Workshop Description: The climate crisis exacerbates existing inequalities locally and globally. And that means we need to center equity in all climate action efforts. In this workshop we'll review some of the existing inequalities and then explore strategies to facilitate an equitable clean energy future where everyone thrives.
Participants can expect: Discussion, Problem-solving, Small group work, Advocacy / Action, Verbal Presentation / Lecture, Q&A
This workshop is offered: All Day, Sessions 1-4
Speaker Bio: Kathy Kuntz is the Director of the Dane County Office of Energy & Climate Change in Madison, Wisconsin where she leads climate action efforts across Dane County. Over the last four years Kathy has worked with youth from across Dane County to organize the annual Youth Climate Conferences where young people inspire each other around equitable climate action.
Workshop Description: Panelists from local environment-focused organizations and companies will discuss climate advocacy and policy and respond to student questions. The student-led panel will be followed by a team-based trivia game to work with environmental experts while testing your climate knowledge.
Participants can expect: Panel Discussion, Small group work, Verbal Presentation / Lecture, Game(s), Q&A
This workshop is offered: PM, Sessions 3 & 4
Speaker Info: Ellie O’Flannigan, Holly Dolan, Jack Rogge and Wilson Lee will moderate the panel. They are current students at West and members of West’s Green Club, a longstanding organization focused on improving local climate policy.
Panelists:
Bryanna Krekeler is the first-ever sustainability program manager with MMSD. She will be responsible for developing and implementing District-wide sustainability and environmental strategies, policies and training. Before transferring to MMSD, Bryanna led projects that optimize energy use, reduce greenhouse gas emissions and enhance building performance across various settings. Her particular areas of expertise include project management, energy modeling, building commissioning, retro-commissioning and decarbonization. She holds a bachelor of science degrees from the University of Kansas (architectural engineering) and the University of Minnesota (economics, math and statistics) and a master’s degree in teaching from Northwest University.
Ben Stanger is the Founder & CEO of Green Box Compost. He grew up in a family that interacted with soil intimately. They prided themselves on their large vegetable garden, and composted the scraps from their plates, turning them into nutrients for next year's garden. He knew this natural cycle from practice, and wondered if there wasn't a way to make it accessible to people with less time and space. In 2017, after working at a green home builder and a sustainable seafood company, he discovered a composting company's van making its rounds. He resolved to learn more about the industry, with an eye to helping his hometown of Madison access this important service. In 2021, he founded Green Box. When not composting, you might find him playing ultimate frisbee, creating ceramics, or reading a book.
Lorenza Zebell (she/her) leads Sustain Dane’s education and outreach programs. She believes taking sustainable actions large and small can create a more secure, equitable, and prosperous future for our community and beyond. With eight years of experience in environmental program design, Lorenza has successfully launched multiple initiatives aimed at promoting sustainable practices within diverse communities. She uses her facilitation skills to create welcoming environments that empower underrepresented groups to engage in climate action. Her work in behavioral change has led to measurable reductions in waste and energy consumption among participating organizations and households. She holds a degree in Operations and Sustainability from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. In her free time, she enjoys sewing her own clothes, antiquing, and hunting for vintage clothing.
Workshop Description: Students will learn about the history of the Environmental Justice Movement in the US, how environmental injustice impacts communities across Wisconsin, and steps they can take to help their community. Specific issues to be discussed include: oil and gas pipelines, PFAS, animal agriculture, public utilities, youth and marginalized communities, and native nations.
Participants can expect: Discussion, Small group work, Verbal Presentation / Lecture, Q&A
This workshop is offered: AM, Sessions 1 & 2
Speaker Bio: Skylar Harris is the Climate Justice Fellow at Midwest Environmental Advocates and a licensed California attorney. She received her law degree from UCLA with specializations in Environmental Law and Critical Race Studies. She attended undergrad at The Ohio State University, receiving a dual degree in Strategic Communications and Arts Management with minors in German and Music, Media and Enterprise. Her past legal clerkships include: the US Department of Justice, Environment and Natural Resources Division; Earthjustice's Toxic Exposure and Health Team; and Los Angeles Waterkeeper.
Workshop Description: We want students to be aware on how to save on energy. How they can make a big impact by just making small changes in habits. Why is important to care about clean energy and how to make use of the energy more efficiently.
Participants can expect: Discussion, Hands-on Activity, Game(s)
This workshop is offered: AM, sessions 1 & 2
Speaker Bio: Brady Steigauf is the community liaison manager with Focus on Energy. Brady has 9 years of experience working in the nexus of energy efficiency, local government sustainability, and utility space. He is the Community Liaison Manager at Focus on Energy. In this role, his goal is to enhance the focus on energy program experience for cities, local governments, and community-based organizations by bringing communities and utilities together to deliver energy saving programs to new, broader audiences of residents and businesses.
Workshop Description: Come learn about Madison's new city-wide network of air quality sensors and how they can help us understand air quality in our community. These sensors measure particulate matter pollution - small particles that can cause heart and breathing problems - at the neighborhood level. Information provided by this network will help us know when to take action to protect our health and help our community develop strategies to reduce pollution where it is highest.
