Climate 101 Masterclass (October 15th, 2021)
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Elizabeth Bagley
Program Director @ SEI Elizabeth Bagley is a Program Director at SEI where she builds sustainability leaders through partnerships with higher education institutions. Elizabeth’s interdisciplinary background spans academia, business, and the nonprofit sector. Before joining SEI, Elizabeth led Drawdown Learn at Project Drawdown, directed sustainability efforts at the California Academy of Sciences, and designed the science content for video games at LeapFrog. An experienced environmental educator, Elizabeth worked as a naturalist in Glacier National Park, taught middle and high school science in Louisiana, developed K-12 professional development for teachers, and designed a science communication course for graduate students. Elizabeth holds joint PhDs in Environment & Resources and Educational Psychology from the University of Wisconsin at Madison where she studied how video games can encourage systems thinking about complex environmental topics. |
Marina Psaros
Senior Manager of Sustainability @ Unity Technologies Marina Psaros is Unity’s global sustainability lead and the author of The Atlas of Disappearing Places: Our Coasts and Oceans in the Climate Crisis. She has conducted climate change action programs across the public, private, and non-profit sectors for over fifteen years and holds a Master’s in Environmental Policy and Urban Planning from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Her mission is to unite science and technology with creativity and empowerment to solve our most pressing environmental issues. |
Climate Policy Masterclass (November 12th, 2021)
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Mark Alan Hughes
Founding Faculty Director @ Kleinman Center for Energy Policy Mark Alan Hughes is founding faculty director of the Kleinman Center for Energy Policy. He is a professor of practice in regional planning and energy policy appointed in the Department of Landscape Architecture and Regional Planning at the University of Pennsylvania Stuart Weitzman School of Design. He is also a faculty fellow of the Penn Institute for Urban Research and a research fellow of the Wharton Risk Center. Hughes is the author and performer of the 2021 audiobook Livable Cities. He was chief policy adviser to Mayor Michael A. Nutter and the founding director of sustainability for the City of Philadelphia, where he led the creation of the Greenworks Plan in 2009. He has designed and fielded national policy research projects in a variety of areas including the Bridges to Work program in transportation, the Transitional Work Corporation in job training and placement, the Campaign for Working Families in EITC participation, and the Energy Efficient Buildings Hub in regional economic development. This work has been funded by H.U.D., H.H.S., D.O.E., Ford, Rockefeller, Pew, Casey, WmPenn, and others. Hughes earned a Ph.D. in regional science from the University of Pennsylvania in 1986, and a B.A. in religion and art history from Swarthmore College in 1981. |
Adam Freed
Principal, Sustainability Practice @ Bloomberg Associates Prior to joining Bloomberg Associates, Adam was the Deputy Managing Director of The Nature Conservancy’s Global Water Program, where he worked to help cities have safe, sustainable, and reliable water supplies. From 2008 to 2012, Adam served as the Acting and Deputy Director of the New York City Mayor’s Office of Long-Term Planning and Sustainability, overseeing the implementation of PlaNYC and related sustainability initiatives and developing the city’s first climate resilience program. As part of PlaNYC, the City planted almost one million trees, created more than 240 new community playgrounds, enacted the nation’s most aggressive green buildings legislation, achieved the cleanest air quality in over 50 years, announced the largest expansion of its recycling program in 25 years, launched a $2 billion green infrastructure program, and lowered its greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) by 14%." In addition to his time with City government, Adam was an Assistant Comptroller in the Office of the New York State Comptroller, where he led the review of large-scale economic development projects and crafted corporate governance strategies for the $150 billion New York State Common Retirement fund. Adam is also a Lecturer at Columbia University, a member of the New York City Water Board, and on the board of ioby, a crowd-resourcing platform to support community-led improvement projects. He received his Master of Urban Planning from New York University and was a Mel King Community Fellow at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). |
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COP26 Masterclass (December 3rd, 2021)
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Koko Warner
Manager @ UNFCCC Koko Warner focuses on climate risks and impacts, migration, and resilient futures at the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). She manages the Vulnerability subdivision, where she guides the UN climate secretariat’s adaptation knowledge hub and the Local Communities and Indigenous Peoples Platform. Warner is a lead author for the IPCC Special Report on Climate Change and Land and 5th Assessment Report. Previously at UNFCCC, she supervised the loss and damage workstream. Before joining UNFCCC, Warner was founder and Executive Director of the Munich Climate Insurance Initiative and head of research on environmental migration and social resilience at UN University in Bonn. The International Council of Science named Warner among the top 20 in the climate change debate. She holds a Ph.D. in Economics and publishes in Nature journals, Climate Policy, Global Environmental Change, Journal of Population and Environment, Natural Hazards, and PNAS. |
Zinta Zommers
Humanitarian Affairs Officer @ UNDRR Zinta Zommers is a Humanitarian Affairs Officer with the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. She is the 2021-22 Wolk Visiting Fellow at Perry World House. She is a specialist in disaster risk reduction and anticipatory action, climate change adaptation, and loss and damage. She was a lead author of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Special Report on Land and Food Security, and is an author of the IPCC’s forthcoming Sixth Assessment Synthesis Report. Zommers has worked with the United Nations in a variety of capacities in Kenya, Sierra Leone and Germany. In 2015 she joined the UN Secretary General’s Team, supporting the negotiation of the Paris Climate Change Agreement. Zommers has a M.Phil. in Development Studies and a D.Phil. in Zoology from the University of Oxford, where she was a Rhodes scholar. She has authored books on early warning systems and adaptation to climate change, as well as numerous journal articles and articles in the media. |
