SPEAKERS

Uli Nagel

Uli Nagel is a Pilates teacher by trade and over the past years has been spending more and more time on climate related issues. Among other things, she initiated the project Ener-G-save with her philanthropist client Harold Grinspoon, co-founded the group Living the Change Berkshires, which hosts the yearly Berkshire Earth Expo and she is the liaison for Richard Neal’s office of Citizens’ Climate Lobby, a non-partisan group supporting the bi-partisan Energy Innovation Act. Most recently, she has also been involved with Extinction Rebellion and the Deep Adaptation Movement.

Jessie Parrott

Jessie is a senior at Bard College at Simon’s Rock in Great Barrington, Massachusetts. Born and raised in Brooklyn, New York, she has been passionate about environmental issues and education reform in and out of the city from a young age. She will graduate from Simon’s Rock in May 2020 with a Bachelor of Arts degree and a double major in Environmental and Sustainability Studies and Anthropocene Studies with minors in Botany and Geography. Her work focuses on education content reform, education policy reform, climate crisis adaptation, and climate change education.

Jeff Mazur

Jeff Mazur is an environmental educator at the Hitchcock Center, where he teaches Homeschool and Nature Play Afterschool programs and also directs the Summer Camp. Jeff has recently developed new citizen science curriculum for the Hitchcock Center, tapping into many existing citizen science programs that relate to climate change.

Shaina Rogstad

Hi, I am Shaina Rogstad! I am a Ph.D Candidate at UMass Amherst in the Department of Geosciences. My current research, working with my advisor Dr. Alan Condron (Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute), focuses on predicting changes in global climate resulting from a collapse of the West Antarctic ice sheet. For more information on this project please visit my research page and check out my interview with Time Scavengers.

I did my undergraduate work at UMass Amherst and graduated with a B.S in Astronomy/Astrophysics and a B.S in Physics. During the course of my time there I worked on several research projects including a technique for developing photometric redshift values for distant galaxies with Dr. Min Yun, data processing for the LIGO gravitational wave observatory with Dr. Laura Cadonati, and my thesis work on spectroscopic evidence for OVI emission from nearby star forming galaxies with Dr. Todd Tripp.

From there I went on to obtain an M.S in Applied Mathematics and worked on projects modeling solitons and vorticies in Bose Einstein condensates under the direction of Dr. Panos Kevrekidis and modeling the spread of Dengue Hemorrhagic Fever in Thailand under the direction of Dr. Markos Katsoulakis.

Alexandra Vecchio

Alexandra Vecchio is the Climate Change Program Manager at Mass Audubon where she is responsible for drafting, implementing, and evaluating the organization’s statewide climate change strategy. In particular, she oversees Mass Audubon’s climate change education programs, public outreach and community engagement, local climate advocacy efforts, internal and external climate communications, and offers scientific and policy consultation to external partners. In addition, Alexandra is a certified Provider for the Commonwealth’s Municipal Vulnerability Preparedness Program and works to help communities identify actions to reduce climate vulnerabilities and strengthen their community assets.

She has a Masters of Environmental Management from Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies where she specialized in the intersection of climate change adaptation, land use planning, and water resource management. Alexandra has previously supported the development and implementation of climate action plans for both universities and cities, and has extensive experience in community engagement, outreach, and organizing. Prior to beginning her graduate program at Yale, Alexandra worked in Washington D.C. as a Legislative Assistant for Congressman Mike Quigley handling a variety of federal policy issues including energy, environment, and climate change. In her free time, Alexandra loves to play with her dog Lucy, travel the world, and spend time in the water either swimming, water skiing, or scuba diving.

Witter Swanson

Witter Swanson is a junior at Amherst College and hails from Saranac Lake New York, where he is currently a member of the Wild Center’s Youth Climate Advisory Board. Witter has participated in summits organized with the Wild Center model, and he has witnessed the Wild Center's summit model spread across the country and the world. Now he serves as a resource for organizations or local governments that want to organize their own Summits and find ways to engage young people.

JESSICA SCHULTZ

Jessica is living building systems manager for Hitchcock Center’s 9,000 square foot Certified Living Building (23rd in the world and 4th in Massachusetts) where she also develops and leads the living building tour education program for thousands of visitors. In her second role, Jessica guides on-going media relations, website and social media, print and digital publications, email marketing, marketing planning and budgeting, visual documentation, and communications systems in coordination with all staff across the organization. She has undergraduate degrees in Botany and Interdisciplinary Studies from Miami University (OH) and a Master’s in Sustainability and Environmental Management from Harvard University. She has been on staff at the Hitchcock Center for 8 years.

MOLLY CRAFT

My name is Molly and I’m from the small town of Upton, Massachusetts. I attended the University of Massachusetts - Amherst and received my degree in Environmental Conservation with a certificate in Geographic Information Systems and Technology. As the Outreach and Education EcoFellow at CET, I help spread the word about how businesses and homeowners across the state can help save energy and reduce waste.

Belén Rodriguez

Hello! My name is Belen Rodriguez and I grew up in the sunny and humid place that is Southwest Florida. I graduated from Wesleyan University in May 2019 with a double major in history/sociocultural studies of science and environmental studies and a minor in data analysis. As the Building Science EcoFellow, I help CET administer their energy efficiency programs for homeowners and business.

Valeria Bridgewater

I grew up in Austin, TX. For college, I moved to Sewanee TN where I attended the University of the South and majored in Environment and Sustainability. As the Program Operations EcoFellow, I help CET administer their waste programs for institutions and business.

Brian Premo

My name is Brian and I am from Charlton, Massachusetts. I recently graduated from the University of Massachusetts Amherst where I studied Environmental Science and Geology. As the Communications and Community Outreach EcoFellow, I oversee event promotion via social media platforms, help with marketing tools and strategies, and participate in outreach events across the state.

Joe Thomson,Isabel Marrapese, Sadie Ross, Jackson Harper, Leo Franceschi

We are a small part of the Frontier Regional School Environmental Club. Most of us had the privilege of attending the Youth Climate Summit last year and since then have worked hard to implement our action plan at Frontier. We will be presenting about what we learned throughout that process and what we wish we had known before starting it.

Kate O'Connor & Rico Spence

A Beautiful Future Band’s Climate Healing Program celebrates and honors the earth, and the natural ways that earth’s systems create a perfect climate for us. We share songs and slides that reflect how human culture got out of balance with the earth’s wisdom to create climate change, and how we can restore those systems to create climate healing and well being for all.

The Beautiful Future Band is led by Kate O’Connor and Rico Spence, who draw on their respective family heritages (Irish and African/Caribbean), to combine their rich cultural influences and passion to bring joy and inspiration with positive music. Kate performs with award winning vocals, keyboards, steel drum and guitar. Rico is a groove master on bass, drums, percussion, and wide ranging background vocals (bass to soprano!).

Patti Steinman

Patti Steinman has been an environmental educator and administrator for Mass Audubon for 30 years. She has worked at Arcadia for the past 16 years, and prior to that worked in the Blue Hills Reservation. Patti has a Masters of Education from Antioch New England/Keene New Hampshire and a strong passion for Crows and Ravens!

Smith Divest: Ella Carlson & Brooke Studdard

Ella Carlson is a junior at Smith and has been a member of Divest for three years. She is also very involved with Divest Ed, which is a national training and strategizing network around fossil fuel divestment. Brooke Studdard is a sophomore at Smith and is a new member of Divest. She is also doing work with Extinction Rebellion Western Massachusetts, which is working to build a climate action campaign among community members, faculty, and students of the five colleges.

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