breakthroughs in AI optimization could lead to lower emissions than previously anticipated. This Climate Conversation discussed opportunities to decarbonize AI and learn how leaders in the field are navigating the uncertainty.

Climate Conversations: Pathways to Action is a monthly webinar series from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine that aims to convene high-level, cross-cutting, nonpartisan conversations about issues relevant to policy action on climate change.

Participant Bios

Kristin Hayes joined Resources for the Future in 2009, originally supporting a large-scale, multiyear project assessing the effectiveness and costs of a range of national US energy policy options. She now acts as RFF’s Senior Director for Research and Policy Engagement, helping to develop RFF’s research strategy and leading a number of convening and communications efforts at RFF. She is also a co-host of RFF’s weekly podcast, Resources Radio. Kristin has a BS from the College of William and Mary and an M.Sc. from the University of Oxford.

Cooper Elsworth leads Google's AI and Cloud emissions program, where he measures emissions across Google data centers workloads. With a background in ClimateTech software and climate science research, he develops actionable data for corporate carbon accounting and decarbonization efforts. Cooper holds a PhD in Geophysics and MS in Computational Mathematics from Stanford University.
Yury Dvorkin is an Associate Professor at Johns Hopkins University. He holds a Ph.D. from the University of Washington and has received numerous research, leadership, and service awards, including the 2016 Scientific Achievement Award from the Clean Energy Institute (University of Washington), the 2019 NSF CAREER Award, the Goddard Junior Faculty Fellowship (New York University), and the Provost’s Fellowship for Public Engagement (Johns Hopkins University). His research focuses on energy systems modeling to support the transition to a low-carbon society, with emphasis on energy policy, planning, operations, and market decision-making.

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Climate Crossroads

climatecrossroads@nas.edu

Disclaimer

It is essential to the National Academies mission of providing evidence-based advice that participants in any of our meetings or events avoid political or partisan statements or commentary and maintain a culture of mutual respect. The statements and presentations during our meetings or events are solely those of the individual participants and do not necessarily represent the views of other participants or the National Academy of Sciences, which is a non-partisan, tax exempt organization that includes under its Charter the National Academy of Engineering and National Academy of Medicine, and that operates the National Research Council.

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Climate Conversations: Native Seeds

March 28, 2025

12:30 PM - 1:45 PM (ET)

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Join us for a discussion about native seeds, their importance in resilient ecosystems, and the current efforts underway to secure the U.S. native seed supply.

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Across the country, native plants, or plants that grow naturally in a specific region or ecosystem, provide key goods and services to surrounding communities. Native plants are crucial in maintaining bird, fish, and animal populations and help stabilize the soil. Notably, native plants also help mitigate the impacts of extreme events like floods and wildfires because of their tolerance to ambient conditions.

For federal, state, and tribal agencies, maintaining a supply of seeds from native plants is a major challenge. Without native seeds, efforts to regenerate or bolster land affected by extreme weather events, invasive plants, and other hazards can be ineffective. Susan Harrison (University of California, Davis) moderated a conversation between Kay Havens (Chicago Botanic Garden) and Carol Capobianco (SUNY Westchester Community College) exploring the value of native seeds, strategies for shoring up their supply, and opportunities for regional partnerships.

Participant Bios

Susan Harrison is department chair and distinguished professor in the department of Environmental Science & Policy at the University of California, Davis. Her research seeks to understand the large-scale (biogeographic, evolutionary) and small-scale (ecological) forces controlling the diversity of plant communities. She received her B.S. (Zoology) 1983, M.S. (Ecology) from the University of California, Davis and Ph.D. (Biology 1989) from Stanford University, and was a Postdoctoral Researcher at the Centre for Population Biology, Imperial College at Silwood Park, England (1990-1991).

Kay Havens holds a B.S. and an M.A. in Botany from Southern Illinois University and a Ph.D. in Biology from Indiana University. She is the Negaunee Vice President of Science and Chief Scientist at Chicago Botanic Garden. Her research interests include ex situ conservation, the native seed supply chain, restoration genetics, and pollination networks. She is active in conservation advocacy with elected officials, and collaborates with a variety of academic institutions, agencies, and stewardship organizations to help improve conservation and restoration efforts for plants and plant communities.

Carol Capobianco is Director of The Native Plant Center at SUNY Westchester Community College, where she has provided leadership since 2012 in advancing the Center’s work of promoting the use of native plants. Carol cultivated her interest in native plants and an understanding of their ecological significance through her work at nature-based organizations: The New York Botanical Garden, the National Audubon Society, and Groundwork Hudson Valley.

Climate Conversations: Pathways to Action is a monthly webinar series from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine that aims to convene high-level, cross-cutting, nonpartisan conversations about issues relevant to policy action on climate change.

Contact

Climate Crossroads

climatecrossroads@nas.edu

Disclaimer

It is essential to the National Academies mission of providing evidence-based advice that participants in any of our meetings or events avoid political or partisan statements or commentary and maintain a culture of mutual respect. The statements and presentations during our meetings or events are solely those of the individual participants and do not necessarily represent the views of other participants or the National Academy of Sciences, which is a non-partisan, tax exempt organization that includes under its Charter the National Academy of Engineering and National Academy of Medicine, and that operates the National Research Council.

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Climate Conversations: Urban Fires

February 26, 2025

1:00 PM - 1:15 PM (ET)

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Join us for a discussion about urban wildfires in the context of a changing climate.

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The recent wildfires in the greater Los Angeles area call attention to the risks to people and property in urban areas. We hosted a Climate Conversation to highlight the lessons learned and opportunities for science to support impacted communities, drawing on experience from other major urban fires in the last few years. The event unpacked the range of factors that are contributing to urban wildfire risk, and explored the impacts on health, infrastructure, and other human systems, as well as discussed how communities can prepare and move forward in the aftermath of a disaster.

Climate Conversations: Pathways to Action is a monthly webinar series from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine that aims to convene high-level, cross-cutting, nonpartisan conversations about issues relevant to policy action on climate change.

Participant Bios

Michael Méndez is an assistant professor of environmental policy and planning at the University of California, Irvine and Visiting Scientist at the National Center for Atmospheric Research (through a National Science Foundation Early Faculty Career Award). His first book “Climate Change from the Streets,” published through Yale University Press (2020) was the winner of the Harold and Margaret Sprout Award, given to the best book in the field of international environmental studies and politics. In 2021, he received the National Academies of Sciences' Henry and Bryna David Endowment Award for his wildfire and migrant research. He was awarded the Andrew Carnegie Fellowship in 2022, and the William R. and June Dale Scholar Prize in 2023. His current research focuses on climate-induced disasters and social vulnerability.

Christine Wiedinmyer is the Associate Director for Science at the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRES) and a Research Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Colorado Boulder. A former scientist at the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR), Dr. Wiedinmyer holds a Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering from Tulane University and a PhD in Chemical Engineering from the University of Texas at Austin. Dr. Wiedinmyer’s research focuses on the identification and quantification of various emission sources, including wildfires and fires in the wildland-urban interface, and modeling the transport and fate of emitted pollutants in the atmosphere.

Joshua Weil is an Emergency Physician from Santa Rosa, CA with almost 30 years of experience in the field. He has done disaster relief work nationally and internationally, and in 2017 lived a disaster directly when the Tubbs Fire in Northern California destroyed his home while he was responsible for directing the evacuation of Kaiser Hospital Santa Rosa.

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Climate Crossroads

climatecrossroads@nas.edu

Disclaimer

It is essential to the National Academies mission of providing evidence-based advice that participants in any of our meetings or events avoid political or partisan statements or commentary and maintain a culture of mutual respect. The statements and presentations during our meetings or events are solely those of the individual participants and do not necessarily represent the views of other participants or the National Academy of Sciences, which is a non-partisan, tax exempt organization that includes under its Charter the National Academy of Engineering and National Academy of Medicine, and that operates the National Research Council.

Webinar

Climate Conversations: Securing Financing for Responding to Climate Change

January 24, 2025

1:00 PM - 2:15 PM (ET)

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Join us for a conversation about innovative financing strategies to meet our climate goals.

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The technologies needed to address and respond to climate change—from clean energy generation to adaptive infrastructure—don't come cheap. These projects rely on funding from large financial institutions that must weigh the risks and returns of their investments. The cost of climate-relevant projects has created opportunities for less conventional financiers, like venture capitalists and philanthropists, to fund and advance the infrastructure projects that communities need to build a more resilient, sustainable future. Kellie Lunney (Bloomberg Government) moderated this conversation between Jean-Francois Mercure (University of Exeter) and Justina Gallegos (former White House Deputy Science and Technology Director) that laid out the current state of financing responses to climate change, discussed adaptation risks, and explored novel mechanisms to leverage financial systems to meet our climate goals.

Climate Conversations: Pathways to Action is a monthly webinar series from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine that aims to convene high-level, cross-cutting, nonpartisan conversations about issues relevant to policy action on climate change

Participant Bios

Kellie Lunney is a senior reporter covering energy and environment policy on Capitol Hill for Bloomberg Government. She’s been a reporter in Washington for more than two decades and has worked at E&E News, National Journal, CongressDaily, and Government Executive. Lunney is a graduate of Colgate University in New York.
Jean-Francois Mercure is Associate Professor in Climate Policy at the University of Exeter Business School and assistant director of Exeter's Global Systems Institute. Previously, he was a Senior Climate Economist at the World Bank. He is also Principal Economist at Cambridge Econometrics and Chief Economist at the startup TREX and remains part-time consultant for the World Bank. His work focuses on research, application and communication on the economics of low-carbon transitions.

Justina Gallegos is the former White House Deputy Director of Science and Technology Policy under President Biden, where she led a team focused on industrial policy implementation for clean energy, biomanufacturing, and CHIPS. She previously served as the White House National Economic Council Climate Finance Senior Advisor, as an official in President Obama's Treasury Department, and was a venture capital investor. Gallegos received her MBA from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, and her BA from Middlebury College.

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Climate Crossroads

climatecrossroads@nas.edu

Disclaimer

It is essential to the National Academies mission of providing evidence-based advice that participants in any of our meetings or events avoid political or partisan statements or commentary and maintain a culture of mutual respect. The statements and presentations during our meetings or events are solely those of the individual participants and do not necessarily represent the views of other participants or the National Academy of Sciences, which is a non-partisan, tax exempt organization that includes under its Charter the National Academy of Engineering and National Academy of Medicine, and that operates the National Research Council.

Webinar

Climate Conversations: Reimagining Household Products

December 6, 2024

1:30 PM - 2:45 PM (ET)

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Join us for a discussion about the future of consumer products in a decarbonizing world.

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Most of the household products we use in our day-to-day lives are derived from fossil carbon sources, from toiletries and cleaning supplies to plastic packaging and pharmaceuticals. When these products reach end of life, their disposal and decay results in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, contributing to climate change. Achieving the nation’s climate and sustainability goals will require finding new methods for manufacturing these essential consumer products from non-fossil carbon sources, such as carbon dioxide, and ensuring that their life cycle from production to disposal does not contribute additional GHG emissions. Moderated by Craig Bettenhausen (Chemical & Engineering News), Zara Summers (LanzaTech) and Jenny Yang (University of California, Irvine) discussed the emerging technologies, identified key challenges, and considered necessary changes to current policy, economic, and regulatory structures.

Climate Conversations: Pathways to Action is a monthly webinar series from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine that aims to convene high-level, cross-cutting, nonpartisan conversations about issues relevant to policy action on climate change.

Participant Bios

Craig Bettenhausen is a reporter in the business department at Chemical & Engineering News, a nonprofit scientific news magazine. His coverage areas include home and personal care, industrial decarbonization, and biobased chemicals and fuels.

Zara Summers is the Chief Science Officer at LanzaTech, where she leads a team of over 200 scientists in transforming waste carbon into sustainable fuels, chemicals, materials, and proteins. Since joining LanzaTech in January 2022, Dr. Summers has driven the company's innovation in biorecycling technology, which captures carbon at its source and repurposes it into clean alternatives for various products. Her expertise in Microbiology is pivotal in advancing LanzaTech's vision of a circular carbon economy.

Jenny Yang received her B.S. in Chemistry from UC Berkeley and Ph.D. in Chemistry from MIT. Her research interests include the discovery and study of inorganic electrocatalysts for the generation and utilization of chemical fuels. She worked as a research scientist at Pacific Northwest National Lab and Caltech before joining the faculty at UC Irvine.

Contact

Climate Crossroads

climatecrossroads@nas.edu

Disclaimer

It is essential to the National Academies mission of providing evidence-based advice that participants in any of our meetings or events avoid political or partisan statements or commentary and maintain a culture of mutual respect. The statements and presentations during our meetings or events are solely those of the individual participants and do not necessarily represent the views of other participants or the National Academy of Sciences, which is a non-partisan, tax exempt organization that includes under its Charter the National Academy of Engineering and National Academy of Medicine, and that operates the National Research Council.

Webinar

Climate Conversations: Housing and Disasters

October 25, 2024

12:30 PM - 1:45 PM (ET)

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Join us for a discussion about the impacts of compounding disasters on housing.

A recording of the webinar is available below.

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Relevant Resources:

About this Event

Disaster planning and recovery have historically centered around a single, isolated event. However, climate change is driving more high-intensity events, with disaster after disaster striking the same regions without time to fully recover between events, exacerbating the impact of each subsequent incident. Compounding disasters that introduce new, interconnected, and complex risk scenarios are expected to increase in frequency and will require comprehensive new strategies for emergency planning and response. Infrastructure resilience is one aspect of this: constructed buildings, such as homes, are unable to withstand the compounding impacts of multiple disasters, leaving already vulnerable populations without shelter and comfort. Christopher Flavelle (The New York Times) moderated a conversation between Carlos Martín (Harvard University) and Tracy Kijewski-Correa (University of Notre Dame) discussing housing resilience and access in the context of compounding disasters and how to rethink our disaster framework to adapt to this new reality.

Climate Conversations: Pathways to Action is a monthly webinar series from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine that aims to convene high-level, cross-cutting, nonpartisan conversations about issues relevant to policy action on climate change.

Participant Bios

Carlos Martín is Project Director of the Remodeling Futures Program at Harvard University's Joint Center for Housing Studies and incoming Vice President for Research and Policy Engagement at Resources for the Future. He has led housing research and policy analysis for over 25 years in public, academic, and civil-sector positions. Martín has served on multiple National Academies committees—including the Committees on Accelerating Decarbonization and on Measuring Community Resilience—and is currently on the Board on Energy and Environmental Systems. He received his BSAD in Architecture from MIT, and MEng and PhD degrees from Stanford.

Tracy Kijewski-Correa is the William J. Pulte Director of the Pulte Institute for Global Development at the University of Notre Dame’s Keough School of Global Affairs. As a professor of Civil Engineering and Global Affairs, her research seeks to enhance the resilience and sustainability of hazard-exposed communities, with particular emphasis on climate adaptation and disaster risk reduction. She currently serves as the inaugural director of the Structural Extreme Event Reconnaissance (StEER) network mobilizing networks of engineers to assess disaster impacts globally.

Christopher Flavelle is a Climate Reporter with The New York Times, where he focuses on how governments, businesses and communities try, and often struggle, to adapt to climate change. He has written extensively about insurance, building standards, migration, groundwater management, and geoengineering, among other topics.

Contact

Climate Crossroads

climatecrossroads@nas.edu

Disclaimer

It is essential to the National Academies mission of providing evidence-based advice that participants in any of our meetings or events avoid political or partisan statements or commentary and maintain a culture of mutual respect. The statements and presentations during our meetings or events are solely those of the individual participants and do not necessarily represent the views of other participants or the National Academy of Sciences, which is a non-partisan, tax exempt organization that includes under its Charter the National Academy of Engineering and National Academy of Medicine, and that operates the National Research Council.

