Superbloom in the California Desert 2019
2020-09-23 19:00 - 20:00 (America/Los_Angeles) | CA
A photographic journey to Anza Borrego State Park and Joshua Tree National Park during
the Superbloom of 2019.
Dr. Gerald (Jerry) Meral is the director of the California Water Program at the Natural
Heritage Institute. He works on funding for California water, Delta infrastructure, and a
variety of other California water programs. He formerly served as Deputy Director of the
California Department of Water Resources, Deputy Secretary of the California Natural
Resources Agency, Executive Director of the Planning and Conservation Director, and
Staff Scientist at the Environmental Defense Fund. He has placed 10 initiatives on the
California statewide ballot, and has been involved in many statewide ballot measures
affecting California water, parks, wildlife, health, and transportation. He has a Ph.D. in
zoology from the University of California, Berkeley.
Click here to receive emailed invitations to these Zoom meetings.

Toward Carbon Neutrality in Higher Education
2020-09-24 12:00 - 13:30
REGISTER HERE
University campuses are part of the built environment, and in their role as educators and exemplars, college and university campuses are leading the way to a low-carbon future. Despite today’s immediate concerns, leaders in higher education are keeping their eyes on the horizon, and long-term net-zero planning and projects are continuing and finding ways to accommodate financial pressures resulting from COVID-19 related enrollment challenges.
Many campuses are considering the electrification of heating as a decarbonization pathway. Today’s status quo for heating – energy distributed through high-temperature networks – not only is over-designed and costly to maintain but also is basically incompatible with the low-carbon economy. Electrification is a proven route to enable lower-carbon buildings, led by heat pump strategies. Many have already been implemented throughout the province of Quebec.
This dynamic conversation will address the long-term planning and implementation of campus decarbonization, exploring actionable and cost-effective pathways to progress.
Panelists:

Ruth Bennett, Director of Strategic Capital Programs at Tufts University
Bert Bland, Associate Vice President for Energy and Sustainability at Cornell University
JP Drouin, Project Development Director, Ecosystem Energy Services

Moderator:

Tim Carter, President of Second Nature

Comments:

Ms. Catherine Loubier, Delegate General of Québec in New York
Marie-Claude Francoeur, Québec Delegate to New England

*Event not hosted by UCLA

UCLA INFEWS Careers in Sustainability Series (CIS)- Rita Kampalath
2020-09-24 14:00 - 15:00
INFEWS is pleased to cordially invite you to join us for our second talk of the year-long series Careers in Sustainability (CIS). We are honored to have Dr. Rita Kampalath, the Los Angeles County Chief Sustainability Office Program Director, as our speaker. She will be discussing her career journey, goals, and other relevant sustainability topics. Q&A session will be moderated by our own graduate student trainees.
More info: http://www.infews.ucla.edu/new-events/2020/9/1/cis-series-rita-kampalath

Botanical Art: A Continuing Tradition
2020-09-24 17:00 - 18:00
Botanical Art: A Continuing Tradition
Public lecture with Artist Deb Shaw
Thursday September 24th 5:00pm PST • Zoom
Botanical artists have captured the likeness of plants as far back as records exist—ancient Egyptian and Mesopotamian representational botanical art has been found dating back 4,000 years. Explore the western tradition of botanical art and illustration from historical to contemporary times through captivating images and tales of inspiration and adventure. Join Artist Deborah Shaw over Zoom for a riveting virtual public lecture followed by a Q&A session. This event is free but space is limited–RSVP to learn more and reserve a spot.
Deborah Shaw has a degree in fine art and has also studied botany and native California flora. She is principal of dbShaw Studios, an award-winning design firm, and her artwork has been displayed around the world. She is an active member of many professional organizations, including the American Society of Botanical Artists, the Botanical Artists Guild of Southern California, and the Guild of Natural Science Illustrators.
LEARN MORE AND RSVP

Poppy Hour: A Conversation with Hop Hopkins, Sierra Club Director of Strategic Partnerships
2020-09-24 17:30 - 19:00
REGISTER HERE
Poppy hour is back! Join us as we have a conversation with Sierra Club’s Hop Hopkins. We’ll be discussing how to become better allies in the Environmental Justice movement (“Learning When to Lead and When to Listen“), how environmental injustice affects communities of color (“Racism is Killing the Planet“) and Community and Interdependency (“Coming Together to Weather the Storm“). Read up! There will be time for Q&A.
Hop is the not only the Director of Strategic Partnerships with the Sierra Club, he is also a certified arborist, a Master Gardener, has his Basic Permaculture Design Certificate and is a certified Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) instructor.
Hop was born in Dallas, Texas and has been a grassroots environmental justice community organizer in Seattle, WA, Portland, OR and Los Angeles, CA. Hop contributed his talents to the Los Angeles Conservation Corps in various roles including Urban Forestry Manager and Director of Vocational Programs. In these roles he spearheaded program implementation, created training programs and assisted with curriculum development for underserved youth in the areas of wildland firefighting, environmental remediation, water efficiency and solar installation. He then spent a year and a half with the Los Angeles Neighborhood Land Trust where he was the Director of Programs and managed the Youth Education and Urban Agriculture program.
Hop believes that life is not a competitive struggle and he is driven by his vision to create a network of residential food forests in order to support the development of stable, human-scale, solar, self-reliant neighborhood communities integrated with cooperative local economies.
Join us monthly for Poppy Hour, a live web series about California native plant gardens, and the people and ideas behind them. Grab your beverage of choice and join us on Zoom where you can share questions and comments during the hour. A Zoom account is not required to attend. Attendees will receive reminder emails with login information starting two days before the event.

