The Climate Café is speaker series centered on addressing a wide variety of climate issues, including climate activism, climate science, climate equity, climate education, and climate economics.
Upcoming and Past Climate Café Speakers
2021–2022 Climate Café Speakers
Jan 28, 2022John Rogers
John Rogers is a senior energy analyst at the Union of Concerned Scientists with expertise in clean energy technologies and policies and a focus on solar, wind, and natural gas. He co-managed the UCS-led Energy and Water in a Warming World Initiative, a multi-year program aimed at raising awareness of the energy-water connection, particularly in the context of climate change, and motivating and informing effective low-carbon and low-water energy solutions. |
Jan 14, 2022Zoe Davis
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Dec 14, 2021Hayley Wyeth
Hayley Wyeth is a Product Management Analyst at Impossible Foods, a company that creates plant-based meat, fish and dairy products. Impossible Foods is most famous for its Impossible Burger, whose lifecycle uses 96% less land, generates 89% less of the greenhouse gases, and uses 87% less water than ground beef from cows without sacrificing that *classic* burger taste. |
Nov 5, 2021Daniel Sherrell
Vulnerable Sharing as Part of AdvocacyHaving published his book "Warmth" in 2021, writer Daniel Sherrell led successful campaigns to phase out coal-fired power plants, divest millions of dollars from the fossil fuel industry, and pass a Green New Deal bill for New York State, legislation that the New York Times called “one of the world’s most ambitious climate plans.” He is currently Campaign Director for the Climate Jobs National Resource Center, working with the American labor movement to tackle the climate crisis, reverse income inequality, and win millions of unionized clean energy jobs. |
Oct 15, 2021Kesiah Bascom
Kesiah Bascom is the founder and owner of OffBeet Compost, a Food Scrap Collection and Composting Program in the Merrimack Valley Region that generates local green jobs, empowers community members to be land stewards, and contributes to an environmentally sustainable and just landscape. Ms. Bascom presented on starting and operating a compost business and how to compost, as well as the importance of compost for regenerative agriculture, its role in addressing climate change, and the connection between social justice, environmental protection, and a more local food system.
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Oct 1, 2021Zach Brown
Divestment activist Zach Brown is the co-exuctive director of the Tidelines Institute. He spoke on his research on seabirds' behavioral repsonse to a change climate in the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard, and activism at various post-secondary institutions across the US. |
2020–2021 Climate Café Speakers
*Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, all climate cafés of the 2020-2021 school year have be held via Zoom. Some recordings of the meetings have been linked in the titles of the speaker's presentation. They can also be accessed here all at once.
May 14, 2021Glen Yelton
Investment as a Way to Tackle Climate ChangeGlen Yelton is the head of North America’s Environment, Sustainability, and Governance (ESG) and impact team at Invesco, an independent investment management firm. Invesco’s statement of ESG investing beliefs names climate change as a focus topic and highlights the firm’s participation on the task force on climate-related financial disclosures. |
May 7, 2021Dr. Robert Massie
Fossil Fuel DivestmentNamed one of the 100 most influential people in the field of finance by CFO magazine in 2002 and creator of the podcast Creating the World We Want, activist, author, and politician Dr. Robert Massie spoke on his advocacy in South Africa against the apartheid regime, Harvard University’s fossil fuel divestment campaign, and other experiences. |
Apr 23, 2021Sophie McCoy '04
Climate Change in Marine EnvironmentDr. Sophie McCoy ’04, current Assistant Professor in the Department of Biological Science, connects environmental conditions with organism physiology and ecological processes in her lab experiments. She led a discussion about oceans, marine ecology, and climate change. |
April 16, 2021Dr. Robert Bullard
The Quest for Environmental and Climate Justice in the United StatesDr. Robert D. Bullard, known as the father of environmental justice, is the former Dean of the Barbara Jordan-Mickey Leland School of Public Affairs at Texas Southern University 2011-2016 and current Distinguished Professor of Urban Planning and Environmental Policy. He spoke on the disproportionate impact of climate change on communities of color and low-income communities. |
"This threat to humanity, called climate change, is honest. Whether or not we believe in it is irrelevant. It's just like saying, 'I don't believe in gravity.' It's not a belief. You climb off a 50-story building and jump off, gravity is going to happen whether or not you believe it." - Dr. Robert Bullard, Father of Environmental Justice |
Apr 9, 2021Dr. Robert Pollin
Climate Crisis and the Global Green New DealDr. Robert Pollin, Co-Director of the Political Economy Research Institute (PERI) and Distinguished Professor of Economics at University of Massachusetts Amherst, spoke on the nuances of green growth, degrowth, and a Just Transition. |