Webinar

Global Perspectives: Water Resilience

September 24, 2024

2:00 PM - 3:45 PM (ET)

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Join us for the 3rd Annual Ramanathan Climate Conversation navigating water management in India, and how it can guide a climate resilient future for all.

A recording of the webinar is available below.

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Event Description

This conversation, in collaboration with the Columbia Climate School, provided comprehensive insights into the complexities of water management in India, a region characterized by diverse climates, rapid population growth, and high water stress. Panelists explored how climate change is affecting the physical hydrology of South Asia, how resource management and prevailing infrastructure have shaped regional water supplies, and how existing and emerging solutions for sustainable water management can help build resilience in India and beyond. John Matthews (AGWA) moderated the conversation between Veena Srinivasan (WELL Labs), Upmanu Lall (Arizona State University/Columbia Water Center), and Rochi Khemka (World Bank) discussing the unique water challenges of the country and providing key global take-aways.

This session was being held as a part of the Rethinking Water 2024 Conference during Climate Week NYC 2024.

Recognizing that climate change is a global challenge that requires global solutions, Climate Conversations: Pathways to Action webinars on Climate Sustainability in South and East Asia in honor of V. Ramanathan focus on Asia while aiming to identify pathways to action relevant to viewers and policymakers around the world. They are annual webinars in honor of National Academy of Sciences member Veerabhadran “Ram” Ramanathan, and are made possible through the generous support provided by Sunanda Basu. They are a part of the Climate Conversations: Pathways to Action monthly webinar series, which aims to convene high-level, cross-cutting, nonpartisan conversations about issues relevant to policy action on climate change.

Participant Bios

Upmanu Lall is an Indian-American engineer and founding director of the Water Institute at the Julie Ann Wrigley Global Futures Laboratory at Arizona State University, a program designed to predict and address water challenges from community to national to global scales. Prior to joining ASU in January 2024, Upmanu served as the founding director of the Columbia Water Center and was the Alan and Carol Silberstein Professor of Engineering at Columbia University. Upmanu's work focuses on water scarcity, hydroclimatic extremes, and water systems.

Veena Srinivasan is the Founder and Executive Director at WELL Labs, an organization with a mission to bring the best available data and science to create transformational impact at scale. Veena chairs the Strategic Advisory Group for the Integrated Monitoring Initiative for UN SDG6, was the Prins Claus Chair at Utrecht University, Netherlands from 2018 to 2020, and joined the board of the International Water Management Institute (IWMI) in January 2024. She has a PhD from Stanford University's Emmet Interdisciplinary Program in Environment and Resources (E-IPER). She also holds a master's in energy and environmental studies from Boston University and a BTech in Engineering Physics from IIT Bombay.

Rochi Khemka serves as Senior Private Sector Specialist with the World Bank’s 2030 Water Resources Group (2030 WRG), a public-private collaboration platform for water security. She leads the global program and strategy implementation for 2030 WRG, with a core focus on advancing private sector solutions. She co-authored the World Bank Group’s strategic framework on ‘Scaling up Finance for Water’, focused on mainstreaming private sector-led impact and financing. Rochi has a background in private sector development and financing at the global level, and across multiple countries in South Asia, East Asia, and ECA. Rochi holds a Master’s in Financial Economics from University of Oxford, UK.

John Matthews has been a leader in climate adaptation and resilience since 2007, focusing on water-mediated challenges and opportunities. He co-founded the Alliance for Global Water Adaptation (AGWA) and serves as its Executive Director, where he has pioneered new climate risk reduction and resilience building methodologies and influenced over 100 countries' climate strategies. John's work has facilitated over $20 billion in water resilience investments globally in the bonds market alone and continues to shape national and corporate resilience planning. He also holds academic positions at Colorado State University and Oregon State University.

Disclaimer: The views expressed in the conversation are those of the participants and do not necessarily represent the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.

Contact

Climate Crossroads

climatecrossroads@nas.edu

Disclaimer

It is essential to the National Academies mission of providing evidence-based advice that participants in any of our meetings or events avoid political or partisan statements or commentary and maintain a culture of mutual respect. The statements and presentations during our meetings or events are solely those of the individual participants and do not necessarily represent the views of other participants or the National Academy of Sciences, which is a non-partisan, tax exempt organization that includes under its Charter the National Academy of Engineering and National Academy of Medicine, and that operates the National Research Council.

Webinar

Climate Conversations: The Future of Sports

August 29, 2024

3:00 PM - 4:15 PM (ET)

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Join us for a post-Olympics discussion about the impact of climate change on sports.

A recording of the webinar is available below.

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Relevant Resources

The Future of Sports Protecting Athletes Amid New Climate Realities

About this Event

Climate change is threatening sports. Changing conditions are making some environments inhospitable to training and competition, with some sports at risk of disappearing altogether in affected regions. Meanwhile, unpredictable and extreme weather events pose risks to youth, collegiate and elite athlete performance and health, such as heat-related illnesses and air pollution from wildfires. Sports organizations, athletes, and communities will have to adapt to new realities. Tina Muir (Running for Real) moderated a conversation between Madeleine Orr (University of Toronto) and Jessica Murfree (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill) exploring the climate risks sports are facing, the health and equity challenges that climate change poses for athletes and communities, and measures that can be taken to protect the future of sports.

Climate Conversations: Pathways to Action is a monthly webinar series from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine that aims to convene high-level, cross-cutting, nonpartisan conversations about issues relevant to policy action on climate change.

Participant Bios

Jessica Murfree is an Assistant Professor of Sport Administration and Hyde Family Foundation Fellow at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Dr. Murfree studies the effects of climate change on sport through societal implications of climate risks and environmental disparities. Her expertise has informed organizations like Climate Week NYC, Climate Central, and Ocean Conservancy. She is a 2023 Forbes 30 Under 30 in Sports Honoree, and she earned Yale University’s School of Public Health Certificate in Climate Change and Health.
Madeleine Orr is the Founder and Industry Lead at The Sport Ecology Group and an Assistant Professor of Sport Ecology at the University of Toronto. Her research focuses on the relationship between sport and the natural environment with special attention to climate change, risk, adaptation, sustainability, and just transitions to more inclusive and sustainable futures. Dr. Orr recently published the book, “Warming Up: How Climate Change Is Changing Sport.” Her industry facing work has included advising work with Formula One, World Athletics, the United Nations Environment Program, the International Olympic Committee, Oceania Football Confederation, World Rugby, adidas, and Nike, among others. Dr. Orr's work has been recognized on the Forbes 30 Under 30 list for Sports, the Corporate Knights 30 Under 30 Sustainability Leaders list, and the North American Association for Environmental Educators’ 30 Under 30 list. She was the University of Minnesota’s Rising Alumni Award recipient in 2022, and a Future of Canada Fellow in 2023.

Tina Muir is the Founder and CEO of Running for Real; host of the award-winning podcast of the same name and co-host of Running Realized; a mother of two; and a former elite runner turned sustainability advocate. An ardent environmentalist, she has worked with the United Nations, as well as many races in the running industry, including New York and Chicago marathons on their sustainability initiatives. Through her podcast and social media presence, she starts conversations and shares resources on sustainability, climate change, and how individuals can make a positive difference in their own lives. Her book, "Becoming a Sustainable Runner", co-written with Zoë Rom, merges runners’ passion for their sport with their concern for their health, their community, and the environment.

Disclaimer: The views expressed in the conversation are those of the participants and do not necessarily represent the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.

Contact

Climate Crossroads

climatecrossroads@nas.edu

Disclaimer

It is essential to the National Academies mission of providing evidence-based advice that participants in any of our meetings or events avoid political or partisan statements or commentary and maintain a culture of mutual respect. The statements and presentations during our meetings or events are solely those of the individual participants and do not necessarily represent the views of other participants or the National Academy of Sciences, which is a non-partisan, tax exempt organization that includes under its Charter the National Academy of Engineering and National Academy of Medicine, and that operates the National Research Council.

Webinar

Climate Conversations: Hydrogen

June 28, 2024

12:30 PM - 1:45 PM (ET)

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Join us for a discussion about the future of hydrogen.

A recording of the webinar is available below.

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Register for our August 29 Climate Conversation on The Future of Sports

Relevant Resources:

Does the Green Hydrogen Economy Have a Water Problem? | ACS Energy Letters

About this Event

Hydrogen fuel has great potential as a clean energy source. Abundant in the natural world, hydrogen fuel can help nations meet their zero-emission goals as they pertain to transportation and electricity generation—depending on how it’s produced. While most hydrogen is currently derived from fossil fuels, research innovations and federal investments have spurred significant advances in producing hydrogen from renewable sources like solar and biomass. Amanda Staudt (National Academies) moderated a discussion between Ellen B. Stechel (Arizona State University) and Yushan Yan (University of Delaware) that covered the basics of hydrogen, then discussed the current state of the research as well as the potential challenges this energy form presents for our clean energy transition.

Climate Conversations: Pathways to Action is a monthly webinar series from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine that aims to convene high-level, cross-cutting, nonpartisan conversations about issues relevant to policy action on climate change.

Participant Bios

Ellen B. Stechel is the Executive Director of the Center for an Arizona Carbon-Neutral Economy, Co-Director of ASU LightWorks®, Professor of Practice, School of Molecular Sciences; and Senior Futures Scientist, Julie Ann Wrigley Global Futures Laboratory at Arizona State University (ASU). With a Ph.D. in chemical physics from the University of Chicago, her career has afforded her opportunities to build and/or coordinate research programs at a national laboratory, industry, a U.S. government agency, and now in higher education; in both basic and applied research; policy and commercialization of emerging technologies; and in multi-disciplinary R&D strategy and management. Her current research focuses on materials and systems design for solar technologies for producing sustainable liquid hydrocarbons from carbon dioxide, hydrogen from advanced water splitting, clean water, renewable ammonia, and for thermochemical and chemical energy storage.

Yushan Yan is the Henry B. du Pont Chair in Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at the University of Delaware and a member of the National Academy of Engineering. He is the Founding Director of the Center for Clean Hydrogen at the University of Delaware, which aims to accelerate the transition to clean energy by reducing the cost of hydrogen and hydrogen-related technologies. He has been an inventor on 20+ issued US patents that were licensed to form startups including NanoH2O, RepAir, and Versogen. He is currently the founder and CEO of a University of Delaware spinout Versogen.

Amanda Staudt is Senior Director for the Climate Crossroads initiative at the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. Climate Crossroads is a major initiative to harness the full complement of expertise and skills across the National Academies to tackle the climate crisis. Dr. Staudt provides strategic direction and leadership for this initiative, develops new partnerships and climate-related activities, and advances communications and engagement efforts to extend the reach and impact of the National Academies.

Disclaimer: The views expressed in the conversation are those of the participants and do not necessarily represent the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.

Contact

Climate Crossroads

climatecrossroads@nas.edu

Disclaimer

It is essential to the National Academies mission of providing evidence-based advice that participants in any of our meetings or events avoid political or partisan statements or commentary and maintain a culture of mutual respect. The statements and presentations during our meetings or events are solely those of the individual participants and do not necessarily represent the views of other participants or the National Academy of Sciences, which is a non-partisan, tax exempt organization that includes under its Charter the National Academy of Engineering and National Academy of Medicine, and that operates the National Research Council.

Webinar

Climate Conversations: Community-Driven Relocation

May 31, 2024

12:30 PM - 1:45 PM (ET)

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Join us for a discussion about centering community well-being in planning for climate-induced relocation.

A recording of the webinar is available below.

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Relevant Resources:

Community Driven Relocation

About the Event

Climate change is driving extreme events that displace communities, increase chronic stress, and exacerbate historical inequalities. While climate-induced disasters have always had the potential to displace people, their rapid escalation is significantly impacting the well-being and mental health of impacted communities. Community-driven relocation puts affected communities at the center of policy, planning, and implementation processes and considers the importance of communities that receive newcomers. Halle Parker (Senior Environment Reporter) moderated a conversation between Janice Barnes (Climate Adaptation Partners) and Perry Sheffield (Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai) that delved into the nuances of community-driven relocation, and its implications for community well-being.

Climate Conversations: Pathways to Action is a monthly webinar series from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine that aims to convene high-level, cross-cutting, nonpartisan conversations about issues relevant to policy action on climate change.

Participant Bios

Janice Barnes, founder of Climate Adaptation Partners, a NYC and Asheville-based Women Business Enterprise (WBE), focuses on planning, advocacy, and partnership-building for climate adaptation to help clients to understand their risks, evaluate their risk tolerances and possible adaptation pathways given current and expected exposures, and then link these to appropriate design and financing or funding options. Working from the intersection of climate change, design, and public health, Janice helps to advance resilience principles and connect knowledge across communities. Her work stands on three powerful words: How Might We?

Perry Sheffield MD, MPH is a pediatrician, environmental health researcher and professor at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York City where she co-leads the pediatric environmental health team. The team aims to bring environmental health into children’s healthcare with a focus on underserved populations and sustainability. Her research focuses on climate-sensitive health effects and she is the principal investigator on a NIH-funded project on hot weather and health outcomes in children.

Halle Parker is a Senior Environment Reporter who covers Louisiana's changing landscape, climate change and issues of environmental justice for New Orleans Public Radio as well as the Sea Change podcast. Her work has been featured nationally on NPR's Morning Edition, Here & Now and All Things Considered, among other programs. Before entering the public radio world, she worked for various newspapers including the Times-Picayune | New Orleans Advocate.

Disclaimer: The views expressed in the conversation are those of the participants and do not necessarily represent the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.

Contact

Climate Crossroads

climatecrossroads@nas.edu

Disclaimer

It is essential to the National Academies mission of providing evidence-based advice that participants in any of our meetings or events avoid political or partisan statements or commentary and maintain a culture of mutual respect. The statements and presentations during our meetings or events are solely those of the individual participants and do not necessarily represent the views of other participants or the National Academy of Sciences, which is a non-partisan, tax exempt organization that includes under its Charter the National Academy of Engineering and National Academy of Medicine, and that operates the National Research Council.

Webinar

Climate Conversations: Environmental Justice

April 26, 2024

12:30 PM - 1:45 PM (ET)

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Join us for a discussion exploring the role of environmental justice and what a just transition means.

A recording of the webinar is available below.

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Register for our May 31st Climate Conversation on Community-Driven Relocation.

Relevant Resources:

About the Event

Environmental justice and a just transition are critical to tackling the climate crisis and create a more equitable world for all. Yet awareness of environmental justice is uneven and the concept applies differently in different circumstances. The National Academies and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences held a discussion about reconciling different understandings of environmental justice, the importance of community engagement in a just transition, and how centering environmental justice can accelerate implementation of climate policies. Michael Méndez (University of California, Irvine)moderated the conversation between Paty Romero-Lankao (University of Toronto Scarborough) and Hilary C. Tompkins (Hogan Lovells)discussing current power dynamics and how having communities at the table can ensure a just transition for impacted communities.

Climate Conversations: Pathways to Action is a monthly webinar series from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine that aims to convene high-level, cross-cutting, nonpartisan conversations about issues relevant to policy action on climate change.

Participant Bios

Hilary C. Tompkins serves as a partner in the Environment practice group and the head of the Native American practice area at Hogan Lovells in Washington, DC. Her current portfolio includes renewable projects on public lands and waters, representation of Indian tribes, and overseeing the firm’s pro bono Lawyers for a Sustainable Economy project. Hilary served on the American Academy's Commission on Accelerating Climate Action, which published "Forging Climate Solutions: How to Accelerate Action Across America" in October 2023. She previously served as Solicitor of the U.S. Department of the Interior (2009-2017), overseeing all the legal issues of the agency, from energy, natural resources, and water issues to tribal trust, wildlife, and national parks. Hilary currently serves as a trustee for Dartmouth College and on the non-profit boards of the Environmental Law Institute and the Conservation Lands Foundation. Hilary is a member of the Navajo Nation.