Addressing Racism: Our Role as Sustainability Professionals - Part II
2020-09-30 17:00 - 18:30
REGISTER HERE
Following up on our sold out discussion earlier this summer, join NISF and qb. Consulting for Addressing Racism: The Role We Play as Sustainability Professionals, Part II.
Together, we’re going to continue diving deeper into how we can integrate equity into our identities and the organizations we work for. We will check in on our antiracism progress, hear from speakers sharing their experiences with race and sustainability, and hold small group discussions about how we can move forward
Come ready to listen, participate, and be vulnerable. We are committed to continuing this journey as a community and holding each other accountable for meaningful change.
See you Wednesday, September 30th at 5:30 pm PST on Zoom.
Want a preview of what we will discuss, check out the Antiracism Checklist for Sustainability Professionals.
*Panelist bios and agenda coming soon!
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100% Of ticket proceeds will go to the Deep South Center for Environmental Justice, to support their work at the intersection of race, equity, and environment.
No refunds will be available. Please note that this event will be recorded.

Climate Justice = Social Justice, Dr. Mustafa Santiago Ali
2020-10-05 12:00 - 13:00
For the first time ever, partners from across the CSU are collaborating to host October Sustainability Month virtual events meant to educate, empower and activate students, faculty and staff to join the movement for environmental, social and racial justice and get out the vote this November! Events will be free and open to all 23 CSU campuses. Live captioning will be provided at both events for accessibility.

REGISTER HERE

Live Keynote Address and Q & A with Renowned Environmental Justice Leader
DR. MUSTAFA SANTIAGO ALI
A renowned thought leader, international speaker, policy maker, community liaison, trainer, and facilitator, Dr. Mustafa Santiago Ali wears many hats. He is the Vice President of Environmental Justice, Climate & Community Revitalization for the National Wildlife Federation (NWF) and also the Founder & CEO of Revitalization Strategies. He previously served as Senior Vice President for the Hip Hop Caucus, a national, non-profit and non-partisan organization that connects the Hip Hop community to the civic process to build power and create positive change.
Mustafa worked 24 years at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), where he started as a 16-year-old student and helped found the EPA’s Office of Environmental Justice (OEJ). He most recently served as Senior Advisor for Environmental Justice and Community Revitalization and Assistant Associated Administrator.
Hosted by CSU Fullerton

Technology for Good: Easton Center Innovation Challenge Kickoff
2020-10-06 17:00 - 18:00
REGISTER HERE
What are some of society’s greatest challenges in the areas of healthcare and sustainability?
How and where can technology aid in solving societal issues?
What are the key ingredients of successful innovation here?
Join Professor Terry Kramer, Easton Center Faculty Director, in a moderated conversation with Eric Hoek and Larry Leisure on these topics. And hear about the formal launch of the Easton Center Innovation Challenge – the innovation prompts, deadlines, prize monies and the content/programming designed to support participating students on their journeys. UCLA Anderson Dean Tony Bernardo will provide opening remarks.

Zero Carbon Conference
2020-10-07 08:30 - 2020-10-08 17:00
We are living in an unprecedented, critical moment to take intentional and equitable action on the climate crisis. With less than a decade to achieve sustainable development goals, collaboration is imperative to scaling our impact. We can jump-start this impact with a focus on four areas:

Embodied Carbon
Operational Carbon
Zero for All
Financing the Future of Zero Carbon Communities

The Zero Carbon Conference will respond to this need and forge a collaboration of our community of architects, designers, engineers, contractors, and responsible manufacturers–along with ESG investors and developers who are taking active steps to accelerate the decarbonization of the built environment.
Through keynotes, plenaries, panel sessions and 1:1 networking opportunities, practitioners and funders will come together to advance these initiatives around operational + embodied carbon reduction, cost-benefit analysis, and community resources to achieve an equitable decarbonized future. The Zero Carbon Conference will deliver the technology, the materials, the know-how, and the financing models needed to pave the way for scalable decarbonized global communities.
REGISTER HERE

CA Clean Air Day
2020-10-07 12:00 - 13:00
On this day of action, we encourage you to pledge to take action and consider using alternative transportation for your work commute and learn more about how pollution affects both individual and community health.
We will also host a lunchtime panel tomorrow, Oct. 7 at 12pm. Two UCLA experts – Ann Carlson, and Chris Cooper, MD – will discuss the history of air pollution in LA and its effects on lung health. Please use this link to join.
UCLA Health is committed to sustainability and reducing our carbon footprint, especially in these times of unprecedented wildfires.

We recently added two new all-electric buses with a total fleet of three and will continue to install new electric vehicle (EV) charging stations.
We are purchasing 100-percent renewable energy for our Santa Monica campus through the Clean Power Alliance.
Additionally, our Rideshare Program offers incentives for using alternative transportation and the Earn-A-Bike program, a partnership with UCLA Transportation, provides eligible staff members with the opportunity to swap their parking permit for a $450 bicycle package.

More than 650,000 people participated in the 2019 California Clean Air Day, and officials anticipate that number will increase again this year.