Mar 31, 2021Mr. Keith Robinson and Mr. Theodore Parker
Environmental EconomicsMr. Theodore Parker, Instructor in History and Social Science (left), and Mr. Keith Robinson, Instructor in Chemistry and Instructor and Chair in Biology (right), gave us a deep dive into environmental economics, exploring a variety of climate solutions, including the Energy Innovation and Carbon Dividend Act, and how climate justice and economics intertwine. |
Feb 19, 2021Eben Bein
Climate Lobbying and Youth AdvocacyEben Bein is a freelance writer and the Massachusetts Field Coordinator at the climate advocacy organization Our Climate, recruiting and training youth climate activists, educating the public on climate change and climate economics, and leading carbon pricing initiatives. He discussed youth climate advocacy at his talk. |
Feb 12, 2021Dr. William Moomaw
A Climate Scientist’s Role in Shaping the Climate AgencyAs the lead author of five Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Reports and Professor Emeritus of international environmental policy at the Fletcher School at Tufts University, Dr. William Moomaw shared the Nobel Peace Prize in 2007 for the IPCC’s climate work. He talked with us about “proforestation” as an effective mechanism to remove carbon dioxide. |
Jan 15, 2021Dr. Regina LaRocque
Infectious Diseases and Climate ChangeDr. Regina LaRocque is the Associate Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School and practices at the Massachusetts General Hospital Division of Infectious Diseases. She discussed the intersections of public health, infectious diseases, and the climate crisis with us. |
Nov 13, 2020Dr. Mijin Cha
Just TransitionsAssistant Professor of Urban and Environmental Policy at Occidental College and author of “A Road-Map to an Equitable Carbon Future: Four Pillars to a Just Transition”, Dr. Mijin Cha talked about ways to transition to a low-carbon economy while protecting workers and communities. |
Nov 6, 2020Dr. Varun Sivaram
Climate Policy, Biden Campaign, and Solar EnergyAn architect of Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden’s Climate Plan for a Clean Energy Revolution and Environmental Justice, Dr. Varun Sivaram talked about accelerating solutions to the climate crisis and gave an overview of his bestselling book, Taming the Sun: Innovations to Harness Solar Energy and Power the Planet. |
Oct 9, 2020Rhiana Gunn-Wright
Climate Policy and Green New DealA leading advocate for thinking through climate issues from an equity and social justice lens, Rhiana Gunn-Wright serves as the Climate Policy Director of the Roosevelt Institute and is a co-author of the Green New Deal legislation. She talked to us about the Green New Deal and the intersections between race, climate, and COVID-19. |
Oct 2, 2020Amy Davidsen ’80
Accelerating Action in the Climate DecadeAmy Davidsen '80, who leads the delivery of The Climate Group’s work and impact in North America to accelerate the transition to a clean energy future, discussed her journey in climate change, her learnings from the Climate Week that took place from the 21st to 27th of September, and a wide array of climate issues. |
2019–2020 Climate Café Speakers
May 27, 2020Peggy Liu
In the last installment of the 2019-2020 Climate Cafe series, Peggy Liu, Chairperson of JUCCCE and board member of Project Drawdown, spoke on “the necessity of activism and how we can "change the world, one person at a time". |
May 20, 2020Robert Chen
Robert Chen, Professor of Oceanography at the University of Massachusetts Boston, spoke on methodologies and mindsets in shaping “the public’s understanding of climate science” for the better.*Link to Zoom recording |
Feb 28, 2020Bill McKibben
Bill McKibben, founder of 350.org and decorated author of The End of Nature and Falter, spoke at All-School Meeting and the subsequent Climate Cafe about the dire state of the climate crisis and potential actions to combat it, divestment and local activism chief among them. |
Feb 21, 2020Katherine Hayhoe
Katherine Hayhoe, professor and director of the Climate Science Center at Texas Tech University whose research focuses on developing and applying high-resolution climate projections to understand what climate change means for people and the natural environment, presented climate models and the politicization of climate issues in a virtual, interactive talk. |
Jan 10, 2020John Weiss
John Weiss, the Senior Director of CERES company network, spoke on his work “advocating for the integration of sustainability into corporate governance systems, disclosure practices, and operational performance” and working within organizational settings on environmental goals. |
Oct 25, 2019Bruce Anderson '90
In the third installment of the Climate Café series, Bruce Anderson ‘90, Professor and Associate Chair of the Department of Geography and Environment at Boston University, took students "under the hood of a climate model so we might develop a full understanding of the kinds of data that feed them, and some of the underlying assumptions used to design them.” |
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