Paty Romero-Lankao comes to the University of Toronto Scarborough from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, where she was a distinguished research scientist. Paty examines crucial interactions among people and climate in many cities worldwide. She applies a transdisciplinary lens and community-engagement approach to her research on sustainability transitions, bringing social science perspectives to a field traditionally dominated by the natural sciences and engineering. Paty is a co-author of the National Academies of Sciences’ 2023 consensus study report, "Accelerating Decarbonization in the United States: Technology, Policy, and Societal Dimensions."

Michael Méndez is an assistant professor of environmental policy and planning at the University of California, Irvine and Visiting Scientist at the National Center for Atmospheric Research (through a National Science Foundation Early Faculty Career Award). He previously was the Pinchot Faculty Fellow at the Yale School of the Environment. His first book “Climate Change from the Streets,” published through Yale University Press (2020) was the winner of the Harold and Margaret Sprout Award, sponsored by the International Studies Association and the Association for Humanist Sociology’s Betty and Alfred McClung Lee Award. In 2022, he was awarded the Carnegie Fellowship. Michael is a member of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine’s Climate Crossroads Advisory Committee and a co-author of the National Academies of Sciences’ 2023 consensus study report, "Accelerating Decarbonization in the United States: Technology, Policy, and Societal Dimensions."

Disclaimer: The views expressed in the conversation are those of the participants and do not necessarily represent the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.

Contact

Climate Crossroads

climatecrossroads@nas.edu

Disclaimer

It is essential to the National Academies mission of providing evidence-based advice that participants in any of our meetings or events avoid political or partisan statements or commentary and maintain a culture of mutual respect. The statements and presentations during our meetings or events are solely those of the individual participants and do not necessarily represent the views of other participants or the National Academy of Sciences, which is a non-partisan, tax exempt organization that includes under its Charter the National Academy of Engineering and National Academy of Medicine, and that operates the National Research Council.

Webinar

Climate Conversations: Women in Climate Science

March 22, 2024

12:30 PM - 1:45 PM (ET)

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A discussion about gender equity in climate science.

A recording of the webinar is available below.

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Register for our April 26th Climate Conversations: Environmental Justice

Relevant National Academies Resources:

About this Event

Despite decades of activism and progress in reducing gender disparities in the sciences, there are still significant institutional biases keeping women out of key research, leadership, and policy roles. Gender equity in climate science is critical because the contributions of women often ensure that mitigation and adaptation solutions are more inclusive and effective. During Women’s History Month, we showcased the role of women in climate science and climate leadership. Amanda Staudt (National Academies Climate Crossroads) moderated a conversation between Kripa Jagannathan (Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory) and Miriam Gay-Antaki (University of New Mexico) exploring how institutions and governments can elevate women climate scientists, from those shaping climate change research and policy solutions to those pioneering community engagement and climate action.

Climate Conversations: Pathways to Action is a monthly webinar series from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine that aims to convene high-level, cross-cutting, nonpartisan conversations about issues relevant to policy action on climate change.

Participant Bios

Kripa Jagannathan is a research scientist within the Earth & Environmental Sciences Area at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory working on climate change adaptation and co-production of actionable knowledge. In her work, she uses participatory and collaborative research approaches to assess decision-makers’ climate information needs and develop usable climate science & information tools.

Miriam Gay-Antaki is Assistant Professor in Geography & Environmental Studies at the University of New Mexico; Associate Director at the Center for Community Geography; and member of the National Academies Committee to Advise the U.S. Global Change Research Program. Her workfocuses on human-environment relations in the era of anthropogenic global climate change. She draws from political ecology and decolonial feminist geography to amplify voices that are not regularly part of the debate on climate change - from formal political spaces to scientific spaces- to make research on the topic more effective for vulnerable and underrepresented communities.

Amanda Staudt is Senior Director for the Climate Crossroads initiative at the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. Climate Crossroads is a major initiative to harness the full complement of expertise and skills across the National Academies to tackle the climate crisis. Dr. Staudt provides strategic direction and leadership for this initiative, develops new partnerships and climate-related activities, and advances communications and engagement efforts to extend the reach and impact of the National Academies.

Disclaimer: The views expressed in the conversation are those of the participants and do not necessarily represent the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.

Contact

Climate Crossroads

climatecrossroads@nas.edu

Disclaimer

It is essential to the National Academies mission of providing evidence-based advice that participants in any of our meetings or events avoid political or partisan statements or commentary and maintain a culture of mutual respect. The statements and presentations during our meetings or events are solely those of the individual participants and do not necessarily represent the views of other participants or the National Academy of Sciences, which is a non-partisan, tax exempt organization that includes under its Charter the National Academy of Engineering and National Academy of Medicine, and that operates the National Research Council.

Webinar

Climate Conversations: Offshore Wind

February 29, 2024

3:00 PM - 4:15 PM (ET)

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A discussion about the opportunities and challenges facing offshore wind energy.

A recording of the webinar is available below.

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Relevant National Academies Resources:

About this Event

Offshore wind is one of the many sources of clean electricity being implemented as part of the push to decarbonize the grid. As states vet and approve projects, scientists, policymakers, and communities are working to better understand the potential economic and environmental impacts of offshore wind. Susan Phillips (WHYY) moderated a discussion between Josh Kohut (Rutgers University) and Tricia Jedele (TNC) that discussed the potential benefits and challenges presented by offshore wind, what the current economic and policy landscape for implementing the technology is, and considerations for future projects.

Climate Conversations: Pathways to Action is a monthly webinar series from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine that aims to convene high-level, cross-cutting, nonpartisan conversations about issues relevant to policy action on climate change.

Participant Bios

Susan Phillips is a founding member of the award-winning StateImpact Pennsylvania website and has worked as a reporter for WHYY since 2004, covering politics, immigration, and criminal justice. In 2013 she won the Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Journalism Award for her fracking coverage and the Associated Press Sandy Starobin Award for her investigative reports on the impact to rural drinking water related to gas drilling. She has received ten Edward R. Murrow awards and spent a year at MIT studying climate change as a Knight Science Journalism Fellow.

Josh Kohut is currently a professor in the Department of Marine and Coastal Sciences and a member of the Center for Ocean Observing Leadership at Rutgers University. Using networks of ocean observing technologies, his research and extension programs focus on the ocean processes that structure marine ecosystems. He is involved in many research programs that range in scope from storm intensity, offshore wind, and local water quality monitoring off the NJ coast; regional fisheries along the US east coast; and environmental studies of polar ecosystems in the coastal waters surrounding Antarctica.

Tricia Jedele, an attorney and environmental leader, is the Offshore Wind Policy Manager for the Nature Conservancy (TNC). In this role, Tricia coordinates and leads TNC's offshore wind energy efforts. Before TNC, Tricia served as the Chief of the Environment and Energy Unit of the Rhode Island Attorney General's office. From 2009 to 2016, Tricia served as Vice President and Rhode Island Director of the Conservation Law Foundation, where she worked closely with federal and state agencies in developing the Rhode Island Ocean Special Area Management Plan, the first federally approved ocean plan for offshore wind in the United States. Tricia has also represented the commercial fishing community in negotiations related to compensatory mitigation for planned offshore wind projects off the coast of Rhode Island and Massachusetts.

Disclaimer: The views expressed in the conversation are those of the participants and do not necessarily represent the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.

Contact

Climate Crossroads

climatecrossroads@nas.edu

Disclaimer

It is essential to the National Academies mission of providing evidence-based advice that participants in any of our meetings or events avoid political or partisan statements or commentary and maintain a culture of mutual respect. The statements and presentations during our meetings or events are solely those of the individual participants and do not necessarily represent the views of other participants or the National Academy of Sciences, which is a non-partisan, tax exempt organization that includes under its Charter the National Academy of Engineering and National Academy of Medicine, and that operates the National Research Council.

Webinar

Climate Conversations: COP28

January 18, 2024

3:00 PM - 4:15 PM (ET)

Past

Materials

Event Description

About

Join us for a discussion about the outcomes of the 28th UN Conference of the Parties (COP28) and what it means for the future of climate policy.

A recording of the webinar is available below.

Sign up for the Climate at the National Academies newsletter.

Every year, the United Nations brings together representatives from across the globe to address the climate crisis. Member states’ negotiators assess the latest information and science about the climate crisis and craft global goals aimed at slowing climate change and mitigating the worst of its impacts. While a record number of stakeholders converged in Dubai for COP28—including policymakers, activists, scientists, industry leaders, and journalists—determining the success of the deliberations will take months, or even years. Sara Schonhardt (E&E News) moderated a discussion between Lama Elhatow (Johns Hopkins University) and Nathan Hultman (University of Maryland) that looked at what the conference outcomes actually mean, how countries will embrace the final agreements, and what climate actions we should expect.

Climate Conversations: Pathways to Action is a monthly webinar series from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine that aims to convene high-level, cross-cutting, nonpartisan conversations about issues relevant to policy action on climate change.

Participant Bios

Sara Schonhardt is a reporter at E&E News. Sara covers climate and energy developments globally, with a focus on international climate negotiations, finance and how countries are approaching the transition to cleaner economies. Prior to joining E&E News, Sara worked as a reporter for more than a decade across much of Southeast Asia, with stints for The New York Times, Christian Science Monitor and Voice of America. She was a staff reporter for The Wall Street Journal in Indonesia until 2017. Sara has a degree in journalism from Ohio University and a master’s degree in international affairs from Columbia University.
Lama Elhatow is currently a Professor and Program Coordinator at Johns Hopkins University for the Environmental Science and Policy and Energy, Policy and Climate programs. Lama is also an Environmental and Social Specialist at the International Finance Corporation (IFC) focusing on projects in sectors including manufacturing, infrastructure services, and financial markets. Lama engaged in the UNFCCC climate change negotiations with Climate Action Network-International as a Climate Policy Officer from 2009-2014, and again in 2022, working with governments in the Arab region to reduce their GHG emissions whilst following both the mitigation and adaptation tracks. Lama is a passionate environmentalist and an avid learner of the complexities of our ecosystem and is often amazed at the interconnectedness of everything within it.
Nathan Hultman is the founder and director of the Center for Global Sustainability at the University of Maryland, and professor in the School of Public Policy. His work focuses on setting and achieving ambitious national climate goals. He was recently senior advisor to the Special Presidential Envoy for Climate at the U.S. Department of State, and served for two years in the Obama White House including for the Paris climate negotiations. While in government, he helped develop the U.S. 2025 NDC, led the writing for the 2021 U.S. Long-Term Strategy under the Paris Agreement, and helped negotiate the U.S.-China Glasgow Declaration. He has participated in the U.N. climate process for over 25 years, starting with COP3 Kyoto, and has attended 21 COPs.

Disclaimer: The views expressed in the conversation are those of the participants and do not necessarily represent the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.

Contact

Rob Greenway

rgreenway@nas.edu

Disclaimer

It is essential to the National Academies mission of providing evidence-based advice that participants in any of our meetings or events avoid political or partisan statements or commentary and maintain a culture of mutual respect. The statements and presentations during our meetings or events are solely those of the individual participants and do not necessarily represent the views of other participants or the National Academy of Sciences, which is a non-partisan, tax exempt organization that includes under its Charter the National Academy of Engineering and National Academy of Medicine, and that operates the National Research Council.

Webinar

Climate Conversations: Future of Fossil Fuels

November 16, 2023

3:00 PM - 4:15 PM (ET)

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Join us for a discussion about the future of fossil fuels in a net-zero United States.

A recording of the video is available below.

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This year's Climate Conversations have covered a range of topics, from climate tipping points to nature-based solutions. Explore all of 2023's conversations here.

About this Event

As the United States decarbonizes its economy and strives for net-zero greenhouse gas emissions, production and consumption of fossil fuels will need to decline substantially. Reducing fossil fuel usage will bring significant benefits, like lower emissions and better ambient air quality, but poses challenges for communities that are economically dependent on extraction and production. Marcius Extavour (TIME CO2) moderated a conversation between Julia Haggerty (Montana State University) and Daniel Raimi (Resources for the Future) about the future of fossil fuels and how to address the technical and societal challenges associated with their changing role. The conversation included discussion of environmental remediation, maintaining the safety and reliability of existing fossil fuel infrastructure, and socioeconomic impacts in fossil fuel dependent communities. The conversation drew from the new National Academies report: Accelerating Decarbonization in the United States: Technology, Policy, and Societal Dimensions, including the chapter on The Future of Fossil Fuels.

Climate Conversations: Pathways to Action is a monthly webinar series from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine that aims to convene high-level, cross-cutting, nonpartisan conversations about issues relevant to policy action on climate change.

Participant Bios

Marcius Extavour is the Chief Climate Solutions Officer at TIMECO2. His career combines science, innovation, business, capital, and storytelling to build and deploy climate and energy solutions. He has previously served as Chief Scientist and Executive Vice President for Climate and Energy at XPRIZE Foundation and held roles at the University of Toronto, U.S. Senate Committee on Energy & Natural Resources, Ontario Power Generation, and Nortel Networks, and holds a Ph.D. in quantum physics. He was named 2019 VERGE Vanguard Fellow, AAAS Science & Technology Policy Fellow, and member of the National Academies Board on Energy and Environmental Systems, and his work has been featured on CNBC, Business News Network, PBS NOVA, the Washington Post, The Economist, and The Atlantic.

Julia Haggerty is Associate Professor of Geography in the Department of Earth Sciences at Montana State University, where she leads the Resources & Communities Research Group in studying the ways rural communities respond to shifting economic and policy trajectories, especially as they involve natural resources. Haggerty has expertise in diverse rural geographies including those shaped by energy development, extractive industries, ranching and agriculture, and amenity development and conservation. Partnerships and collaboration with diverse stakeholders are central to her approach. She was a committee member for the recently published National Academies report: Accelerating Decarbonization in the United States: Technology, Policy, and Societal Dimensions.

Daniel Raimi is Director of the Equity in the Energy Transition Initiative at Resources for the Future and a lecturer at the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy at the University of Michigan. He works on a range of energy policy issues with a focus on tools to enable an equitable energy transition. In 2017, he published The Fracking Debate (Columbia University Press), a book that combines stories from his travels to dozens of oil- and gas-producing regions with a detailed examination of key policy issues.

Disclaimer: The views expressed in the conversation are those of the participants and do not necessarily represent the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.

Contact

Rob Greenway

rgreenway@nas.edu

Disclaimer

It is essential to the National Academies mission of providing evidence-based advice that participants in any of our meetings or events avoid political or partisan statements or commentary and maintain a culture of mutual respect. The statements and presentations during our meetings or events are solely those of the individual participants and do not necessarily represent the views of other participants or the National Academy of Sciences, which is a non-partisan, tax exempt organization that includes under its Charter the National Academy of Engineering and National Academy of Medicine, and that operates the National Research Council.

Webinar

Floods in Asia: 2nd Annual Ramanathan Climate Conversation

October 31, 2023

10:00 AM - 11:15 AM (ET)

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Join us for a discussion about how to reduce the impact of climate-worsened floods in Asia.

A recording of the webinar is available below.

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About this Event

As seas rise and rain becomes more intense, flooding is becoming an even more serious challenge around the world, including in Asia, where Pakistan, India, China, Indonesia and other countries have all experienced intense floods in recent years. Drawing on case studies from different regions of Asia, this year’s Ramanathan Climate Conversation explored the impacts of climate change on flooding from rain, rivers, and seas, and discussed approaches that can mitigate the damage—such as coastal and floodplain restoration, construction of spillways, and modifications to the built environment. Carolyn Beeler (The World) moderated the conversation between Aditi Mukherji (CGIAR) and Nguyen Huu Thien (freelance ecologist).

Recognizing that climate change is a global challenge that requires global solutions, Climate Conversations: Pathways to Action webinars on Climate Sustainability in South and East Asia in honor of V. Ramanathan focus on Asia while aiming to identify pathways to action relevant to viewers and policymakers around the world. They are annual webinars in honor of National Academy of Sciences member Veerabhadran “Ram” Ramanathan, and are made possible through generous support provided by Sunanda Basu. They are part of the Climate Conversations: Pathways to Action monthly webinar series, which aims to convene high-level, cross-cutting, nonpartisan conversations about issues relevant to policy action on climate change.