Climate Policy is Health Policy: Making Your Case with a Powerful Online Modeling Tool
2020-10-07 12:00 - 15:00
REGISTER HERE
This webinar will teach climate and health advocates how to use a free, easy-to-use, online modeling tool to demonstrate the vital importance of climate and energy policy for protecting public health and reducing premature death. Participants will get an advance look at the newly updated model with added public health capabilities.
• Sarah Spengeman, Deputy Director of Communications, Energy Innovation (moderator)
• Adrienne Hollis, Senior Climate and Health Scientist, Union of Concerned Scientists
• Jeffrey Rissman, Head of Modeling, Energy Innovation
• Neelu Tummala, Otolaryngologist and Clinical Assistant Professor of Surgery, George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences
The Energy Policy Simulator empowers advocates to model 80 different climate and clean energy policies’ (e.g., carbon tax, vehicle emissions standards, energy-efficient building codes) ability to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and conventional pollutants such as NOx, SOx, and PM 2.5. The model also forecasts how reducing pollution lowers morbidity and premature mortality, while strengthening the economy and creating jobs.
Advocates will learn how the Energy Policy Simulator can educate policymakers and the public on the potential for ambitious clean energy and climate policy solutions to reduce planet-warming emissions, while dramatically reducing pollutants that contribute to respiratory disease, heart disease, and premature death.
Armed with clear and compelling data, illustrated by interactive graphs, climate and health advocates can effectively communicate why strong climate policies are a “win-win” for health and jobs.
This webinar is jointly sponsored by the American Public Health Association, Energy Innovation, and the Medical Society Consortium on Climate and Health.
Speakers

Adrienne Hollis
Senior Climate Justice and Health Scientist @Union of Concerned Scientists
Adrienne L. Hollis is the Senior Climate Justice and Health Scientist at the Union of Concerned Scientists. In that role, she leads the development, design, and implementation of methods for accessing and documenting the health impacts of climate change on communities of color and other traditionally disenfranchised groups. Dr. Hollis works with environmental justice communities to identify priority health concerns related to climate change and other environmental assaults, and evaluates climate and energy policy approaches for their ability to effectively address climate change and benefit underserved communities. She earned a BS in biology from Jackson State University, a PhD in biomedical sciences from Meharry Medical College, a JD from Rutgers University School of Law, and completed postdoctoral studies at Harvard University School of Public Health.

Jeffrey Rissman
Head of Modeling and Industry Program Director @Energy Innovation
Jeffrey Rissman is the Industry Program Director and Head of Modeling at Energy Innovation, and leads the company’s work on technologies and policies to achieve zero net greenhouse gas emissions from the industry sector. He is also the originator and developer of the Energy Policy Simulator, an open-source computer model that quantifies the effects of various energy and environmental policies in combination, predicting outputs such as fuel use, pollutant emissions, financial cost or savings, electric vehicle deployment, power sector structure, and more. Versions of the simulator have been developed for an ever-growing list of countries and regions, in partnership with in-country government agencies or NGOs, accounting for more than 50 percent of the world’s emissions. Jeff holds an M.S. in Environmental Sciences and Engineering and a Masters in City and Regional Planning, both from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Dr. Neelu Tummala
Physician and Clinical Assistant Professor of Surgery @George Washington School of Medicine and Health Sciences
Dr. Neelu Tummala is a physician and clinical assistant professor of surgery at the George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences. She is a climate advocate with a special interest in the intersection of climate and health, and is an avid speaker and writer on this issue. She is on the Steering Committee for Virginia Clinicians for Climate Action and on the Board for the Faith Alliance for Climate Solutions. She is a trained Climate Reality Leader and works with The Medical Society Consortium on Climate and Health, the Union of Concerned Scientists, and Environment America as a volunteer activist and educator.

UCLA INFEWS Sustainable Solutions Workshops (SSW)- Composting with Kenny
2020-10-08 14:00 - 15:30
INFEWS cordially invites you to join us for the first virtual session of our Sustainable Solutions Workshops (SSW). We’re pleased to have Kenny Derieg, Waste Reduction and Recycling Specialist at Tree People, as our inaugural presenter. He will address: What is compost? Why is it important? How do I compost my food waste? Can I compost in my apartment? You will learn about this and how we can become more resilient by being more resourceful!
Moderated by our program graduate trainees.
Please register: https://tinyurl.com/y57cxk6m by October 5. Any questions, please contact Program Manager, Claudia Defaz at infews@ucla.edu.

Abolition on Stolen Land
2020-10-09 10:00 - 12:00
Situated at the present historical conjuncture of resurgent white nationalism and xenophobia, this convening foregrounds the ongoing and renewed uprisings for Black freedom and Indigenous sovereignty in the imperial formation that is the United States of America. With attention to land dispossession, organized abandonment, and racial terror, it traces the histories and futures of abolition on stolen land.
REGISTER HERE

Keynote speaker:

Ruth Wilson Gilmore, Professor of Geography and Director, Center for Place, Culture, and Politics, CUNY. Co-founder, Critical Resistance.

In conversation with:

Nick Estes, Citizen of the Lower Brule Sioux Tribe. Assistant Professor of American Studies, University of New Mexico. Co-founder, The Red Nation.
Sarah Haley, Associate Professor of African American Studies and Gender Studies, and Director, Black Feminism Initiative, UCLA.
Charles Sepulveda (Tongva and Acjachemen), Assistant Professor of Ethnic Studies, University of Utah.

Moderated by:

Gaye Theresa Johnson, Associate Professor of Chicana/o, and Central American Studies, UCLA.

Chaired by:

Ananya Roy, Professor of Urban Planning, Social Welfare, and Geography, UCLA, and Director, UCLA Luskin Institute on Inequality and Democracy.