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Circular Economy Masterclass (December 10th, 2021)
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Bea Minana
Communications Associate @ Closed Loop Partners Prior to joining Closed Loop Partners, Bea was an Associate Consultant at Agritecture, where she researched agtech development opportunities and advised entrepreneurs and investors on the sustainability and market feasibility of urban and indoor farms around the world––particularly in North America, the Middle East and Eastern Europe. She was formerly a Brand Consultant for the Additive Agency, where she strategized communications for impact-centered organizations, including universities, hospitals and nonprofits in the United States. She holds an MSc in Sustainability Management from Columbia University, where she conducted research at the Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment on the impact of renewable energy and agriculture investments on land rights, human rights and the environment. She also holds a BSc in Business Administration from Babson College, with a double concentration in Environmental Sustainability and Strategic Management. |
Samantha Wittchen
Director of Programs and Operations @ Circular Philadelphia Samantha Wittchen is a seasoned sustainability professional whose work with manufacturing, municipal, and institutional clients has spanned energy efficiency, water efficiency, waste reduction and diversion, carbon footprint measurement, sustainability outreach, evaluation and benchmarking. As a consultant to the City of Philadelphia’s Recycling Office, she led the development of the City’s first Commercial Recycling Toolkit as well as commercial recycling outreach efforts. She has led waste audits and the creation of waste and recycling signage and communications materials for clients such as the University of Pennsylvania, Swarthmore University, the Institute for Local Self-Reliance, and Green Philly. As a citizen advocate for better materials management practices in Philadelphia, Samantha managed the website for the RecycleNOW campaign. She has written on recycling- and sustainability-related topics for Philadelphia-based Grid Magazine, Green Building and Design magazine, and Keystone Edge, and she has presented talks on recycling throughout the Eastern PA region. Samantha is a LEED Green Associate and holds in a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Virginia. |
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Brittany Sweigart-Beyer
Community Impact Coordinator @ The Resource Exchange Brittany Sweigart-Beyer works as a liaison between the community and the resources available for reuse and recycling in Philadelphia. Brittany is a textiles artist primarily using reclaimed materials in her weavings and sewn projects. Through The Resource Exchange, she has been able to source high quality reclaimed materials including yarn, fabric, dowels, and frame looms. She donated her largest weaving to date to Collective Action PHL, a silent art auction, which succeeded in raising over $20k for social justice organizations in 2016. She was featured in Madewell Clothing Stores as part of their “Hometown Hero” series for her weavings in 2018. Brittany is participating in the Rutgers University Environmental Stewards Program in 2022 and is currently a member of New Jersey Tri-County Sustainability. She holds a B.A. in Psychology from Rowan University and has earned a Certificate of Grant Writing for Profit and Nonprofit Entities from the Community College of Philadelphia. |
Zaid Farid
Sustainability and Office Coordinator @ Remark Glass Bio unavailable. |
Carbon Dioxide Removal Panel (April 1st, 2022)
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Rory Jacobson
Deputy Director of Policy @ Carbon180 Rory Jacobson is deputy director of policy at Carbon180, a DC-based NGO on a mission to build a world that removes more carbon than it emits. He previously worked at Natural Resources Defense Council researching near-term federal policies to incentivize the deployment of carbon removal approaches. As a graduate student at Yale, he advised Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry on myriad climate and energy issues. Rory has consulted for several organizations working on carbon removal, including the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority, the World Resources Institute, the Energy Futures Initiative, and Carbon Direct. He holds an MEM from the Yale School of the Environment and a B.S. and B.A. from the University of California, Berkeley. |
Adam Baylin-Stern
Policy, Engagement Lead @ Carbon Engineering Adam Baylin-Stern is a lead on policy and engagement with the direct air capture company Carbon Engineering Ltd. From 2018-21 he was as an energy analyst with the International Energy Agency as part of the carbon capture, utilisation and storage unit and before this, the World Energy Outlook team, where he was responsible for modelling industrial energy demand. Previously, he worked as a policy advisor to the Canadian Minister of Environment and Climate Change, contributing to the development and implementation of Canada's climate change and clean growth plan, as a research associate with Canada’s Ecofiscal Commission and the Smart Prosperity Institute, and at Navius Research Inc., an energy-economy modelling consultancy. |
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Julia Osterman
Head of Business Development, NCX Julia has worked across the non-profit, public and private sectors to advance positive impact at the intersection of climate change, natural resource management, and finance including at The Nature Conservancy, the California Governor’s Office of Planning and Research, Blue Forest Conservation and New Forests. Julia earned her MBA-MS in Environment and Resources with a focus on land use from Stanford Graduate School of Business. At Stanford, she co-led GSB’s Sustainable Business Club, co-founded the GSB’s business, climate and innovation summit and partnered with The Natural Capital Project and the InterAmerican Development Bank to advance investment in nature-based solutions. She earned a BA in environmental studies with a focus on biodiversity conservation from Yale University. |
Bradley Rochlin
Director of Strategic Partnerships @ Running Tide Brad Rochlin is Director of Strategic Partnerships at Running Tide, an ocean based carbon removal company. Prior to joining Running Tide, Brad worked on carbon policy and carbon markets at Indigo Ag, where he helped bring to market a first-of-its-kind nature based climate solution program around regenerative agriculture and worked with leading private sector organizations to integrate sustainable agriculture and supply chain carbon reduction into their climate strategies. He holds a B.S. from the Haas School of Business undergraduate program at U.C. Berkeley, where he studied business and sustainability. |