Participant Bios

Carolyn Beeler is Environment Correspondent and Editor for The World, a daily international radio news show heard by more than 3 million listeners across the U.S. each week. She reports and edits stories focused on the people and places most impacted by climate change, and what they're doing to address it. She has reported from all seven continents and won national and regional awards for her breaking news and in-depth feature reporting.

Aditi Mukherji is Director of the Climate Adaptation and Mitigation Impact Area Platform at the CGIAR. Aditi has been an author on the latest round of Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change assessments (AR6), including as a core writing team member of the IPCC Synthesis Report published in March 2023. Aditi was previously a Principal Researcher at the International Water Management Institute (2019-2023) and Theme Leader (Water and Air) at the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development in Nepal (2013-2018).

Nguyen Huu Thien is a freelance consultant with over 30 years of experience working on issues of climate change, natural resources management, wetland biodiversity conservation, and sustainable livelihoods in Southeast Asia. Thien currently specializes in the Mekong Delta area of Vietnam, where he works with local community leaders to address local climate challenges as well as bridges the gap between policy makers and researchers to promote science-based policy making at regional and national levels.

Disclaimer: The views expressed in the conversation are those of the participants and do not necessarily represent the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.

Contact

Nikita Uberoi

nuberoi@nas.edu

Disclaimer

It is essential to the National Academies mission of providing evidence-based advice that participants in any of our meetings or events avoid political or partisan statements or commentary and maintain a culture of mutual respect. The statements and presentations during our meetings or events are solely those of the individual participants and do not necessarily represent the views of other participants or the National Academy of Sciences, which is a non-partisan, tax exempt organization that includes under its Charter the National Academy of Engineering and National Academy of Medicine, and that operates the National Research Council.

Webinar

Climate Conversations: The Macroeconomy

September 27, 2023

3:00 PM - 4:15 PM (ET)

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Join us for a discussion about how to better incorporate climate into economic models used in policy making.

A recording of the webinar is available below.

Sign up for the Climate at the National Academies newsletter.
View recordings from our June 14-15 Workshop on Incorporating Climate into Macroeconomic Modeling
View the recording of our April 15, 2021 Climate Conversation on The Cost of Carbon.

About this Event

Climate change will almost certainly influence policy across all sectors of the U.S. economy. However, macroeconomic modeling, which informs budgeting all the way up to the federal level and therefore influences the direction of economic policy, does not yet account for the impacts of climate change. Join us for a conversation about how economists can better incorporate physical climate risks into macroeconomic models. Eric Kemp-Benedict (Stockholm Environment Institute) moderated a conversation between Gregor Semieniuk (World Bank) and Tara Sinclair (U.S. Department of the Treasury) exploring why and how macroeconomic models were developed, the trade-offs economists have made to produce meaningful results, why factors as unpredictable as climate change are so hard to account for, and ways policy makers can better consider climate while modeling other economic variables.

Climate Conversations: Pathways to Action is a monthly webinar series from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine that aims to convene high-level, cross-cutting, nonpartisan conversations about issues relevant to policy action on climate change.

Participant Bios

Eric Kemp-Benedict is a Senior Economist and Director of the Equitable Transitions program at the Stockholm Environment Institute’s US Center. Dr. Kemp-Benedict’s research focuses on the macroeconomics of a sustainability transition, addressing questions around long-run growth, decoupling, structural change, and economic development. He is a key contributor to the Shared Socioeconomic Pathways (SSPs), part of the global climate scenario framework that underpins a wide range of climate studies.

Gregor Semieniuk is a senior climate change economist at the World Bank, on leave from the University of Massachusetts Amherst, where he is an Assistant Research Professor at the Political Economy Research Institute (PERI) and the Department of Economics. Dr. Semieniuk’s work focuses on the political economy of rapid, policy-induced structural change that is required for the transition to a low-carbon economy, considering questions of both financing low-carbon investments and divesting from high-carbon ones, and analyzing the characteristics of stable, equitable growth with climate policy.

Tara Sinclair is currently serving as the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Macroeconomics in the Office of Economic Policy at the U.S. Department of the Treasury. She is on detail from her role as a professor of economics and international affairs at the George Washington University. Dr. Sinclair’s research focuses on macroeconomic modeling and forecasting. As director of the H. O. Stekler Research Program on Forecasting, she evaluates real time economic data and forecasts with an eye toward how they can affect policy.

Disclaimer: The views expressed in the conversation are those of the participants and do not necessarily represent the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.

Contact

Rob Greenway

rgreenway@nas.edu

Disclaimer

It is essential to the National Academies mission of providing evidence-based advice that participants in any of our meetings or events avoid political or partisan statements or commentary and maintain a culture of mutual respect. The statements and presentations during our meetings or events are solely those of the individual participants and do not necessarily represent the views of other participants or the National Academy of Sciences, which is a non-partisan, tax exempt organization that includes under its Charter the National Academy of Engineering and National Academy of Medicine, and that operates the National Research Council.

Webinar

Climate Conversations: Schools

August 24, 2023

3:00 PM - 4:15 PM (ET)

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Join us for a discussion about how to help K-12 schools reduce their carbon emissions.

A recording of the webinar is available below.

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About this Event

Like all sectors of U.S. society, the K-12 education sector faces substantial challenges addressing its carbon emissions, with hundreds of thousands of buildings, and hundreds of millions of bus trips and billions of meals served each year. Reducing these emissions while meeting the myriad goals of schools will require leveraging the considerable strengths of education professionals and community partners nationwide. Despite many challenges, competing priorities, and limited resources, there are initiatives underway to reduce emissions and save on overall costs and energy use. Anisa Heming (U.S. Green Building Council) moderated a conversation between Andrea Suarez Falken (U.S. Department of Education) and Shannon Oliver (Adams 12 Five Star Schools) exploring the variety of approaches employed by schools – ranging from energy efficiency retrofits to zero-emission buses to supply chain management – as well as the programs that can help schools meet the up-front resource needs often associated with these efforts. The broader role of education in addressing climate change will be discussed in a future conversation.

Climate Conversations: Pathways to Action is a monthly webinar series from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine that aims to convene high-level, cross-cutting, nonpartisan conversations about issues relevant to policy action on climate change.

Participant Bios

Andrea Suarez Falken serves as Special Advisor for Infrastructure and Sustainability at the U.S. Department of Education, where she leads matters related to school environment, sustainability, and infrastructure, including overseeing the U.S. Department of Education Green Ribbon Schools recognition award.

Shannon Oliver is the Manager of Energy and Sustainability for Adams 12 Five Star Schools, a public school district serving 36,000 students in the Denver, Colorado metro area. He oversees the district’s sustainability benchmarking, facilities improvement projects, and greenhouse gas inventory and Sustainability Management Plan. He is also the board chair of the Colorado Association for School District Energy Managers.

Anisa Heming is director of the Center for Green Schools at the U.S. Green Building Council. As the Center's director, Anisa provides strategic direction to USGBC’s work in schools and coordinates an organization-wide team to promote environmental sustainability, health and wellness, and sustainability literacy in school systems around the world.

Disclaimer: The views expressed in the conversation are those of the participants and do not necessarily represent the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.

Contact

Rob Greenway

rgreenway@nas.edu

Disclaimer

It is essential to the National Academies mission of providing evidence-based advice that participants in any of our meetings or events avoid political or partisan statements or commentary and maintain a culture of mutual respect. The statements and presentations during our meetings or events are solely those of the individual participants and do not necessarily represent the views of other participants or the National Academy of Sciences, which is a non-partisan, tax exempt organization that includes under its Charter the National Academy of Engineering and National Academy of Medicine, and that operates the National Research Council.

Webinar

Climate Conversations: Artificial Intelligence

June 22, 2023

3:30 PM - 4:45 PM (ET)

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A discussion about leveraging artificial intelligence and machine learning tools and technologies to advance ethical climate solutions.

View the webinar below.

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Relevant National Academies Resources:

Research to model the climate system has driven advances in computing dating back decades. As the scope of climate-related impacts has grown in recent years, calls to better understand the complex climate system and leverage growing volumes of data for decision making have become more urgent. Artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) tools hold the potential to transform difficult computational problems and uncover new solutions to address the challenges of climate change. Stephen Lacey (Post Script Media) moderated a conversation between Priya Donti (MIT) and Amy McGovern (University of Oklahoma) about the challenges and opportunities related to the current and future role of AI and ML in advancing climate solutions. The conversation touched on the potential to deploy AI tools to support climate action, considerations around aligning the energy demands of AI with climate-relevant goals, and opportunities to integrate principles of accountability, transparency, and equity into these tools’ development and use.

Climate Conversations: Pathways to Action is a monthly webinar series from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine that aims to convene high-level, cross-cutting, nonpartisan conversations about issues relevant to policy action on climate change.

Participant Bios

Priya Donti is an incoming Assistant Professor in MIT’s Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science and the co-founder and Executive Director of Climate Change AI (CCAI), a global nonprofit initiative to catalyze impactful work at the intersection of climate change and machine learning. Her research focuses on machine learning for forecasting, optimization, and control in high-renewables power grids.

Stephen Lacey is a veteran business journalist, editor, and audio producer who has been covering the energy transition for nearly two decades. He's the executive editor and co-founder of Post Script Media, a media company focused on covering climate solutions at the intersection of tech, business, and culture. He's the host of "The Carbon Copy," a popular narrative-news show about the business trends shaping the energy transition. Stephen is the co-chair of the Transition-AI conference, an event that brings together top minds in energy, climate, and artificial intelligence.

Amy McGovern is a professor in the School of Computer Science and in the School of Meteorology at the University of Oklahoma. Dr McGovern is also the director of the NSF AI Institute for Research on Trustworthy AI in Weather, Climate, and Coastal Oceanography. Her research focuses on developing and applying trustworthy AI and machine learning methods primarily for severe weather phenomena.

Contact

Rob Greenway

rgreenway@nas.edu

Disclaimer

It is essential to the National Academies mission of providing evidence-based advice that participants in any of our meetings or events avoid political or partisan statements or commentary and maintain a culture of mutual respect. The statements and presentations during our meetings or events are solely those of the individual participants and do not necessarily represent the views of other participants or the National Academy of Sciences, which is a non-partisan, tax exempt organization that includes under its Charter the National Academy of Engineering and National Academy of Medicine, and that operates the National Research Council.

Webinar

Climate Conversations: Nuclear Energy

May 25, 2023

3:00 PM - 4:15 PM (ET)

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A discussion about the role of nuclear energy in addressing climate change.

A recording of the webinar is available below.

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Relevant National Academies Resources:

Nuclear energy is one of the most reliable sources of carbon-free electricity, and maintaining the current nuclear power fleet is a key part of U.S. trajectories to reach net-zero emissions by 2050. However, nuclear energy is not without risks, and it produces radioactive waste that lasts for millennia. As such, nuclear energy is a contentious topic with complex tradeoffs. Kara Colton (Energy Communities Alliance) moderated a nuanced conversation between Ahmed Abdulla (Carleton University) and Michael Ford (Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory) about the challenges and opportunities related to the current and future role of nuclear energy in efforts to decarbonize the U.S. The conversation will touch on the science and engineering of nuclear reactors; the current social, political, and regulatory environment around nuclear energy in the U.S.; and lessons that can be learned from other countries that also employ nuclear energy.

Climate Conversations: Pathways to Action is a monthly webinar series from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine that aims to convene high-level, cross-cutting, nonpartisan conversations about issues relevant to policy action on climate change.

Participant Bios

Ahmed Abdulla is an assistant professor in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at Carleton University (Ottawa, ON). He investigates energy system design for deep decarbonization—focusing on the role of disruptive energy technologies that sit at a low level of technical readiness, including energy storage systems, advanced nuclear power, and negative emissions technologies. Dr. Abdulla employs process modeling, systems engineering, engineering economics, and quantitative risk and decision analysis in his research, while also integrating insights from public policy and behavioral science to optimize the design and deployment of truly sustainable technologies—ones that are both techno-economically viable and socio-politically acceptable.

Kara Colton is the Director of Nuclear Policy at the Energy Communities Alliance and has spent over fifteen years working with the local elected officials in frontline communities hosting and directly impacted by the Department of Energy’s federal nuclear facilities. She leads ECA's New Nuclear Initiative to help define the role for local governments considering nuclear missions and to facilitate the partnerships necessary to develop priorities, policies, educational resources and outreach on new nuclear development.

Michael Ford is the Associate Laboratory Director for Engineering at the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory, where he leads the pursuit of the Laboratory’s mission to develop advanced fusion engineering knowledge and techniques and is responsible for all engineering support. He also holds an appointment as a Research Scholar at Princeton's Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment. Prior to his time at Princeton, Dr. Ford was Strategy Development Director for the Energy and Global Security (EGS) Directorate at Argonne National Laboratory, where he led Phase I of the National Demonstration Reactor Siting Study supporting the National Reactor Innovation Center. Dr. Ford is a member of the DOE Nuclear Energy Advisory Committee and also served a full career as an officer in the nuclear U.S. Navy.

Disclaimer: The views expressed in the conversation are those of the participants and do not necessarily represent the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.

Contact

Rob Greenway

rgreenway@nas.edu

Disclaimer

It is essential to the National Academies mission of providing evidence-based advice that participants in any of our meetings or events avoid political or partisan statements or commentary and maintain a culture of mutual respect. The statements and presentations during our meetings or events are solely those of the individual participants and do not necessarily represent the views of other participants or the National Academy of Sciences, which is a non-partisan, tax exempt organization that includes under its Charter the National Academy of Engineering and National Academy of Medicine, and that operates the National Research Council.

Webinar

Climate Conversations: Nature-Based Solutions

April 27, 2023

3:00 PM - 4:15 PM (ET)

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A discussion about how to better work with nature to build climate resilience and support human well-being and ecosystems.

A recording of the webinar is available below.

Sign up for the Climate at the National Academies newsletter.

Relevant resources from the National Academies:

Integrating Public and Ecosystem Health Systems to Foster Resilience (2023)
Benefits, Applications, and Opportunities of Natural Infrastructure (2022)
Measuring What Matters: Towards a More Comprehensive and Equitable Evaluation of Benefits (Fall 2022 Summit)
Engineering Responses to Climate Change (2022)
Climate Change and Ecosystems (2019)

Nature-based solutions such as restoring wetlands, planting trees in cities, and using cover crops can cost-effectively make communities more resilient to the impacts of climate change, as well as provide over a third of the mitigation needed to achieve the 2030 targets of the Paris Agreement. And while conservation groups; federal, state and local agencies; international organizations; and the private sector have begun integrating nature-based solutions into their work, they are not yet utilized to their full potential. Benji Jones (Vox) moderated a conversation between Todd Bridges (University of Georgia) and LaKesha Hart (Louisiana Office of Planning and Budget) about the role of nature-based solutions and the challenges and opportunities in leveraging these approaches to address the climate crisis.

Climate Conversations: Pathways to Action is a monthly webinar series from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine that aims to convene high-level, cross-cutting, nonpartisan conversations about issues relevant to policy action on climate change.

Participant Bios

Todd Bridges is a Professor of Practice in resilient and sustainable systems in the College of Engineering at the University of Georgia. Prior to joining UGA in 2023, he served for 17 years as the Senior Research Scientist (ST) for Environmental Science for the U.S. Army and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, where he founded and led the Corps’ Engineering with Nature® Program. Dr. Bridges received a Distinguished Presidential Rank Award from President Biden in 2021 for exceptional leadership, accomplishments, and service.

LaKesha Hart serves as the State Planning Manager of the Louisiana Office of Planning and Budget within the Division of Administration. Hart is responsible for administering, directing and coordinating the State’s portfolio of planning and policy initiatives and for coordinating with officials of federal, state and local agencies to promote and manage joint programs and activities. Hart earned a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette.