Nature Journaling Workshop
2020-10-10 10:00 - 11:00
Nature Journaling Workshop
with Artist Deb Shaw
Saturday October 10th 10:00am PST • Zoom
Focused observation—drawing, sketching, and writing—changes how we look at the world around us. Nature journaling forces us to see, instead of look. Suitable for all levels and ages (including beginners) this workshop will explore various journaling techniques to enhance drawing skills, explore ideas and document our place and time. The only required supplies are pencil (a regular #2 or softer) and paper, although any other art supplies are certainly welcome. A downloadable reference sheet will be available for attendees. This event is free, but space is limited–RSVP to reserve a spot! Only one ticket is needed per household that will be tuning in on the same screen.
LEARN MORE AND RSVP

Sustainival - Zero Waste Tie-Dying with Natural Dyes
2020-10-12 17:00 - 18:00
Learn how to transform that random T-shirt you got for free at a festival last year and have only worn once into your go-to fit for zoom classes/meetings. This workshop will show you how to make natural dyes out of fruit and vegetable scraps and use it to tie-dye your clothes for a cute learn/work-from-home look. This can be done with stuff you likely already have on hand – nothing fancy needed.
REGISTER HERE
Presented by Erin Fabris
Sustainability Manager, UCLA Housing
Erin Fabris is the Sustainability Manager for Housing & Hospitality at UCLA. Erin comes to UCLA with over four (4) years of sustainability experience, most recently as the Sustainability Coordinator for USC where she created the sustainability program for Housing. She holds a Bachelors in Marine Biology and a Masters of Environmental Science and Management from UC Santa Barbara. In March, when she started working from home, she channeled her extra time into tie-dyeing everything in her closet.

Sustainival - LiveWell at Home: Starting your Container Garden
2020-10-12 18:00 - 19:00
Stressed from being at home and looking for a new self-care practice? Interested in growing your own food but don’t have the space? Join the Semel Healthy Campus Iniatiative (HCI) for quick and easy tips on how you can kick-start growing your own food at home while learning tips to manage stress!
REGISTER HERE
Presented by Mark Biedlingmaier
Special Project Coordinator, Semel HCI Center
Mark Biedlingmaier, Special Projects Coordinator of the Semel Healthy Campus Initiative Center at UCLA, brings you the jane b semel HCI Community Garden experience at the comfort of your own home. Through his experiences WWOOFing on organic farms across the country and teaching workshops as a Los Angeles County Master Gardener Volunteer, Mark invites gardeners of all skill levels to participate in creating more local, equitable, and sustainable food-systems.

TEDxUNEP: Racing to Zero with Higher Education: Acting and Enabling Global Decarbonization
2020-10-13 11:00 - 12:30
REGISTER HERE
Countdown and Race To Zero are global campaigns to rally leadership and support from governments, businesses, and other institutions for a healthy, resilient, zero carbon recovery that prevents future threats, creates decent jobs, and unlocks inclusive, sustainable growth.
Countdown seeks to cut greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in half by 2030, while the objective of Race to Zero is to build momentum and awareness of the Intergovernmental Climate Meeting (COP26) scheduled for November 2021 in Glasgow. Both are sending a resounding signal to governments that the broader community is united in meeting the Paris goals and creating a more inclusive and resilient economy.
Hundreds of colleges and universities from around the world have committed to the Race to Zero’s goal of Net-Zero by 2050 at the latest. Many have also signed onto interim goals or have committed to reach carbon neutrality by 2030 or before.
UN Environment Program, Second Nature, The EAUC, and others are working with campuses worldwide to achieve their carbon reduction goals and serve as a catalyst for others to take action. This program is part of that work.
Presenters:

Michael Drake, President, University of California System (invited)
Joyce Msuya, Deputy Director, UN Environment
Nigel Topping, UK High Level Champion for Climate Action, COP26
Education Minister – TBD
Tim Carter, President, Second Nature
Sam Barratt, Chief of Youth, Education and Advocacy, UNEP

Learning Objectives:

Explore actionable and cost-effective pathways to CO2 emissions reduction
Understand the role of higher education as a leader in decarbonization
Learn how to participate in Race To Zero in the lead-up to COP-26

This program is co-hosted by Second Nature and UNEP’s Youth, Education & Advocacy Unit. It is part of TEDx Countdown. This webinar is free and open to the public. If you are not available on the day of the program, you can still register and a link to the recorded program will be sent to you after the event.

Sustainival - Tour of Athens Services' Recycling Facility
2020-10-13 12:00 - 13:00
Do you wonder what happens to your recyclables once picked up from your home or from UCLA? 🧐 Well, they are actually delivered to what is called a Materials Recovery Facility, or a MRF for short, where people and a series of conveyor belts, screens, magnets, robots, and optical sorters sort and divide items by their material type. Hear from Brian Hunter, Assistant Operations Manager for Athens’ Sun Valley MRF, on what happens to recyclables once they are collected! This event is in partnership with UCLA’s Department of Custodial and Grounds.
REGISTER HERE
Athens Services is a local, family-owned waste collection and recycling company that has been a fixture in the greater Los Angeles community for the past 60 years. We provide innovative, consistent and quality environmental services to our more than 250,000 customers in the 50+ communities we serve. Through reuse, recycling and composting, Athens diverts valuable resources from landfills.

AS Sustainability Presents: LIVE WITH @browngirl_green (Kristy Drutman)
2020-10-13 13:00 - 14:00
REGISTER HERE
Join AS Sustainability for a conversation with Environmental Activist and Digital Strategist Kristy Drutman as she discusses what environmental intersectionalism is and what this upcoming election means for environmental justice. We will be taking audience Q&A as well!