Participants can expect: Discussion, Hands-on Activity, Verbal Presentation / Lecture, Q&A
This workshop is offered: PM only, sessions 3 & 4
Speaker Bios:
Dr. Jessica Price is Sustainability and Resilience Manger for the City of Madison, where she implements policies, programs, and strategies to advance climate resilience, sustainability, and environmental justice. Prior to joining the Mayor’s Office, Jessica served as Renewable Energy Strategy Lead for the Nature Conservancy in New York. She has a PhD in Landscape Ecology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Subi Thakali is a Ph.D. graduate student in the Department of Chemistry at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Her research in Timothy Bertram’s group focuses on urban air quality, specifically measuring volatile organic compounds which have an impact on ozone and particulate matter (PM) formation. Her research has also focused on looking at indoor and outdoor PM studies.
Workshop Description: One of the biggest pipeline and environmental justice fights in the U.S. is happening in Wisconsin right now. Enbridge, a multi-billion dollar oil corporation has been trespassing on Bad River Band Tribal land for over a decade. Understand the court case, advocate for change, and help us break a world record to draw public attention to the issue.
Participants can expect: Discussion, Hands-on Activity, Advocacy / Action
This workshop is offered: All Day, Sessions 1-4
Speaker Bio: Abby Novinska-Lois is the Executive Director of Healthy Climate Wisconsin, an organization of public health and healthcare professionals.
Workshop Description: We'll be talking about what energy equity means: treating clean, affordable energy as a human right and ensuring that everyone has access to it. We'll be exploring ways that you can take action to make sure that your family, your friends' families, and your community have your voices heard in favor of fair energy rates and clean energy development!
Participants can expect: Discussion, Hands-on Activity, Advocacy / Action, Verbal Presentation / Lecture
This workshop is offered: AM, Sessions 1 & 2
Speaker Bio: Emily Park is one of 350 Wisconsin’s Co-Executive Directors. Emily joined 350 Wisconsin as a volunteer in 2019 and held positions on the Coordinating Council and Board of Directors before joining staff in 2021. She has organized and engaged in activist work around fossil fuel infrastructure and financing, community sustainability, clean energy deployment, and state and federal policy. Emily grew up in Boise, Idaho, and has also lived in St Louis, MO and Cleveland, OH and has been a resident of Madison since 2015. Emily has a degree in Earth & Planetary Sciences and Environmental Studies from Washington University in St. Louis. In her free time, Emily enjoys crafting (and collecting crafting supplies), reading, hiking, and cooking.
Workshop Description: In this workshop, students will learn about energy and environmental justice and its tenants, particularly in the context of Wisconsin, and discuss examples of energy and environmental justice and injustice in local policy and planning. Students will then work in small groups to critique existing policies and case studies based on this new knowledge, brainstorm and research ideal solutions, and share their recommendations. By the end of the workshop, students will have gained skills in policy analysis, systems thinking, communication, and civic engagement.
Participants can expect: Reading & Discussion, Problem-solving, Small group work, Verbal Presentation / Lecture
This workshop is offered: PM, Sessions 3 & 4
Speaker Bios:
Sara Ostad is a PhD student and researcher in the Dept of Life Sciences Communication. Sara is involved in community-engaged research focused on public perception and acceptance of energy technologies. Additionally, Sara's work looks at how we can best bridge the gap between the public, scientists, and policymakers when it comes to climate change action and solutions. Sara completed her master’s in Environmental Policy and Management at University of California, Davis, where she worked with majority Hispanic communities to strategically communicate their economic and climate justice concerns and consulted the California Department of Conservation in implementing their new Biofuels grant project aimed to serve Sierra Nevada communities affected by wildfires. When she is not busy working, Sara likes to hike, try new local restaurants, and foster cats.
Jennifer Jones, Dine/Navajo Nation, is a Ph.D. student at the Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies and works at the intersection of STEM, social sciences, and policy. Her research focuses on the potential of tribal-owned utilities to provide clean, reliable electricity for tribal communities. This year, Jennifer received the 2024-25 Public Humanities Fellowship at the Center for the Humanities, leading to her role as the Tribal Engagement Fellow at RENEW Wisconsin, a non-profit advancing policy and programming for clean energy adoption. Jennifer likes traveling, concert-going, and watching k-dramas.
Nova Tebbe (MPH,MPA) is an Environment and Resources PhD candidate in the Climate Solutions for Health Lab at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Her research focuses on the health and equity co-benefits of climate mitigation policy, focusing on how to maximize these benefits in national and local contexts through policy analysis, evaluation, and design. She has worked with the Global Climate and Health Alliance on national policy briefs to raise ambition on Nationally Determined Contributions. In her spare time, Nova enjoys cycling, listening to vinyls, and outdoor activities such as paddle boarding.
Workshop Description: How might we design and build housing more sustainably? In this workshop we'll discuss passive house design and construction as one approach to sustainable building.
Participants can expect: Discussion, Verbal Presentation / Lecture
This workshop is offered: PM, Sessions 3 & 4
Speaker Bio: Tyler Krupp Qureshi is the development lead for Threshold Development projects. He focuses on Threshold's financial and business operations, site visits and collaborating with our lenders, investors, counsel, government, architects and neighborhood associations. Tyler is an entrepreneur and educator with nearly 20 years experience in small business management and community building. He is interested in how the built environment can support sustainable and thriving community.