Benji Jones is a senior environmental reporter at Vox. He covers biodiversity loss and climate change and how those issues affect people and wildlife. Before joining Vox, Benji was a senior energy reporter at Insider (formerly Business Insider), where he covered the oil industry and the rise of clean tech. Benji was a wildlife researcher prior to becoming a journalist. He has a master's degree in ecology and evolution from Stanford University, where he studied the decline of fauna in the tropics.

Disclaimer: The views expressed in the conversation are those of the participants and do not necessarily represent the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.

Contact

Rob Greenway

rgreenway@nas.edu

Disclaimer

It is essential to the National Academies mission of providing evidence-based advice that participants in any of our meetings or events avoid political or partisan statements or commentary and maintain a culture of mutual respect. The statements and presentations during our meetings or events are solely those of the individual participants and do not necessarily represent the views of other participants or the National Academy of Sciences, which is a non-partisan, tax exempt organization that includes under its Charter the National Academy of Engineering and National Academy of Medicine, and that operates the National Research Council.

Webinar

Climate Conversations: Tipping Points

March 30, 2023

3:00 PM - 4:15 PM (ET)

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A conversation about how to prepare for the consequences of abrupt changes in human and natural systems, and how to encourage positive social tipping points.

A recording of the webinar is available below.

Sign up for the Climate at the National Academies newsletter.

Relevant National Academies Resources:

Tipping Points, Cascading Impacts, and Interacting Risks in the Earth System (January 2023 workshop)
Resilience for Compounding and Cascading Events (2022)
Abrupt Impacts of Climate Change: Anticipating Surprises (2013)
Abrupt Climate Change: Inevitable Surprises (2002)

About this Event

With continued climate change, elements of the Earth system may reach tipping points of abrupt, dramatic change with irreversible consequences, like the rapid collapse of ice sheets or dieback of the Amazon rainforest. Tipping points also exist in human systems; devastation from extreme weather and major stresses on food, energy, and water could accumulate and tilt society into radically new dynamics such as mass migration or major economic shifts. However, tipping points in human systems can also be positive, and stem from rapidly spreading norms, behaviors, and technologies, such as how battery storage could tip the power sector irreversibly towards renewable energy. Laurie Goering (Thomson Reuters Foundation) moderated a conversation between Ilona M. Otto (University of Graz) and Rachael Shwom (Rutgers University) about the tipping points we are approaching, how to prepare for those we may reach, and how to encourage positive social tipping points for action on climate change.

Climate Conversations: Pathways to Action is a monthly webinar series from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine that aims to convene high-level, cross-cutting, nonpartisan conversations about issues relevant to policy action on climate change.

Participant Bios

Laurie Goering is a journalist and the climate change editor for Context, the award-winning Thomson Reuters Foundation’s daily news website. She has written on climate change for more than two decades, and previously worked as a foreign correspondent for the Chicago Tribune based in New Delhi, Kuwait, Johannesburg, Rio de Janeiro, Havana, Mexico City and London.

Rachael Shwom is Professor in the Department of Human Ecology at Rutgers University and Acting Director of the Rutgers Energy Institute. She conducts research that links sociology, psychology, engineering, economics, and public policy to investigate how social and political factors influence society’s responses to energy and climate problems.

Ilona M. Otto holds the Professorship in Societal Impacts of Climate Change at the Wegener Center for Climate and Global Change, University of Graz, Austria. She leads a research group that analyzes the social dynamic processes and interventions that are likely to spark the rapid social changes necessary to radically transform the interactions of human societies with nature and ecosystem services in the next 30 years.

Disclaimer: The views expressed in the conversation are those of the participants and do not necessarily represent the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.

Contact

Rob Greenway

rgreenway@nas.edu

Disclaimer

It is essential to the National Academies mission of providing evidence-based advice that participants in any of our meetings or events avoid political or partisan statements or commentary and maintain a culture of mutual respect. The statements and presentations during our meetings or events are solely those of the individual participants and do not necessarily represent the views of other participants or the National Academy of Sciences, which is a non-partisan, tax exempt organization that includes under its Charter the National Academy of Engineering and National Academy of Medicine, and that operates the National Research Council.

Webinar

Climate Conversations: Methane

February 22, 2023

3:00 PM - 4:15 PM (ET)

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A conversation about how to address emissions of methane, the second largest contributor to climate change.

A recording of the webinar is available below.

Sign up for the Climate at the National Academies newsletter.

Relevant National Academies studies:

About This Event

Methane accounts for around 20% of global greenhouse gas emissions, behind only carbon dioxide. As methane is both more potent and shorter-lived than carbon dioxide, near-term efforts to reduce emissions of methane could slow the increase in global temperature in the next few decades. Rebecca Leber (Vox) moderated a conversation between Fiji George (Cheniere Energy) and Steven Hamburg (Environmental Defense Fund) about anthropogenic sources of methane, the role of methane in climate change, and potential actions to reduce methane emissions in the U.S. by the private sector, public sector, and individuals.

Climate Conversations: Pathways to Action is a monthly webinar series from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine that aims to convene high-level, cross-cutting, nonpartisan conversations about issues relevant to policy action on climate change.

Participant Bios

Fiji George is Senior Director for Climate and Sustainability at Cheniere Energy. He has more than 28 years of experience covering energy-environmental and sustainability issues in natural gas production, processing, transmission and liquefied natural gas (LNG). His expertise focuses on researching and implementing sustainable solutions for development and use of natural gas and LNG in a low-carbon economy, and integrating corporate environmental, social and governance (ESG) programs to support the energy transition.

Steven Hamburg is Senior Vice President and Chief Scientist at Environmental Defense Fund, where he ensures the scientific integrity of EDF’s positions and programs, facilitates collaborations with researchers, and helps identify emerging science relevant to EDF’s mission. For the last decade he has coordinated efforts to quantify methane emissions from the natural gas value chain around the world through collaborations with 100’s of scientists and leads the development of MethaneSAT - a satellite that will be ready for launch at the end of 2023 that will be able to provide near-real time quantitative data on methane emissions from oil and gas production in basins around the world with unprecedented precision and spatial resolution. He is a terrestrial biogeochemist who was a university professor for 25 years before joining EDF, and has served as a lead author with the IPCC and published more than 100 peer reviewed papers on a diversity of topics.

Rebecca Leber is a senior reporter covering climate change for Vox. She was previously an environmental reporter at Mother Jones, Grist, and the New Republic. Rebecca also serves on the board of the Society of Environmental Journalists.

Disclaimer: The views expressed in the conversation are those of the participants and do not necessarily represent the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.

Contact

Amy Mitsumori

amitsumori@nas.edu

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It is essential to the National Academies mission of providing evidence-based advice that participants in any of our meetings or events avoid political or partisan statements or commentary and maintain a culture of mutual respect. The statements and presentations during our meetings or events are solely those of the individual participants and do not necessarily represent the views of other participants or the National Academy of Sciences, which is a non-partisan, tax exempt organization that includes under its Charter the National Academy of Engineering and National Academy of Medicine, and that operates the National Research Council.

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Climate Conversations: Insurance

December 7, 2022

3:00 PM - 4:15 PM (ET)

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A conversation about how to ensure the insurance industry can continue to support Americans amidst increasing climate hazards.

A recording of the webinar is available below.

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About This Event

Increasingly frequent and severe wildfires, hurricanes, and other extreme weather disasters are not only damaging communities around the U.S., but also challenging the insurance industry responsible for providing coverage for these physical damages. Umair Irfan (Vox) moderated a conversation between Carolyn Kousky (Environmental Defense Fund) and Nidia Martínez (WTW) about how to sustain a viable insurance system within the context of these worsening hazards, and about the roles that communities, policymakers, and the insurance industry itself can play in reducing community vulnerability to these hazards over coming decades.

Climate Conversations: Pathways to Action is a monthly webinar series from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine that aims to convene high-level, cross-cutting, nonpartisan conversations about issues relevant to policy action on climate change.

Participant Bios

Carolyn Kousky is Associate Vice President for Economics and Policy at Environmental Defense Fund. Her research examines multiple aspects of climate risk management and policy approaches for increasing resilience. She has published numerous articles, reports, and book chapters on the economics and policy of climate risk and disaster finance, and in October published the book Understanding Disaster Insurance: New Tools for a More Resilient Future.

Nidia Martínez is Director of Climate Risk Analytics in the Climate and Resilience Hub at the insurance broker and consultancy company WTW. She leads global catastrophe, climate, resilience, and analytics initiatives to support the industry need to quantify systemic risk and respond to the climate emergency. Previously, she worked at Swiss Re and AIG, where she developed an expertise in risk management and underwriting support.

Umair Irfan is a senior correspondent at Vox writing about climate change, Covid-19, and energy policy. He is also a regular contributor to and occasional host of the radio program Science Friday. Prior to Vox, he was a reporter for ClimateWire at E&E News in Washington, DC, where he covered environmental health, the Department of Energy, and climate research.

Disclaimer: The views expressed in the conversation are those of the participants and do not necessarily represent the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.

Contact

Amy Mitsumori

amitsumori@nas.edu

Disclaimer

It is essential to the National Academies mission of providing evidence-based advice that participants in any of our meetings or events avoid political or partisan statements or commentary and maintain a culture of mutual respect. The statements and presentations during our meetings or events are solely those of the individual participants and do not necessarily represent the views of other participants or the National Academy of Sciences, which is a non-partisan, tax exempt organization that includes under its Charter the National Academy of Engineering and National Academy of Medicine, and that operates the National Research Council.

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2022 Ramanathan Climate Conversation

November 17, 2022

1:00 PM - 2:00 PM (ET)

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The inaugural Ramanathan Climate Conversation on climate resilience in South & East Asia in honor of NAS member V. Ramanathan.

A recording of the webinar is available below.

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About This Event

Home to over half of the global population, Asia is vulnerable to impacts from climate change, emits over half of current global greenhouse gas emissions, and plays an important role in developing climate solutions. Mariette DiChristina (Boston University) interviewed Veerabhadran “Ram” Ramanathan (UC San Diego & Cornell University) about how to develop climate resilience in Asia as the climate becomes more dangerous and unpredictable in the coming years. The conversation focused on adaptation, using specific examples from South and East Asia, within a broader framework of climate resilience which also includes mitigation and transformation.

Ramanathan Climate Conversations are annual webinars in honor of National Academy of Sciences member Veerabhadran “Ram” Ramanathan (bio below), and are made possible through generous support provided by Sunanda Basu. Recognizing that climate change is a global challenge that requires global solutions, Ramanathan Climate Conversations focus on climate resilience in South and East Asia, aiming to identify pathways to action relevant to viewers and policymakers around the world. They are part of the Climate Conversations: Pathways to Action monthly webinar series from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, which aims to convene high-level, cross-cutting, nonpartisan conversations about issues relevant to policy action on climate change.

Participant Bios

Veerabhadran “Ram” Ramanathan is Frieman Endowed Presidential Chair in Climate Sustainability (Emeritus), Scripps Institution of Oceanography at University of California San Diego, and Climate Solutions Scholar, Department of Global Development, Cornell University. He is an international leader in global climate studies whose discoveries and advice have helped provide a foundation for understanding and addressing climate change. In the 1970s, he identified the strong greenhouse effect of chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) and other manmade trace gases. He has spent decades investigating the climate effects of short-lived climate pollutants (SLCPs) such as methane, soot, tropospheric ozone, and hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), and in recent years has worked on reducing emissions of these pollutants to rapidly reduce warming and improve air quality. He has also led field studies that identified the nature and sources for extensive air pollution over South and East Asia. His findings have led to numerous climate solution policies to reduce emissions of SLCPs, including the formation of the Climate and Clean Air Coalition by the United Nations and the ratification of the Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol by the U.S. and other nations. He was the science advisor to Pope Francis’ delegation to the Paris climate summit and in this capacity has taken up the issue of climate justice and climate resilience for the poorest three billion, the most vulnerable to climate change. He is the founding chair of the Bending the Curve Climate Solutions education program of the University of California, aimed at training a million climate stewards and leaders in the private sector.

Mariette DiChristina is the dean of the College of Communication at Boston University and a nationally recognized science journalist, most recently as editor-in-chief and executive vice president of Scientific American.

Disclaimer: The views expressed in the conversation are those of the participants and do not necessarily represent the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.

Contact

Amy Mitsumori

amitsumori@nas.edu

Disclaimer

It is essential to the National Academies mission of providing evidence-based advice that participants in any of our meetings or events avoid political or partisan statements or commentary and maintain a culture of mutual respect. The statements and presentations during our meetings or events are solely those of the individual participants and do not necessarily represent the views of other participants or the National Academy of Sciences, which is a non-partisan, tax exempt organization that includes under its Charter the National Academy of Engineering and National Academy of Medicine, and that operates the National Research Council.

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Climate Conversations: Extreme Heat

October 20, 2022

3:00 PM - 4:00 PM (ET)

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A conversation about how to prepare for and minimize the impacts of increasingly extreme heat in the U.S.

A recording of the webinar is available below.

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About this Event

Extreme heat is often not taken as seriously as other extreme weather, yet it kills more people in the U.S. than any other weather-related disaster. And because of climate change, extreme heat events are becoming hotter, longer, and more common, including in new times of year and in places not used to hot weather. Natasha DeJarnett (University of Louisville) moderated a conversation between Julia Eiferman (NYC Mayor's Office of Climate and Environmental Justice) and Juli Trtanj (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) about how government and community leaders throughout the country are developing approaches to reduce the risks people face from increasingly extreme heat.

Climate Conversations: Pathways to Action is a monthly webinar series from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine that aims to convene high-level, cross-cutting, nonpartisan conversations about issues relevant to policy action on climate change.

Participant Bios

Julia Eiferman works for the NYC Mayor’s Office of Climate and Environmental Justice, where she advances programs and policies that prepare NYC communities to withstand and emerge stronger from climate change impacts, with a focus on extreme heat. Previously, she was an Analyst at the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory and worked with the Urban Climate Change Research Network at NASA GISS.

Juli Trtanj is the One Health and Climate Extremes Research Lead for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), where she leads the National Integrated Heat Health Information System (NIHHIS). She co-chairs the Climate Change and Human Health Group of the U.S. Global Change Research Program as well as the Group on Earth Observations Health Initiative, and she chairs the World Meteorological Organization and World Health Organization Joint Study Group on Climate Services for Health. She has contributed to several IPCC and U.S. National Climate Assessment reports.

Natasha DeJarnett is an assistant professor in the Christina Lee Brown Envirome Institute at the University of Louisville Division of Environmental Medicine. She is a nationally-recognized expert in environmental science, and focuses her research on the health impacts of extreme heat exposure and environmental health disparities. She is the president-elect of the Board of Directors of Physicians for Social Responsibility and serves on advisory committees at the Environmental Protection Agency and the American Public Health Association.

Disclaimer: The views expressed in the conversation are those of the participants and do not necessarily represent the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.

Contact

Amy Mitsumori

amitsumori@nas.edu

Disclaimer

It is essential to the National Academies mission of providing evidence-based advice that participants in any of our meetings or events avoid political or partisan statements or commentary and maintain a culture of mutual respect. The statements and presentations during our meetings or events are solely those of the individual participants and do not necessarily represent the views of other participants or the National Academy of Sciences, which is a non-partisan, tax exempt organization that includes under its Charter the National Academy of Engineering and National Academy of Medicine, and that operates the National Research Council.

Climate Conversations: The Grid

September 21, 2022

4:00 PM - 5:00 PM (ET)

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A conversation about how to adapt the U.S. electric grid to meet the needs of a decarbonized and electrified country.

View the webinar below.