Sustainival - Environmental Justice is Social Justice is Economic Justice
2020-10-13 17:00 - 18:00
Sustainability has been a field and movement with a history of exclusion and white supremacy. Oftentimes the sustainability narrative centers the importance of resource conservation and environmental health but lacks the critical component of social justice. These five (5) speakers are dedicating their careers to uplifting the concept of intersectional environmentalism through media and content creation. Join us for an interactive talk with incredible climate justice advocates that are making environmentalism a whole lot more equitable and a whole lot more fun!
REGISTER HERE
Speaker Info
ADITI MAYER

Biography
Aditi Mayer [she/hers] is a sustainable fashion blogger, photojournalist, and labor rights activist whose work explores the intersections of style, sustainability, and social justice. Seeing fashion’s disproportionate effects on communities of color globally, she began her blog, ADIMAY.com, after the Bangladesh Rana Plaza factory in 2014. Her platform looks at the fashion industry through a lens of decolonization and intersectional feminism, created in order to bring inclusivity to the sustainable fashion movement.
Aditi’s Motivation for Climate Justice Work
I am motivated by the desire to make the ties between social and environmental injustices explicit, and interrogate the systems that dually hurt both people and the planet. All of this is inspired by my own background as a South Asian woman, being the daughter of immigrants, and the granddaughter of farmers.

KRISTY DRUTMAN

Biography
Kristy Drutman (she/her) is a Filipina environmentalist and digital strategist based on Ohlone Land (aka the Bay Area) who wants to educate the world one post at a time about environmental justice through her podcast and media series, Brown Girl Green. She interviews environmental leaders and advocates about diversity and inclusion as well as creative solutions to the climate crisis. Kristy believes that culturally-nuanced storytelling is critical in building collective power and resilience within our communities, and aims to create content that empowers people to find their own voice in the fight for an environmentally just future.
Kristy’s Motivation for Climate Justice Work
I am motivated to do this work because there are environmental land defenders from countries across the global south being killed protecting and fighting for climate justice. As someone with privilege, a platform, and passion, I feel responsible to provide space, resources, and inspiration to people around the world to take action on climate change. As more lives and communities are at stake, it is imperative for those of us with the means and networks necessary to mobilize and empower people around us to act.

ISAIAS HERNANDEZ

Biography
Isaias Hernandez is the creator of Queer Brown Vegan where he makes accessible environmental education content. As a Queer, Brown, and Vegan environmentalist, he seeks to provide a safe space for other like-minded environmentalists to engage in the discourse of the current climate crisis.
Isaias’ Motivation for Climate Justice Work
Doing environmental work has always been my passion because as someone who grew up living in a community that experienced environmental injustice, I had so much fear, sadness, confusion, and anger built inside me that it was hard to navigate. I’ve always believed that environmental knowledge should never be privatized and it should be available to everyone who seeks this information.

PATTIE GONIA

Biography
Pattie Gonia (she/her/hers) is an environmental advocate, outdoor community voice, and backpacking drag queen (and yes, Pattie really hikes in heels.) Our community exists to uplift LGBTQ people and allies in the outdoors and to exist as a platform to give other voices and organizations all the shine in the world. The Pattie Gonia team carries out this mission by creating uplifting and ethical social media content, hosting community events, and fundraising for non profit organizations ($150,000 raised last year LGBTQ and outdoor nonprofits, $125,000 for Black and BIPOC led organizations to date in 2020).
Outside of heels Wyn Wiley (he/him), a 28 year old born and raised Nebraskan, has worked as a photographer, speaker, teacher, and creative director for brands including Adidas, Red Bull and Disney as well as a number of non-profits around the world. Last year, on a weeklong backtracking trip in Colorado, Wyn put on high heels and strutted for the first time as Pattie Gonia, her first video garnering more than 100 million views across platforms.
Since the birth of Pattie Gonia, Wyn/Pattie have focused their efforts on their personal journey of using drag as a way to explore self identity, sexuality, and the natural world. And so, the journey of Pattie is both extremely personal and also exists as a social and environmental justice platform.
Pattie Gonia’s Motivation for Climate Justice Work
What motivates me to do this work is knowing that this is the only planet with a Beyoncé on it. We should probably get to work to save her and mother nature, too.

LAUREN RITCHIE

Biography
Lauren Ritchie is a 19-year-old climate activist, writer, model, podcast host, and student from The Bahamas studying Sustainable Development and Political Science at Columbia University. She is the creator of The Eco Gal a digital platform that educates on global climate justice, promotes intersectional climate action, and seeks to make sustainable living more accessible and inclusive by amplifying the voices of marginalized communities. She is also a writer and content strategist for Brown Girl Green, a Youth Ambassador for Plastic Pollution Coalition, an ambassador for the Global Wildlife Conservation, and the co-host of the podcast Black Girl Blueprint, a platform to center the voices and celebrate the accomplishments of young Black women in a vast array of fields.
Lauren’s Motivation for Climate Justice Work
I was born on a small island in The Bahamas. Although the focus of my work lies within promoting global climate and social justice, the true motivation for my work is to protect my island and my country at large. Grand Bahama Island has borne the brunt of climate impacts in the form of extreme natural disasters for the past four years and will continue to be susceptible to shifts in the climate for many years to come without the resources to appropriately adapt. The reason why I, and so many other environmentalists of color, continue to expend our time and energy into a field that often feels like it wasn’t made for our voices and stories is that we are fighting for the survival of our communities and our loved ones.

City of Los Angeles' Wildlife Pilot Study
2020-10-13 19:00 - 20:00
SAVE THE DATE
Presented by Kat Superfisky, Urban Ecologist, City of Los Angeles, and Lena Mik, City Planning Associate, City of Los Angeles – a virtual presentation via Zoom – login info will be sent at a later date.

Sustainival - No-Waste, Plant-Based Brunch!
2020-10-14 10:30 - 11:30
Yeah, we get it, cooking can be rough sometimes 🥺 Between classes, zoom socials, work, parenting, another zoom social, trying to fight climate change, and animal crossing we have our plates full. Thankfully, Max La Manna is here to give us two SUPER easy recipes that are not only good for the environment/people/economy, but are also pretty darn tasty as well. He’s gonna show us how to do a no-waste strawberry + mint smoothie and banana peel pancakes (we know, we don’t understand how either). Tune in for a fun sesh and get ready for some brunch!
REGISTER HERE
Presented by Max La Manna
Low-Waste Chef, Author, Host on BBC Earth
Max La Manna is a no-waste vegan chef, award-winning author and presenter for BBC Earth.
His debut cookbook More Plants Less Waste was voted the world’s 2nd Most Sustainable Cookbook by Gourmand in 2020. Max’s mission is to re-frame how we view the leftovers and scraps that are typically thrown away to prevent them from going to landfill. Max uses social media to draw light to climate issues and de-stigmatise the waste we create in our kitchens by creating simple, innovative and exciting recipes.

Climate Justice = Social Justice, Leah Thomas and X Martinez
2020-10-14 12:00 - 13:00
For the first time ever, partners from across the CSU are collaborating to host October Sustainability Month virtual events meant to educate, empower and activate students, faculty and staff to join the movement for environmental, social and racial justice and get out the vote this November! Events will be free and open to all 23 CSU campuses. Live captioning will be provided at both events for accessibility.
REGISTER HERE
Live Panel Discussion and Q & A with Young Leaders of the Movement
Join intersectional environmental activist “Green Girl” Leah Thomas and indigenous climate activist Xiuhtezcatl Martinez for a discussion moderated by CSU Chico AS President Breanna “Bre” Holbert.

ABOUT THE SPEAKERS
LEAH THOMAS (Panelist)
Leah Thomas is an intersectional environmental activist and eco-communicator based in Southern California. She’s passionate about advocating for and exploring the relationship between social justice and environmentalism and identifying the ways in which injustices happening to marginalized communities and the earth are interconnected. You could say Leah’s trying to make the world a little more equal for everyone and a little nicer to our home planet! She graduated from Chapman University in 2017 with a B.S. in Environmental Science and Policy with a cluster in Comparative World Religions. Leah remains committed to sparking conversation and mobilizing the environmental community to be anti-racist and not complicit, and encouraging and inspiring all members of our planet to explore new places, live more sustainably, and practice radical self-acceptance. In 2020, Leah launched Intersectional Environmentalist, a platform for resources, information and action steps to support intersectional environmentalism and dismantle systems of oppression in the environmental movement.
XIUHTEZCATL MARTINEZ (Panelist)
Earth Guardians Youth Director Xiuhtezcatl Martinez, (pronounced ‘Shoe-Tez-Caht’) is a 20-year-old indigenous climate activist, hip-hop artist, and powerful voice of a global youth-led environmental movement. At the age of six Xiuhtezcatl began speaking globally, from the United Nations Summit in Rio, to addressing the General Assembly at the United Nations in New York. He is currently a plaintiff in a youth-led lawsuit against the federal government for the government’s inaction around the climate crisis and its failure to protect their essential public trust resources. Xiuhtezcatl‘s book “We Rise” was published by Rodale in 2017, and his second book “Imaginary Boarders” was published and released by Penguin in the spring of 2020. As a musical artist, Xiuhtezcatl also has multiple EP and full length album credits to his name.In addition to serving as the Youth Director for Earth Guardians, Xiuhtezcatl is the co-Founder of a company called NOW which is mobilizing humanity to reverse the climate crisis through planting a trillion trees and scaling on the ground carbon drawdown technologies.
BRE HOLBERT ( Moderator)
Bre Holbert hales from Lodi, California where her love for agriculture took root. Bre was heavily involved in the National FFA Organization, and served in various capacities that aimed to share the story of the agriculture industry with various stakeholders of Agricultural Education across the nation and world. She currently serves as the CSU, Chico Associated Students President and was recently awarded the CSU Trustees’ Award for Outstanding Achievement Trustee Emeritus Ali C. Razi Scholar. She attends California State University of Chico where she plans to pursue a career as a high school Agricultural Educator. Her goal is to teach in an urban/inter-city setting to shed light on the agriculture industry to students in ethnic minority identifying communities and aid them in reclaiming their stories in Agriculture.
Hosted by CSU Fullerton

Sustainival - Leading the Way: Student Sustainability Activism Panel
2020-10-14 17:00 - 18:00
Now more than ever, we have seen the fight for climate change break into mainstream narratives and witnessed how young people, such as Greta Thunberg, are the leading faces of this movement. We have gathered five (5) student-activists from different University of California campuses to share their experiences in creating social change. Join us for a panel to learn more about their journeys and how you can begin or further your activism journey!
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SPEAKER INFO
Sithara Menon
University of California, Los Angeles
Sithara is a 4th year Biology major at UCLA! She got started in activism working with the UCLA chapter of CALPIRG Students her freshman year, working to secure commitments from the state of California and the UC system for 100% clean electricity. Since then, she worked to turn out the youth vote (increasing UCLA’s turnout by almost 500%), ran the Zero Hunger campaign to fight food insecurity and food waste on campus, and worked on UCLA’s commitment to phasing out single use plastics!