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About this event

As renewable energy continues to grow, and as vehicles and buildings are increasingly powered by electricity rather than fuels, the U.S. electric grid will need to adapt. Sue Tierney (Analysis Group) moderated a conversation between Bill Ritter, Jr. (Center for the New Energy Economy at Colorado State University) and Lauren Azar (Azar Law LLC) about how to navigate the challenges facing the grid, such that it can continue to provide power and facilitate the new energy economy. Challenges discussed included transmission, storage, land use and siting, and interconnections. The conversation also touched on how the Inflation Reduction Act will impact how the nation responds to these challenges.

Climate Conversations: Pathways to Action is a monthly webinar series from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine that aims to convene high-level, cross-cutting, nonpartisan conversations about issues relevant to national policy action on climate change.

Participant Bios

Lauren Azar is an independent electric industry attorney and advisor who has worked at the federal government level as Senior Advisor to the Secretary of the Department of Energy, at the state government level as Commissioner at the Public Service Commission of Wisconsin, and in the private sector as an attorney representing utilities, utility customers, and NGOs.

Bill Ritter, Jr. is the founder and director of the Center for the New Energy Economy at Colorado State University, which works with state and federal policymakers to create clean energy policy throughout the country. He was elected Colorado’s 41st Governor in 2006, and during his four-year term, established Colorado as a national and international leader in clean energy by building a New Energy Economy. Governor Ritter authored a book that was published in 2016 entitled, Powering Forward – What Everyone Should Know About America’s Energy Revolution.

Susan Tierney, a Senior Advisor at Analysis Group, is an expert on energy economics, regulation, and policy, particularly in the electric and gas industries. She consults to businesses, government agencies, foundations, tribes, environmental groups, and other organizations on energy markets, economic and environmental regulation and strategy, and climate-related energy policies. Previously, she served as the Assistant Secretary for Policy at the U.S. Department of Energy, as well as co-authored the energy chapter of the National Climate Assessment.

Disclaimer: The views expressed in the conversation are those of the participants and do not necessarily represent the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.

Contact

Amy Mitsumori

amitsumori@nas.edu

Disclaimer

It is essential to the National Academies mission of providing evidence-based advice that participants in any of our meetings or events avoid political or partisan statements or commentary and maintain a culture of mutual respect. The statements and presentations during our meetings or events are solely those of the individual participants and do not necessarily represent the views of other participants or the National Academy of Sciences, which is a non-partisan, tax exempt organization that includes under its Charter the National Academy of Engineering and National Academy of Medicine, and that operates the National Research Council.

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Climate Conversations: Wildfire

August 25, 2022

3:00 PM - 4:00 PM (ET)

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Join us to discuss how to protect human health and the built environment in the face of more frequent and severe wildfires in the U.S.

A recording of the webinar is available below.

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Read these related workshop proceedings from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine:

Climate change is increasing the frequency, severity, and extent of area burned by wildfires in the U.S., putting more people at risk of exposure to fire itself and to smoke, which can travel thousands of miles and affect the health of millions of people. A.R. "Ravi" Ravishankara (Colorado State University) moderated a conversation between Sarah Coefield (Missoula City-County Health Department) and Erica Fischer (Oregon State University) about how planners and decision makers are coping with these challenges and working to protect the built environment and human health.

Climate Conversations: Pathways to Action is a monthly webinar series from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine that aims to convene high-level, cross-cutting, nonpartisan conversations about issues relevant to national policy action on climate change.

Participant Bios

Sarah Coefield is an Air Quality Specialist in the Air Pollution Control Program (Air Program) at the Missoula City-County Health Department. The Air Program monitors air pollutants, provides the public with air quality information and health advisories, and enforces local air pollution rules. Within the Air Program, Sarah leads efforts on prescribed burn smoke management and wildfire smoke response. During wildfire smoke events, Sarah provides the community with wildfire smoke forecasts and health advisories. During the off-season, she works closely with community, non-profit and research partners to move Missoula County closer to being a smoke-ready community.

Erica Fischer is an Assistant Professor of structural engineering at Oregon State University. Her research revolves around innovative approaches to improve the resilience and robustness of structural systems affected by natural and man-made hazards, including performance-based design approaches of structural systems to decrease the environmental impact of the built environment on the natural environment.

A.R. "Ravi" Ravishankara is a Professor in the Departments of Chemistry and Atmospheric Science at Colorado State University. Over the past four decades, he has worked on the chemistry of the Earth's atmosphere as it relates to stratospheric ozone depletion, climate change, and regional air quality. His measurements in the laboratory and atmosphere, along with analyses, have contributed to deciphering the ozone layer depletion, including the ozone hole; quantifying the role of chemically active species on climate; and advancing understanding of the formation, removal, and properties of air pollutants especially as they relate to air quality.

Disclaimer: The views expressed in the conversation are those of the participants and do not necessarily represent the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.

Contact

Amy Mitsumori

amitsumori@nas.edu

Disclaimer

It is essential to the National Academies mission of providing evidence-based advice that participants in any of our meetings or events avoid political or partisan statements or commentary and maintain a culture of mutual respect. The statements and presentations during our meetings or events are solely those of the individual participants and do not necessarily represent the views of other participants or the National Academy of Sciences, which is a non-partisan, tax exempt organization that includes under its Charter the National Academy of Engineering and National Academy of Medicine, and that operates the National Research Council.

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Climate Conversations: Urban Transportation

July 21, 2022

3:00 PM - 4:00 PM (ET)

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Join us to discuss how cities can navigate today’s challenges and opportunities around reducing emissions and improving residents’ mobility.

A recording of the webinar is available below.

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About this Event

As U.S. cities work to reduce emissions and support the mobility of all their residents, they are also navigating new transportation patterns at this stage of the COVID-19 pandemic and an influx of federal infrastructure funding. Jon A. Carnegie (Rutgers University) moderated a conversation between Cris Liban (Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority) and Priya Zachariah (City of Houston) about how planners and policymakers can support a transition to more equitable, lower-emissions urban transportation systems amidst this dynamic context.

Climate Conversations: Pathways to Action is a monthly webinar series from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine that aims to convene high-level, cross-cutting, nonpartisan conversations about issues relevant to national policy action on climate change.

Participant Bios

Cris Liban serves as Chief Sustainability Officer at the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (LA Metro), where he has grown his agency’s environmental and sustainability practice into the most progressive and forward-looking in the country and implemented over 150 sustainability initiatives to date. He is working to ensure that $140B in capital projects that are programmed for the next 40 years are sustainable, climate-adapted, and resilient for the more than 10 million people of Los Angeles County. He is currently the Transportation Chapter Lead of the forthcoming Fifth National Climate Assessment.

Priya Zachariah is the Chief Resilience and Sustainability Officer for the City of Houston leading the Mayor’s Office of Resilience and Sustainability – a newly combined office focused on the implementation of Resilient Houston and Houston’s Climate Action Plan. She has a bachelor’s in architecture from India and a master’s in urban and regional planning from UCLA. She has over twenty years of experience in design and project management, program development, land use, and transit planning and development, having worked in south and southeast Asia and the Middle East before moving to the United States. While she is not a native Houstonian, she and her family have lived in Houston for over eleven years and consider themselves to be Houstonians for life.

Jon A. Carnegie is executive director of the Alan M. Voorhees Transportation Center at Rutgers University and an adjunct member of the faculty at the Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy at Rutgers. Mr. Carnegie has more than 30 years of experience in the fields of land use and transportation planning and policy at the municipal, county and regional level. His research interests include transportation resilience and climate change adaptation, transportation equity, and how transportation intersects with other areas of planning and public policy.

Disclaimer: The views expressed in the conversation are those of the participants and do not necessarily represent the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.

Contact

Amy Mitsumori

amitsumori@nas.edu

Disclaimer

It is essential to the National Academies mission of providing evidence-based advice that participants in any of our meetings or events avoid political or partisan statements or commentary and maintain a culture of mutual respect. The statements and presentations during our meetings or events are solely those of the individual participants and do not necessarily represent the views of other participants or the National Academy of Sciences, which is a non-partisan, tax exempt organization that includes under its Charter the National Academy of Engineering and National Academy of Medicine, and that operates the National Research Council.

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Climate Conversations: Water Justice

June 22, 2022

3:00 PM - 4:00 PM (ET)

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Join us for a conversation about how to ensure all people in the U.S. have access to clean and safe drinking water in a changing climate.

A recording of the webinar is available below.

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For information about access to safe and affordable drinking water in California, view the dashboard created as part of the California State Water Control Board's SAFER program.

About this Event

Millions of people in the U.S. currently lack access to clean and safe drinking water, particularly in low-income rural areas and in communities of color. Our changing climate creates additional threats, such as droughts that diminish surface water bodies, algal blooms and salt-water intrusion that contaminate water supplies, and floods that overwhelm water treatment facilities. Justin Worland (TIME) moderated a conversation between Tirusew Asefa (Tampa Bay Water) and Laurel Firestone (California State Water Resources Control Board) about how policies and infrastructure could help address current disparities in access to water and build resilience to the increasing impacts from climate change.

Participant Bios

Tirusew Asefa is the Planning & Decision Support Lead at Tampa Bay Water, where he is responsible for the agency’s design and implementation of models and decision support tools for the operations and planning of water resources projects. He is also a Courtesy Professor at University of South Florida and a co-author of the water chapter of the upcoming Fifth National Climate Assessment report.

Laurel Firestone is a member of the California State Water Resources Control Board, which is responsible for protecting all water quality and water supplies in California, and she co-founded and co-directed the Community Water Center, a statewide non-profit environmental justice organization. Her career has focused on ensuring all Californians have access to safe, clean, and affordable drinking water and building increased diversity, equity, and inclusivity into water decision-making.

Justin Worland is a Washington D.C.-based senior correspondent for TIME covering climate change and the intersection of policy, politics and society.

Climate Conversations: Pathways to Action is a monthly webinar series from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine that aims to convene high-level, cross-cutting, nonpartisan conversations about issues relevant to national policy action on climate change.

Disclaimer: The views expressed in the conversation are those of the participants and do not necessarily represent the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.

Contact

Amy Mitsumori

amitsumori@nas.edu

Disclaimer

It is essential to the National Academies mission of providing evidence-based advice that participants in any of our meetings or events avoid political or partisan statements or commentary and maintain a culture of mutual respect. The statements and presentations during our meetings or events are solely those of the individual participants and do not necessarily represent the views of other participants or the National Academy of Sciences, which is a non-partisan, tax exempt organization that includes under its Charter the National Academy of Engineering and National Academy of Medicine, and that operates the National Research Council.

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Climate Conversations: Adaptation in Agriculture

May 19, 2022

3:00 PM - 4:00 PM (ET)

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A conversation about how U.S. farmers are responding to changing climate conditions and how policies can support these efforts.

A recording of the webinar is available below.

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About this Event

Extreme rainfall, rising temperatures, and changing production conditions are just some of the hazards climate change creates for agriculture. Mitch Hunter (American Farmland Trust) moderated a conversation with Amélie Gaudin (University of California, Davis) and Mitchell Hora (Continuum Ag) about how farmers are responding to these challenges in the United States and how policies can support or hinder innovative practices.

Participant Bios

Amélie Gaudin is an Associate Professor and Endowed Chair in Agroecology at University of California, Davis. Her research focuses on developing sustainable agroecosystems by looking at how diversification strategies and soil health affect resilience and productivity. She also seeks to understand how root systems and the rhizosphere can help adapt crops to more sustainable soil management practices and to changes in resource availability.

Mitchell Hora, a 7th generation Iowa farmer, is the Founder/CEO of Continuum Ag and co-host of Field Work, a podcast about the benefits and challenges of sustainable agriculture. His farm has become a hub for innovation in the adoption of diverse cover crops, interseeded cover crops, relay cropping, and other soil health practices. With his expertise in soil health assessment and improvement, he has developed a global network and soil health data tool to assist in quantifying soil health.

Mitch Hunter leads the research and climate change programs at American Farmland Trust, a national non-profit agricultural conservation organization based in Washington, D.C. His research focuses on agricultural land-use change, climate resilience, and cropping system diversification with cover crops and perennial grains. He previously led farm bill policy efforts for American Farmland Trust.

Climate Conversations: Pathways to Actionis a monthly webinar series from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine that aims to convene high-level, cross-cutting, nonpartisan conversations about issues relevant to national policy action on climate change.

Disclaimer: The views expressed in the conversation are those of the participants and do not necessarily represent the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.

Contact

Amy Mitsumori

amitsumori@nas.edu

Disclaimer

It is essential to the National Academies mission of providing evidence-based advice that participants in any of our meetings or events avoid political or partisan statements or commentary and maintain a culture of mutual respect. The statements and presentations during our meetings or events are solely those of the individual participants and do not necessarily represent the views of other participants or the National Academy of Sciences, which is a non-partisan, tax exempt organization that includes under its Charter the National Academy of Engineering and National Academy of Medicine, and that operates the National Research Council.

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Climate Conversations: Sea Level Rise

April 21, 2022

3:00 PM - 4:00 PM (ET)

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A conversation about how to respond to the rising seas already threatening people, infrastructure and property on US coastlines.

A recording of the webinar is available below.

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About this Event

People, infrastructure, and property along U.S. coastlines are already threatened by rising seas, which are projected to rise by an additional foot on average in the next 30 years. Robert Kopp (Rutgers University) moderated a conversation with Tancred Miller (North Carolina Division of Coastal Management) and Christina Toms (San Francisco Bay Regional Water Quality Control Board) about how coastal managers and communities are experiencing and responding to sea level rise now, and how they are planning for the future.

Climate Conversations: Pathways to Action is a monthly webinar series from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine that aims to convene high-level, cross-cutting, nonpartisan conversations about issues relevant to national policy action on climate change.

Participant Bios

Tancred Miller is the Policy and Planning Manager for the North Carolina Division of Coastal Management where he manages the division’s strategic planning and program enhancement functions. As the program lead for coastal hazards and sea level rise resilience program areas, he coordinated two scientific assessment reports about relative sea-level rise in North Carolina and drafted a proposed state sea level rise policy.

Christina Toms is a Senior Environmental Scientist and Ecological Engineer at the San Francisco Bay Regional Water Quality Control Board. She specializes in the development of regulatory policies, restoration and adaptation designs, and conservation strategies to address climate change and support resilient habitats along the Pacific Coast.

Robert Kopp is a Professor in the Department of Earth & Planetary Sciences and co-director of the University Office of Climate Action at Rutgers University, as well as director of the Megalopolitan Coastal Transformation Hub (coastalhub.org) and co-director of the Climate Impact Lab (impactlab.org). His research focuses on sea-level change, the interactions between physical climate change and the economy, and the use of climate risk information to inform decision-making. He is a lead author of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s 2021 Sixth Assessment Report, the U.S. Global Change Research Program’s 2017 Fourth National Climate Assessment, and Economic Risks of Climate Change: An American Prospectus.

Disclaimer: The views expressed in the conversation are those of the participants and do not necessarily represent the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.

Contact

Amy Mitsumori

amitsumori@nas.edu

Disclaimer

It is essential to the National Academies mission of providing evidence-based advice that participants in any of our meetings or events avoid political or partisan statements or commentary and maintain a culture of mutual respect. The statements and presentations during our meetings or events are solely those of the individual participants and do not necessarily represent the views of other participants or the National Academy of Sciences, which is a non-partisan, tax exempt organization that includes under its Charter the National Academy of Engineering and National Academy of Medicine, and that operates the National Research Council.

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Climate Conversations: EV Infrastructure

March 22, 2022

3:00 PM - 4:00 PM (ET)

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Join us for a conversation about opportunities and challenges related to expanding electric vehicle infrastructure in U.S. states.

A recording of the webinar is available below.

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Expanding the infrastructure to support electric vehicles (EVs) is a major component of efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the transportation sector. Under the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, for example, states will spend $7.5 billion over the next five years on EV charging infrastructure. The systems needed to plan, fund, install, and manage this infrastructure require the coordination of many public and private sector entities. Katie Fehrenbacher (Independent Journalist) moderated a conversation between Melissa Savage (American Association of State Transportation and Highway Officials) and Gil Tal (University of California, Davis) about the expansion of EV infrastructure, state-level plans, opportunities for cross-sector collaboration, and socioeconomic implications for communities.

Climate Conversations: Pathways to Action is a monthly webinar series from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine that aims to convene high-level, cross-cutting, nonpartisan conversations about issues relevant to national policy action on climate change.

Participant Bios

Melissa Savage is the Director of the Center for Environmental Excellence at the American Association of State Transportation and Highway Officials (AASHTO). She oversees Center programs and products, promotes the Center as a resource for state transportation agencies, and works with state departments of transportation to identify priority policy areas.

Gil Tal is the Director of the Plug-in Hybrid & Electric Vehicle Research Center at the University of California, Davis. He is currently leading research on local planning and deployment of electric vehicle infrastructure, GIS tools for infrastructure planning, and the secondary market of plug-in vehicles in California.

Katie Fehrenbacher has been a journalist covering climate tech and electric mobility for over 15 years, including as a reporter for Fortune, Gigaom, GreenBiz and Red Herring. Her work has also appeared in The Guardian, Bloomberg, The New York Times, The Economist and more. You can sign up for her forthcoming newsletter at Energized.co.

Disclaimer: The views expressed in the conversation are those of the participants and do not necessarily represent the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.

Contact

Amy Mitsumori

amitsumori@nas.edu

Disclaimer

It is essential to the National Academies mission of providing evidence-based advice that participants in any of our meetings or events avoid political or partisan statements or commentary and maintain a culture of mutual respect. The statements and presentations during our meetings or events are solely those of the individual participants and do not necessarily represent the views of other participants or the National Academy of Sciences, which is a non-partisan, tax exempt organization that includes under its Charter the National Academy of Engineering and National Academy of Medicine, and that operates the National Research Council.

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Climate Conversations: Biodiversity

February 24, 2022

3:00 PM - 4:00 PM (ET)

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Join us for a conversation about climate change, biodiversity loss, and approaches to address both crises.

A recording of the webinar is available below.

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Biodiversity loss and climate change are intertwined challenges, but there are opportunities for action that address both, such as nature-based solutions that protect or help restore biodiversity and that lessen future climate change. Shyla Raghav (Conservation International) moderated a conversation with Kamal Bawa (University of Massachusetts Boston, retired) and Victoria Reyes-García (ICREA, Autonomous University of Barcelona) that explored the benefits, difficulties, and global equity dimensions of addressing these challenges in tandem. The webinar will include discussion of the new National Academies resource, Biodiversity at Risk: Today’s Choices Matter.

Climate Conversations: Pathways to Action is a monthly webinar series from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine that aims to convene high-level, cross-cutting, nonpartisan conversations about issues relevant to national policy action on climate change.

Participant Bios

Kamal Bawa is Distinguished Professor Emeritus at the University of Massachusetts Boston, and Founder-President of the Bangalore-based Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment (ATREE). He explores the role of institutions and market-based approaches to conservation, the impacts of climate change on biodiversity, and the relationships among poverty, institutions, and community-based conservation. He is an elected Fellow of the Royal Society and the American Philosophical Society and served on the report committee for Biodiversity at Risk: Today’s Choices Matter.

Victoria Reyes-García is an ICREA Research Professor at the Institut de Ciència i Tecnologia Ambientals, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (ICTA-UAB). Her research focuses on indigenous and local knowledge systems, particularly in relation to the natural environment, and on the relevance of these knowledge systems to understand and deal with climate and environmental crises. She is a co-author on the Global Assessment of the Intergovernmental Science and Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) and of the IPCC-IPBES Report on Biodiversity and Climate Change. She is a member of the National Academy of Sciences (2021).

Shyla Raghav is Conservation International’s leading climate change expert and drives the organization’s climate change strategy to secure and maximize nature’s potential as a climate solution by leveraging technology, policy, and market innovation. Shyla played an integral role in the negotiations on the Paris Agreement, signed by 195 countries, and has been instrumental in influencing international climate policy for over a decade. Having worked on both climate change mitigation and adaptation, Shyla has worked at the World Bank, Adaptation Fund, United Nations Development Programme, United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. From both California and northern India, Shyla studied applied ecology and international relations at the University of California, Irvine and earned her master’s degree in environmental management from Yale University. She was named an InStyle’s BadAss women, a Grist Top 50 Fixers, a AAAS/IfTHEN Ambassador for women in STEM, and has been featured on CNN, Vice News, and Elle Magazine.

Disclaimer: The views expressed in the conversation are those of the participants and do not necessarily represent the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.

Contact

Amy Mitsumori

amitsumori@nas.edu

Disclaimer

It is essential to the National Academies mission of providing evidence-based advice that participants in any of our meetings or events avoid political or partisan statements or commentary and maintain a culture of mutual respect. The statements and presentations during our meetings or events are solely those of the individual participants and do not necessarily represent the views of other participants or the National Academy of Sciences, which is a non-partisan, tax exempt organization that includes under its Charter the National Academy of Engineering and National Academy of Medicine, and that operates the National Research Council.

Webinar

Climate Conversations: Ocean Carbon Dioxide Removal

January 20, 2022

3:00 PM - 4:00 PM (ET)

Past

About

A conversation about the social aspects and potential role of ocean carbon dioxide removal in addressing climate change.

A recording of the webinar is available below.

Sign up for the Climate at the National Academies newsletter.

To combat climate change, in addition to reducing emissions, we will also need to remove greenhouse gases from the atmosphere. Ocean CDR (ocean carbon dioxide removal) is a set of strategies to sequester carbon dioxide in ocean waters. Sarah Cooley (Ocean Conservancy) moderated a conversation between Holly Buck (University at Buffalo) and Nick Pidgeon (Cardiff University) about social acceptance, environmental governance, and other issues around ocean CDR strategies. The webinar included discussion of the new National Academies report, A Research Strategy for Ocean-based Carbon Dioxide Removal and Sequestration.

Climate Conversations: Pathways to Action is a monthly webinar series from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine that aims to convene high-level, cross-cutting, nonpartisan conversations about issues relevant to national policy action on climate change.

Participant Bios

Holly Buck is an assistant professor of Environment and Sustainability at the University at Buffalo and a contributing author to an IPCC chapter on cross-sectoral governance, including carbon dioxide removal governance. Her research involves the social and environmental dimensions of emerging technologies to remove carbon from the atmosphere, and she served on the report committee for A Research Strategy for Ocean-based Carbon Dioxide Removal and Sequestration.

Nick Pidgeon is a professor of Environmental Psychology and Risk and the Director of the Understanding Risk Research Group at Cardiff University. His work focuses on public engagement with risk and technology, climate change risks, and emerging technologies including greenhouse gas removal, and he has led numerous projects on public responses to environmental and technological risk and on ‘science in society’ for UK Government Departments, the UK Research Councils, the Royal Society, The US National Science Foundation, and charities. He is currently Co-Investigator of the Leverhulme Centre for Climate Mitigation, a major 10-year interdisciplinary effort to understand the carbon removal potential, localized benefits and risks, public risk perceptions, and the social and ethical implications of using enhanced rock weathering technologies in agricultural production settings for greenhouse gas removal.

Sarah Cooley is the Director of Climate Science at Ocean Conservancy and currently a Coordinating Lead Author on Working Group II of the IPCC’s 6th Assessment report. Using science synthesis and strategic communications, she educates and engages decision-makers and stakeholders on climate science and ocean acidification to identify ways that different groups can take action.

Disclaimer: The views expressed in the conversation are those of the participants and do not necessarily represent the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.

Contact

Amy Mitsumori

amitsumori@nas.edu

Disclaimer

It is essential to the National Academies mission of providing evidence-based advice that participants in any of our meetings or events avoid political or partisan statements or commentary and maintain a culture of mutual respect. The statements and presentations during our meetings or events are solely those of the individual participants and do not necessarily represent the views of other participants or the National Academy of Sciences, which is a non-partisan, tax exempt organization that includes under its Charter the National Academy of Engineering and National Academy of Medicine, and that operates the National Research Council.

Webinar

Climate Conversations: Decarbonizing the Health Sector

November 18, 2021

3:00 PM - 4:00 PM (ET)

Past

About

Join us for a conversation about reducing emissions in the health sector and how those efforts can inform climate action in other sectors.

A recording of the webinar is available to view below.

Sign up for the Climate at the National Academies newsletter.

Climate change exacerbates and creates new risks for human health through threats such as extreme heat and vector-borne diseases. As part of its charge to protect human health and well-being, the health sector is beginning to tackle the challenge of decreasing its greenhouse gas emissions. Victor Dzau (President of the National Academy of Medicine) moderated a conversation with Gary Cohen (Health Care Without Harm) and Jodi Sherman (Yale University) about the challenges of decarbonizing the health sector, how those efforts fit into broader efforts to address climate change, and lessons that can be shared with other sectors.

Climate Conversations: Pathways to Action is a monthly webinar series from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine that aims to convene high-level, cross-cutting, nonpartisan conversations about issues relevant to national policy action on climate change.

Participant Bios

Gary Cohen is the co-founder and president of Health Care Without Harm, created to transform the health care sector to be environmentally sustainable and support the health and climate resilience of communities. He has helped build coalitions and networks globally to address health impacts related to climate change and toxic chemical exposure. A pioneer in the environmental health movement, he was awarded the Champion of Change Award for Climate Change and Public Health by the White House in 2013 and received a MacArthur Fellowship and “Genius Grant” in 2015.

Jodi Sherman is Associate Professor of Anesthesiology at Yale School of Medicine and Associate Professor of Epidemiology in Environmental Health Sciences at the Yale School of Public Health, where she is the founding director of the Program on Healthcare Environmental Sustainability. She also serves as the Medical Director of Sustainability for Yale New Haven Health. As an internationally recognized researcher in the emerging field of sustainability in healthcare, her research in life cycle environmental emissions assessment seeks to establish sustainability metrics to guide clinical decision-making, health care administration, and public policy.

Victor J. Dzau, M.D., is the President of the National Academy of Medicine (NAM) and Vice Chair of the National Research Council. Dr. Dzau is Chancellor Emeritus and James B. Duke Distinguished Professor of Medicine at Duke University and the past President and CEO of the Duke University Health System. At the NAM, he launched the Grand Challenge in Human Health and Climate Change to reverse the negative effects of climate change on health and social equity by activating the entire biomedical community, communicating and educating the public about climate change and health, driving changes through research, innovation and policy, and leading bold action to decarbonize the health care sector.

Disclaimer: The views expressed in the conversation are those of the participants and do not necessarily represent the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.

Contact

Amy Mitsumori

amitsumori@nas.edu

Disclaimer

It is essential to the National Academies mission of providing evidence-based advice that participants in any of our meetings or events avoid political or partisan statements or commentary and maintain a culture of mutual respect. The statements and presentations during our meetings or events are solely those of the individual participants and do not necessarily represent the views of other participants or the National Academy of Sciences, which is a non-partisan, tax exempt organization that includes under its Charter the National Academy of Engineering and National Academy of Medicine, and that operates the National Research Council.

Webinar

Climate Conversations: Tracking Emissions

October 21, 2021

3:00 PM - 4:00 PM (ET)

Past

About

Join us for a conversation that connects the policies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions with the science of measuring those emissions.

A recording of the webinar is available to view below.

Sign up for the Climate at the National Academies newsletter.

As the world gathers at COP26 and commits to reducing greenhouse gas emissions, it is critical that our scientific capabilities to monitor those emissions directly informs policies and supports accountability. Valerie Karplus (Carnegie Mellon University) moderated a conversation with Arlyn Andrews (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) and Bart Croes (California Air Resources Board, formerly) about how scientists and policymakers work together at different scales to monitor and verify emissions, and about how that knowledge can help determine if approaches to reduce emissions are effective at addressing climate change.

Climate Conversations: Pathways to Action is a monthly webinar series from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine that aims to convene high-level, cross-cutting, nonpartisan conversations about issues relevant to national policy action on climate change.

Participant Bios

Arlyn Andrews leads the Carbon Cycle Greenhouse Gases group within the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Global Monitoring Laboratory. As a leading expert in greenhouse gas measurements and their interpretation, she has contributed to the development of carbon dioxide and methane sensors for surface, aircraft, balloon and satellite platforms and to NOAA's CarbonTracker modeling framework for estimating greenhouse gas emissions and removals.

Bart Croes is the retired Chief of the Research Division for the California Air Resources Board, where he was responsible for air quality standards, emissions and atmospheric processes research, and greenhouse gas mitigation. He has published peer-reviewed articles on emission inventory evaluation, air quality data analysis, and climate change impacts on California.

Valerie Karplus is an Associate Professor in the department of Engineering and Public Policy at Carnegie Mellon University. Karplus studies resource and environmental management in organizations across diverse national and industry contexts. She is an expert on China’s energy system and its impacts on air pollution and climate change, working collaboratively with scholars in China for nearly 20 years.

Disclaimer: The views expressed in the conversation are those of the participants and do not necessarily represent the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.

Contact

Amy Mitsumori

amitsumori@nas.edu

Disclaimer

It is essential to the National Academies mission of providing evidence-based advice that participants in any of our meetings or events avoid political or partisan statements or commentary and maintain a culture of mutual respect. The statements and presentations during our meetings or events are solely those of the individual participants and do not necessarily represent the views of other participants or the National Academy of Sciences, which is a non-partisan, tax exempt organization that includes under its Charter the National Academy of Engineering and National Academy of Medicine, and that operates the National Research Council.

Webinar

Climate Conversations: Extreme Events

September 15, 2021

3:00 PM - 4:00 PM (ET)

Past

About

A conversation about how to prepare for and face increasingly extreme events in a changing climate.

A recording of the webinar is available to view below.

Sign up for the Climate at the National Academies newsletter.

About this Event

As a result of climate change, extreme events such as floods, wildfires, storms, and heat waves are already becoming more dangerous and destructive. Marshall Shepherd (University of Georgia) moderated a conversation with Craig Fugate (former FEMA Administrator) and Marissa Aho (Washington State Department of Natural Resources) about the connections between climate change and extreme events, and about how communities and governments at different scales can plan for and become more resilient to the risks from extreme events today and into the future.

Climate Conversations: Pathways to Action is a monthly webinar series from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine that aims to convene high-level, cross-cutting, nonpartisan conversations about issues relevant to national policy action on climate change.

Participant Bios

Marissa Aho is the Policy Director and Chief Resilience Officer for the Washington State Department of Natural Resources. She previously served as the Chief Resilience Officer for both the City of Houston and the City of Los Angeles, where she led the development and implementation of the cities’ resilience strategies, which focused on preparing for catastrophic events and addressing chronic stressors.

Craig Fugate served as President Obama’s Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Administrator from 2009-2017 and currently provides senior level advice and consultation in the area of disaster management and resiliency policy. He led FEMA through multiple record-breaking disaster years and oversaw the Federal Government’s response to major events such as the Joplin and Moore Tornadoes, Hurricane Sandy, Hurricane Matthew, and the 2016 Louisiana flooding.

J. Marshall Shepherd is the Director of the University of Georgia’s Atmospheric Sciences Program and the Georgia Athletic Association Distinguished Professor of Geography and Atmospheric Sciences. A leading international expert in weather and climate, he is the former President of the American Meteorological Society, a Senior Contributor to Forbes magazine, and the host of The Weather Channel’s award-winning Sunday talk show Weather Geeks.

Disclaimer: The views expressed in the conversation are those of the participants and do not necessarily represent the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.

Contact

Amy Mitsumori

amitsumori@nas.edu

Disclaimer

It is essential to the National Academies mission of providing evidence-based advice that participants in any of our meetings or events avoid political or partisan statements or commentary and maintain a culture of mutual respect. The statements and presentations during our meetings or events are solely those of the individual participants and do not necessarily represent the views of other participants or the National Academy of Sciences, which is a non-partisan, tax exempt organization that includes under its Charter the National Academy of Engineering and National Academy of Medicine, and that operates the National Research Council.