Jed Lee
University of California, Berkeley
Jed Lee is a Taiwanese and Chinese-Filipino American student activist and artist. As a fourth year at UC Berkeley, Jed is pursuing a major and two minors relating to environmental, climate, and development justice. Jed strongly believes that we can always look to nature to find inspiration for our interpersonal relationships, collective movements, and personal healing, and that there is always love, life and hope in this world. Jed loves hanging out, being outdoors, gardening, and exploring new food places! Jed also holds a major love for the ocean, sociology, writing, and hearing about other people’s stories.

Diana Garcia
University of California, Santa Barbara
Diana Garcia is a 4th year student at UCSB majoring in Environmental Studies with a minor in Latin American Studies. Her passion for environmental justice grew as she broke away from the false dichotomy that separates humans from Mother Earth. She is currently the Co-Chair for Environmental Justice Alliance (EJA) advocating for an inclusion of social justice in the environmental field to make a safer space for Black and brown students to speak on their experiences.

Lindsey Tavares-Sabido
University of California, Santa Cruz
Lindsey Tavares-Sabido will graduate from the University of California, Santa Cruz as a Legal Studies major with a minor in Politics in Fall of 2020. She is a first-generation American, first-generation college student, and an adult child of a formerly incarcerated parent. Lindsey’s passions are at the intersection of social and environmental justice with particular interest in food sovereignty, global health, human rights and international law.
She has served as the Political and Cultural chair for the UCSC Black Student Union from 2019 to 2020. Through her deep dialogue and engagement with the issues marginalized communities face on campus, Lindsey and other Black student leaders co-created the Pan African Research Fellowship pilot program at UCSC to ensure student advocacy leads to equitable, sustainable change. As a research fellow, Lindsey explores the relationship between housing and academic success for ABC students at UCSC.
Lindsey is the founder and director of the BIPOC Liberation Collective in Santa Cruz, CA. After graduation, she hopes to continue organizing and building intersectional solidarity amongst Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) by reclaiming space and making political education and cultural arts accessible to all BIPOC people. Lindsey plans to broaden her experience in the nonprofit and public sectors before applying for her PhD. In her free time, Lindsey enjoys going to the beach, hiking, biking, gardening, cooking, painting, & dancing.

Gabrielle Christina Ambayec
University of California, Berkeley
Gabrielle Christina Ambayec (she/they) is a third-year undergraduate who currently works as the Environmental Justice Associate at the Student Environmental Resource Center (SERC) at UC Berkeley. She aims to introduce and amplify the work of grassroots organizers in the East Bay through various events open to the general campus community at Berkeley. Her specific work prompts her to create events and resources with the intent of educating the campus community on matters including environmental racism, food justice, and community care.”

Nisha Bansal
Moderator
Nisha Bansal (she/hers) is a recent UCLA graduate with a degree in Environmental Science. She previously worked in the LA Mayor’s Office and as a Sustainability Assistant with UCLA Housing to put on cool sustainability events like this one! In addition to being a sustainability advocate, Nisha is a writer, performer, Survivor fanatic, and enthusiastic consumer of dumplings.

Clean Water for All
2020-10-15 14:00 - 15:00
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Presenters:
Ray Hiemstra, Associate Director of Programs, Orange County Coastkeeper
Enrique Valencia, Project Director, Orange County Environmental Justice
Keila Villegas – Community Organizer, Orange County Environmental Justice
Sarah Rae, Manager, Water Conservation, Liberty Utilities

Join us for a live presentation to discuss how water awareness and community action can improve water quality. This event will bring together local organizations to discuss water quality and conservation practices in Southern California.
Hosted by CSU Fullerton

Where Have All the Good Fires Gone? An Indigenous Perspective on the Fire Relationship
2020-10-15 16:30 - 17:45
Join the Humanities Studio at Pomona College on Thurs, Oct 15, for “Where Have All the Good Fires Gone? An Indigenous Perspective on the Fire Relationship” with Michael Connolly Miskwish (Kumeyaay) and Pomona’s own Char Miller.

We’re often told that today’s Southern California residents have a lot to learn about living in this wildfire-prone landscape from the area’s Native Nations. What exactly are those lessons? Join San Diego State lecturer in American Indian Studies Michael Connolly Miskwish (Kumeyaay) and Pomona College Professor of Environmental Analysis Char Miller for a rich discussion of historical fire usage by California tribes; the Kumeyaah’s reintroduction of managed fire on its Campo; and the carrying capacity of this fire-prone terrain—among many other related topics.
The event is free and open to the public.

To participate, visit The Humanities Studio Zoom Lounge (https://pomonacollege.zoom.us/j/85324465980) on Thursday, October 15, at 4:30 p.m. PT. (If the link above does not take you directly to the registration page for the presentation, visit zoom.us and enter Meeting ID: 853 2446 5980 when prompted.)

2020-10-16 13:00 - 14:00
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California Air Resources Board Chair Mary D. Nichols and UCLA law professor Ann E. Carlson will discuss the productive but fraught relationship between cities, states and national environmental decisions-makers, with a focus on the important strides made to improve air quality in California over the past several decades.
The event is the second in the “PLACE and Power” series of virtual conversations exploring connections between human place-based relationships and the law and politics of environmental governance.
Sponsored by the Program in Law, Communities and the Environment (PLACE); the Virginia Environmental Law Forum; and the Virginia Environmental Law Journal.

Confronting Urgent Threats to Human Health & Society: COVID-19 and Climate Change
2020-10-19 07:00 - 14:30
Keynote Address: Crises, Fast & Slow
Bill Gates
Bill Gates is co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Along with co-chair Melinda Gates, he shapes and approves grantmaking strategies, advocates for the foundation’s issues, and helps set the overall direction of the organization.
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The state of the COVID-19 pandemic: Virus emergence, the impact of the pandemic, & US and global preparedness and response
Session keynote: Anthony S. Fauci, MD
Dr. Fauci was appointed director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases in 1984, and oversees an extensive portfolio of basic and applied research to prevent, diagnose, and treat established infectious diseases such as HIV/AIDS, respiratory infections, diarrheal diseases, tuberculosis and malaria as well as emerging diseases such as Ebola and Zika.