Webinar

Climate Conversations: Climate Security

July 15, 2021

3:00 PM - 4:00 PM (ET)

Past

About

A conversation about the connections between climate change and security.

A recording of the webinar is available to view below.

Sign up for the Climate at the National Academies newsletter.

About this Event

Climate change is impacting and exacerbating risks to security at home and abroad. Lisa Friedman (The New York Times) moderated a conversation with Erin Sikorsky (The Center for Climate and Security) and Swathi Veeravalli (U.S. Africa Command) about how different parts of the security community are thinking about climate risks, what implications these risks hold for policy and planning, and where there are capacity gaps or aspects of climate security that need more research.

Climate Conversations: Pathways to Action is a monthly webinar series from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine that aims to convene high-level, cross-cutting, nonpartisan conversations about issues relevant to national policy action on climate change.

Participant Bios

Erin Sikorsky is the Deputy Director of the Center for Climate and Security, and the Director of the International Military Council on Climate and Security. Previously, she served as the Deputy Director of the Strategic Futures Group on the National Intelligence Council in the U.S., where she co-authored the quadrennial Global Trends report and led the U.S. intelligence community’s environmental and climate security analysis. She is also the founding chair of the Climate Security Advisory Council, a Congressionally mandated group designed to facilitate coordination between the intelligence community and U.S. government scientific agencies.

Swathi Veeravalli is a Foreign Affairs Specialist at United States Africa Command. She is an interdisciplinary research scientist with expertise in developing the capability to better understand how climate variability impacts humans and the environment, particularly related to how compound climate-fragility risks threaten U.S. and international security.

Lisa Friedman is a reporter on the New York Times climate desk, focusing on climate and environmental policy in Washington D.C. She has covered nine international climate talks and chased climate-related stories from the bottom of a Chinese coal mine to the top of snow-capped Himalaya Mountains.

Disclaimer: The views expressed in the conversation are those of the participants and do not necessarily represent the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.

Contact

Alex Reich

areich@nas.edu

Disclaimer

It is essential to the National Academies mission of providing evidence-based advice that participants in any of our meetings or events avoid political or partisan statements or commentary and maintain a culture of mutual respect. The statements and presentations during our meetings or events are solely those of the individual participants and do not necessarily represent the views of other participants or the National Academy of Sciences, which is a non-partisan, tax exempt organization that includes under its Charter the National Academy of Engineering and National Academy of Medicine, and that operates the National Research Council.

Webinar

Climate Conversations: Infrastructure

June 17, 2021

3:00 PM - 4:00 PM (ET)

Past

About

A conversation on the role of infrastructure and engineering in building a climate resilient future.

About this Event

Mariette DiChristina (Boston University) moderated a conversation with John L. Anderson (President of the National Academy of Engineering) and Thomas P. Bostick (former Commanding General of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers) about the different kinds of infrastructure and systems susceptible to climate impacts, the wide range of engineering solutions that can play a role in building a resilient and net-zero future and the ways to help prepare the next generation of engineers for such a monumental task.

A recording of the webinar is available to view below.

For those who are interested, please see these related issues of The Bridge, from the National Academy of Engineering: Engineering and Climate Change (spring 2020), Engineering for Disaster Resilience (summer 2019), and A Vision for the Future of America’s Infrastructure (summer 2018).

Climate Conversations: Pathways to Action is a new monthly webinar series from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine that aims to convene high-level, cross-cutting, nonpartisan conversations about issues relevant to national policy action on climate change.

Participant Bios

John L. Anderson is the President of the National Academy of Engineering. He was most recently Distinguished Professor of Chemical Engineering and president of the Illinois Institute of Technology. Before that he was provost and executive vice president at Case Western Reserve University, following 28 years at Carnegie Mellon University and 5 years at Cornell University.

Thomas P. Bostick is a Senior Executive with more than 30 years of experience in both the public and private sectors. He served as the 53rd Chief of Engineers and Commanding General of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, where he was responsible for most of the Nation’s civil works infrastructure and military construction. An expert in crisis response, he controlled the nuclear codes during the tragic events of 9-11, and he led the nation’s recovery effort following Hurricane Sandy.

Mariette DiChristina is the dean of the College of Communication at Boston University and a nationally recognized science journalist, most recently as editor-in-chief and executive vice president of Scientific American.

Disclaimer: The views expressed in the conversation are those of the participants and do not necessarily represent the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.

Contact

Alex Reich

areich@nas.edu

Disclaimer

It is essential to the National Academies mission of providing evidence-based advice that participants in any of our meetings or events avoid political or partisan statements or commentary and maintain a culture of mutual respect. The statements and presentations during our meetings or events are solely those of the individual participants and do not necessarily represent the views of other participants or the National Academy of Sciences, which is a non-partisan, tax exempt organization that includes under its Charter the National Academy of Engineering and National Academy of Medicine, and that operates the National Research Council.

Webinar

Climate Conversations: Solar Geoengineering

May 20, 2021

3:00 PM - 4:00 PM (ET)

Past

About

A conversation on the possible risks and benefits of solar geoengineering as part of a portfolio of responses to climate change.

Solar geoengineering refers to a set of possible strategies to help reduce global warming by increasing the amount of solar radiation reflected away from Earth. Frank Sesno (George Washington University) moderated a conversation with Marcia McNutt (President of the National Academy of Sciences) and Chris Field (Stanford University) about how and whether solar geoengineering could fit into broader efforts to address climate change, the role of research in helping inform decisions about implementation, and the complex global ethics and governance issues associated with solar geoengineering. The webinar included discussion of the new National Academies report Reflecting Sunlight: Recommendations for Solar Geoengineering Research and Research Governance, which was chaired by Dr. Field.

A recording of the webinar is available to view below.

Sign up for the Climate at the National Academies newsletter.

Participant Biographies:

Marcia McNutt is a geophysicist and the President of the National Academy of Sciences. From 2013 to 2016, she was editor-in-chief of the Science family of journals, and from 2009 to 2013, she was director of the U.S. Geological Survey. She also chaired the 2015 National Academies report, Climate Intervention: Reflecting Sunlight to Cool Earth.

Chris Field is the Perry L. McCarty Director of the Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment and Melvin and Joan Lane Professor for Interdisciplinary Environmental Studies. His research focuses on climate change, especially solutions that improve lives now, decrease the amount of future warming, and support vibrant economies. He chaired the 2021 National Academies report, Reflecting Sunlight: Recommendations for Solar Geoengineering Research and Research Governance.

Frank Sesno is an Emmy Award-winning journalist with more than thirty years of experience reporting from around the world. He currently serves as Director of Strategic Initiatives at The George Washington University’s School of Media and Public Affairs, where he created PlanetForward.org, a multi-platform project that brings students and experts together to examine sustainable innovations that “move the planet forward.”

Disclosure: The webinar participants have no financial or commercial relationships to disclose related to this online educational activity. The views expressed in the conversation are those of the participants and do not necessarily represent the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.

Contact

Alex Reich

areich@nas.edu

Disclaimer

It is essential to the National Academies mission of providing evidence-based advice that participants in any of our meetings or events avoid political or partisan statements or commentary and maintain a culture of mutual respect. The statements and presentations during our meetings or events are solely those of the individual participants and do not necessarily represent the views of other participants or the National Academy of Sciences, which is a non-partisan, tax exempt organization that includes under its Charter the National Academy of Engineering and National Academy of Medicine, and that operates the National Research Council.

Webinar

Climate Conversations: The Cost of Carbon

April 15, 2021

3:00 PM - 4:00 PM (ET)

Past

About

A conversation about the social cost of carbon and equitable climate policy in the United States.

The social cost of carbon is a metric used for incorporating the economic impacts of carbon emissions into federal decision-making. Justin Worland (TIME) moderated a conversation with Richard Newell (Resources for the Future) and Rachel Cleetus (Union of Concerned Scientists) about the social cost of carbon, its importance for addressing the climate change challenge, and considerations for how it can advance equitable and economically sound policies. The conversation also touched on the social cost of other greenhouse gases.

View a recording of the webinar below.

Sign up for the Climate at the National Academies newsletter.

Climate Conversations: Pathways to Action is a new monthly webinar series from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine that aims to convene high-level, cross-cutting, nonpartisan conversations about issues relevant to national policy action on climate change.

Participant Biographies

Richard Newell is the President and CEO of Resources for the Future, an independent, nonprofit research institution that improves environmental, energy, and natural resource decisions through impartial economic research and policy engagement. He was the co-chair of the 2017 National Academies report, Valuing Climate Damages: Updating Estimation of the Social Cost of Carbon Dioxide.

Rachel Cleetus is the policy director with the Climate and Energy program at the Union of Concerned Scientists. She leads the program’s efforts in designing effective and equitable policies to address climate change, and advocating for their implementation.

Justin Worland is a Washington D.C.-based senior correspondent for TIME covering climate change and the intersection of policy, politics and society.

Disclosure: The webinar participants have no financial or commercial relationships to disclose related to this online educational activity. The views expressed in the conversation are those of the participants and do not necessarily represent the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.

Contact

Alex Reich

areich@nas.edu

Disclaimer

It is essential to the National Academies mission of providing evidence-based advice that participants in any of our meetings or events avoid political or partisan statements or commentary and maintain a culture of mutual respect. The statements and presentations during our meetings or events are solely those of the individual participants and do not necessarily represent the views of other participants or the National Academy of Sciences, which is a non-partisan, tax exempt organization that includes under its Charter the National Academy of Engineering and National Academy of Medicine, and that operates the National Research Council.

Webinar

Climate Conversations: Climate & COVID-19

March 18, 2021

3:00 PM - 4:00 PM (ET)

Past

About

A conversation about the climate crisis and COVID-19 pandemic, and steps to a more resilient and equitable future.

Almost exactly one year after U.S. COVID-19 lockdowns began, Laura Helmuth (Scientific American) moderated a conversation between Georges Benjamin (APHA) and Kris Ebi (University of Washington) that was both reflective about the intersections between climate change and COVID-19 over the last year, and forward-looking at the state of progress on addressing these issues in the U.S.

A recording of the webinar is available to view below.

Sign up for the Climate at the National Academies newsletter
Check out our release, Global Change Research Needs and Opportunities for 2022-2031

Climate Conversations: Pathways to Action is a new monthly webinar series from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine that aims to convene high-level, cross-cutting, nonpartisan conversations about issues relevant to national policy action on climate change.

Participant Biographies:

Georges Benjamin has served as the executive director of the American Public Health Association, the nation’s oldest and largest organization of public health professionals, since December 2002. Well known as a health leader, practitioner, and administrator, he is a former secretary of health for the State of Maryland.

Kristie L. Ebi is a Professor in the Department of Global Health and in the Department of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences at the University of Washington. She conducts research on the impacts of and adaptation to climate change, including on extreme events, thermal stress, foodborne safety and security, waterborne diseases, and vectorborne diseases.

Laura Helmuth is the Editor-in-Chief of Scientific American. Previously, she was The Washington Post’s Science and Health Editor and president of the National Association of Science Writers.

Disclosure: The webinar participants have no financial or commercial relationships to disclose related to this online educational activity. The views expressed in the conversation are those of the participants and do not necessarily represent the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.

Contact

Alex Reich

areich@nas.edu

Disclaimer

It is essential to the National Academies mission of providing evidence-based advice that participants in any of our meetings or events avoid political or partisan statements or commentary and maintain a culture of mutual respect. The statements and presentations during our meetings or events are solely those of the individual participants and do not necessarily represent the views of other participants or the National Academy of Sciences, which is a non-partisan, tax exempt organization that includes under its Charter the National Academy of Engineering and National Academy of Medicine, and that operates the National Research Council.

Webinar

Climate Conversations: Decarbonization

February 18, 2021

3:00 PM - 4:00 PM (ET)

Past

About

A conversation about what it means to decarbonize, and about quick and equitable actions to put the U.S. on a path to net-zero emissions by 2050.

The recording of the webinar may be viewed below.

You can access the National Academies' recent report, Accelerating Decarbonization of the U.S. Energy System (2021), here.

limate Conversations: Pathways to Action is a new monthly webinar series from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine that aims to convene high-level, cross-cutting, nonpartisan conversations about issues relevant to national policy action on climate change.

For the inaugural webinar, Mariette DiChristina (Boston University) moderated a conversation with Ben Preston (RAND) and Steve Pacala (Princeton University) about the most actionable opportunities for decarbonization in the United States. The webinar included discussion of the new National Academies report, Accelerating Decarbonization of the United States Energy System, which was chaired by Dr. Pacala.

Participant Biographies:

Stephen W. Pacala is the Frederick D. Petrie Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at Princeton University, where he directs the Carbon Mitigation Initiative. He is the Chair of the National Academies Committee on Accelerating Decarbonization in the United States: Technological, Policy, and Societal Dimensions.

Benjamin Preston is a senior policy researcher at the RAND Corporation and director of Community Health and Environmental Policy, a program of RAND Social and Economic Well-Being, and currently serves as coeditor-in-chief for the Elsevier journal Climate Risk Management.

Mariette DiChristina is the dean of the College of Communication at Boston University and a nationally recognized science journalist, most recently as editor-in-chief and executive vice president of Scientific American.

Contact

Alex Reich

areich@nas.edu

Disclaimer

It is essential to the National Academies mission of providing evidence-based advice that participants in any of our meetings or events avoid political or partisan statements or commentary and maintain a culture of mutual respect. The statements and presentations during our meetings or events are solely those of the individual participants and do not necessarily represent the views of other participants or the National Academy of Sciences, which is a non-partisan, tax exempt organization that includes under its Charter the National Academy of Engineering and National Academy of Medicine, and that operates the National Research Council.

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Climate Conversations: Pathways to Action

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Climate Conversations: Science Policy Crossroads

Air Pollution in India: Ramanathan Climate Conversation 2025

Climate Conversations: Educational Pathways for a Climate-Ready Workforce

Climate Conversations: Reducing and Removing Methane Emissions

Climate Conversations: Coral Reefs

Climate Conversations: Powering AI

Climate Conversations: Native Seeds

Climate Conversations: Urban Fires

Climate Conversations: Securing Financing for Responding to Climate Change

Climate Conversations: Reimagining Household Products

Climate Conversations: Housing and Disasters

Global Perspectives: Water Resilience

Climate Conversations: The Future of Sports

Climate Conversations: Hydrogen

Climate Conversations: Community-Driven Relocation

Climate Conversations: Environmental Justice

Climate Conversations: Women in Climate Science

Climate Conversations: Offshore Wind

Climate Conversations: COP28

Climate Conversations: Future of Fossil Fuels

Floods in Asia: 2nd Annual Ramanathan Climate Conversation

Climate Conversations: The Macroeconomy

Climate Conversations: Schools

Climate Conversations: Artificial Intelligence

Climate Conversations: Nuclear Energy

Climate Conversations: Nature-Based Solutions

Climate Conversations: Tipping Points

Climate Conversations: Methane

Climate Conversations: Insurance

2022 Ramanathan Climate Conversation

Climate Conversations: Extreme Heat

Climate Conversations: The Grid

Climate Conversations: Wildfire

Climate Conversations: Urban Transportation

Climate Conversations: Water Justice

Climate Conversations: Adaptation in Agriculture

Climate Conversations: Sea Level Rise

Climate Conversations: EV Infrastructure

Climate Conversations: Biodiversity

Climate Conversations: Ocean Carbon Dioxide Removal

Climate Conversations: Decarbonizing the Health Sector

Climate Conversations: Tracking Emissions

Climate Conversations: Extreme Events

Climate Conversations: Climate Security

Climate Conversations: Infrastructure

Climate Conversations: Solar Geoengineering

Climate Conversations: The Cost of Carbon

Climate Conversations: Climate & COVID-19

Climate Conversations: Decarbonization