Moderator: Sanjay Gupta, MD, FACS
Dr. Gupta is an associate professor of neurosurgery at Emory University School of Medicine and associate chief of neurosurgery at Grady Memorial Hospital. In his role at CNN — where he has won multiple Emmy Awards as chief medical correspondent — Dr. Gupta covers important health stories in the United States and around the world.

Panelists:
Chikwe Ihekweazu, FFPH
Dr. Ihekweazu, now Director General at the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control, trained as an infectious disease epidemiologist and has over 20 years’ experience working in senior public health and leadership positions in several national public health institutes.

Nicole Lurie, MD, MSPH
Dr. Lurie, now Strategic Advisor to the CEO of the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations, is a physician, professor of medicine, and public health official. During the administration of President Barack Obama, she was Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response at the United States Department of Health and Human Services.

Susan R. Weiss, PhD
Dr. Weiss is a microbiologist and a Professor of Microbiology at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. Her research considers the biology of coronaviruses, including SARS, MERS and SARS-CoV-2.
Climate change and human health: Navigating environmental, societal, and individual impacts
Session keynote: Sir Andrew Haines, MBBS, MD, FRCGP, FFPHM, FRCP, FMedSci
Sir Andrew Haines is a Professor of Environmental Change and Public Health with a joint appointment in the Department of Public Health, Environments and Society and in the Department of Population Health at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.

Moderator: Richard J. Jackson, MD, MPH
Dr. Jackson is Professor emeritus at the Fielding School of Public Health at the University of California, Los Angeles. For nine years he was Director of the CDC’s National Center for Environmental Health.

Panelists:

Georges C. Benjamin, MD
Dr. Benjamin is a public health official who has served as Executive Director of the American Public Health Association since 2002, and previously as Secretary of the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene.

Jane Lubchenco, PhD
The Honorable Dr. Jane Lubchenco is a Distinguished University Professor and Marine Studies Advisor to the President at Oregon State University. She is a marine ecologist and environmental scientist by training, with expertise in oceans, climate change, and interactions between the environment and human well-being.

Jacqueline Patterson, MSW, MPH
Jacqueline Patterson, now Senior Director of the Environmental and Climate Justice Program at the NAACP, has worked as a researcher, program manager, coordinator, advocate and activist working on women‘s rights, violence against women, HIV&AIDS, racial justice, economic justice, and environmental and climate justice.
President’s Forum:
Responding to global crises: Future directions in science and policymaking to address complex threats to society
Welcoming Remarks: Victor Dzau, MD

Session keynote: Ursula von der Leyen
Ursula von der Leyen is the President of the European Commission, where she has led the way in introducing a European Green Deal and led efforts to fight the COVID-19 crisis, launching Europe’s recovery and shaping the global response to the pandemic.
Moderator:

Judith Rodin, PhD
Dr. Rodin was the first female leader of an Ivy League Institution. A research psychologist by training, she was one of the pioneers of the behavioral medicine and health psychology movements.

Panelists:
Sir Jeremy J. Farrar, MBBS, DPhil
Jeremy Farrar is Director of the Wellcome Trust – a politically and financially independent global charitable foundation that exists to improve health by helping big ideas to thrive.

Niall Ferguson, MA, DPhil
Niall Ferguson is the Milbank Family Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University, and a senior faculty fellow of the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs at Harvard.

Adrienne L. Hollis, PhD, JD
Adrienne Hollis is the Senior Climate Justice and Health Scientist for the Union of Concerned Scientists. In that role, she leads the development, design, and implementation of methods for accessing and documenting the health impacts of climate change on communities of color and other traditionally disenfranchised groups.

Jim Yong Kim, MD, PhD
Jim Yong Kim is Vice Chairman and Partner at Global Infrastructure Partners, a fund that invests in infrastructure projects across several sectors around the world. From July 2012 to February 2019, Kim served as the 12th President of the World Bank Group.

Congresswoman Donna E. Shalala, PhD
Congresswoman Shalala is the longest-serving Secretary of Health and Human Services in U.S. history, and now serves Florida’s 27th District as an advocate for women’s rights, civil rights, increased access to healthcare, better education and public schools, and a clean and sustainable environment.

The Future of Energy
2020-10-20 12:00 - 13:00
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Presenters:
Janet Purchase, Energy & Utility Analyst, CSUF Office of Sustainability
Brendan O’Donnell, Director, Public Sector, Southwest, ChargePoint
Lynniece Warren, Energy & Sustainability Manager, Facilities Services

In this presentation, discover how critical energy challenges of today are shaping the future. Energy leaders will discuss insights to help shape a more sustainable future.
Hosted by CSU Fullerton

Why Your Vote Matters Virtual Q&A
2020-10-20 13:30 - 14:45
U.S. Senator and 2020 presidential candidate Cory Booker will share his perspective on the role our students can play in creating a just and sustainable society through civic and community engagement in the final stretch before the November elections and beyond.
California Secretary of State Alex Padilla will educate attendees about the steps that are being taken across the state to make sure all of our votes will be counted and our voices heard during these unprecedented times.
California State University, Long Beach alum and Legislative Manager for the California League of Conservation Voters Melissa Romero will educate students about 2020 ballot initiatives that will have an impact on the environment and our communities.
