UCLA Sustainability

Coastal Justice Lab - Public Launch
2023-03-09 12:00 - 13:30 (America/Los_Angeles) | HYBRID: UCI Law | EDU 1111 and Zoom, 401 E Peltason Dr, Irvine, CA, 92697, United States
Coastal regions, including public trust lands, are of unique importance to environmental and climate policy, infrastructure development and ecosystem management. They also raise unique challenges for disadvantaged communities, including those who live and work along the “Hidden Coast” – low-lying lands and non-oceanfront tidal and estuarine zones that account for 80% of the national shoreline.
The Coastal Justice Lab is a joint program led by Azul, a Latinx-led and -serving environmental justice organization focused on coastal and marine conservation, and the Center for Land, Environment, and Natural Resources at UCI Law. The Coastal Justice Lab is unique among efforts to advance environmental justice in coastal regions. It focuses on legal and interdisciplinary research to ensure that the work of federal, state, and local agencies, planning and regulatory proceedings, and compliance and enforcement initiatives advance principles of environmental justice and community involvement and ownership. The Coastal Justice Lab’s work includes policy proposals, draft legislation, convening reports, facilitated dialogues and peer-reviewed research to support ongoing community and agency initiatives.
Speakers include:
Emma Cervantes, California Sea Grant Law and Policy Fellow, California State Lands Commission
Marce Gutiérrez-Graudiņš, Founder and Executive Director, Azul
Gregg Macey, Associate Director for Environmental Justice, Center for Land, Environment, and Natural Resources, UCI Law
Yessica Ramirez, Environmental Justice Liaison, California State Lands Commission
Sumi Selvaraj, Environmental Justice Manager, California Coastal Commission
Noaki Schwartz, Deputy Director of Communications, Environmental Justice, and Tribal Affairs, California Coastal Commission
REGISTER HERE | Zoom webinar available for remote participation (link sent with registration confirmation).

Reimagining Rights in the Americas Conference - Keynote by E. Tendayi Achiume & Closing Reception
2023-03-10 16:00 - 18:30 | UCLA Meyer and Renee Luskin Conference Center, Laureate Room, 425 Westwood Plaza, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, United States
The Reimagining Rights in the Americas Conference is ten days of activities arranged around a historic first for UCLA: hosting the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights’ (IAHCR) Period of Sessions.
Tendayi Achiume is the Alicia Miñana Chair in Law at UCLA School of Law and former faculty director of the Promise Institute. She recently finished her period as UN Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance.
A human rights scholar and influential leader at the intersection of human rights and racial justice, Professor Achiume will speak on Climate Justice and Climate Reparations from a Racial Justice Perspective. She will be joined by IACHR Commissioner Margarette May Macaulay for a perspective from the Inter-American Commission.
The closing reception at 5:45pm will take place in the Luskin Courtyard South.
REGISTER HERE

Lydia Kallipoliti, "The Power of S**t"
2023-03-13 18:30 - 20:00 | CA
Lydia Kallipoliti is an architect, engineer, and scholar, and is Assistant Professor at The Cooper Union’s Irwin S. Chanin School of Architecture. Her research focuses on the intersections of architecture, technology and environmental politics and more particularly on recycling material experiments, theories of waste and reuse, as well as closed and self-reliant systems and urban environments.

Webinar - Methane Webinar Series: Reducing Methane Emissions from the Solid Waste Sector
2023-03-14 17:00 - 18:15 | Online
Registration is free, but required to attend. REGISTER HERE.
Today, the solid waste landfills sector accounts for 20% of global methane emissions, and is the third largest source of anthropogenic methane emissions in the United States. Additionally, it is anticipated that the total generation of municipal solid waste (MSW) will increase by 70% by 2050 as a result of a growing population. This increase in waste generation has the potential to drive a proportionate increase in landfill gas (LFG), which is primarily methane and carbon dioxide (CO2) — the two greatest contributors to global warming.
As two large economies, China and California are now taking actions to reduce methane emissions from the solid waste sector. Since different policies and technologies are adopted in the two jurisdictions, both sides can share lessons-learned and experiences with one another. Join us to hear from issue-experts on these topics, including about the launch of a new California-China Climate Institute report which focuses on lessons-learned from California.
Agenda
5:00 PT Discussion is Opened by Moderator, Ken Alex, Director, Project Climate, Center for Law, Energy, and Environment, UC Berkeley
5:00 PT Opening remarks

Jiang Lin, Nat Simons Presidential Chair in China Energy Policy, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory

5:05 PT Introduction of Waste Methane Report

Rixin Zhu, Methane Policy Fellow, California-China Climate Institute

5:25 PT Commentary and Reactions on Addressing Waste Methane

Matthew Harrison, Manager of the Short-Lived Climate Pollutant Policy Section, California Air Resources Board
Dr. Xiao Liu, Project Director, Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH

6:00 PT Open Discussion and Audience Q & A
6:20 PT Closing Remarks

Dr. Meian Chen, Innovative Green Development Program (iGDP)

This webinar series is organized by the California-China Climate Institute, in partnership with the Innovative Green Development Program (iGDP). Supported by Climate Imperative and IGSD.

Free Food from the Dining Halls
2023-03-14 22:00, 2023-03-16 22:00 | Conference Room 1 in the Student Activities Center Basement, 220 Westwood Plaza, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, United States
Bruin Dine is a program serving leftover hot food from the UCLA dining halls FREE to all UCLA students, and is also looking for volunteers to help run these events (sign up at https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/11skt8Eys4hfeP4IKQFncG4Ct8ECivES6bjPjAfu20qE/edit#gid=1001346100 — UCLA email login required).
If the sign-up list is full, please place your name on the waitlist; if the waitlist is full, hang tight. Bruin Dine will release more volunteer dates in the weeks to come, and also asks that volunteers arrive at their meeting location at 9 pm before the event begins. More details about your shift will be confirmed with you via email and text.
If you also know of anyone who is in need of food, please send them the details to this event! Attendees must also bring their own containers and utensils!

How Biohydrogen Can Help Fight Climate Change
2023-03-15 08:00 - 09:00 | Online
Hydrogen, particularly green hydrogen produced from water electrolysis using renewable electricity, has received the lion’s share of attention due to its essential role in helping the world reach net-zero emissions by 2050. By comparison, little attention has been paid to biohydrogen (Bio-H2), a type of hydrogen produced from organic waste streams (e.g., agricultural waste).
Please join the Center on Global Energy Policy at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs to discuss key findings from its latest report on hydrogen, The Potential Role of Biohydrogen in the Net-Zero World: The Production and Applications of Carbon-Negative Hydrogen. The report explores the current state of play for Bio-H2 and its potential contribution to decarbonization efforts by examining its production options, carbon footprint, cost, potential applications, and policy options.
Moderator:

Anne-Sophie Corbeau, Global Research Scholar, Center on Global Energy Policy at Columbia SIPA

Panelists:

Emanuele Bianco, Programme Officer, International Renewable Energy Agency
Zhiyuan Fan, Ph.D. student and Research Associate, Center on Global Energy Policy at Columbia SIPA
Doris Fujii, Head of Hydrogen and CCUS Analysis, bp
Yushan Lou, Research Associate, Center on Global Energy Policy at Columbia SIPA

This webinar will be hosted via Zoom. Advance registration is required.
REGISTER HERE
Upon registration, you will receive a confirmation email with access details. The event will be recorded, and the video recording will be added to our website following the event.

Engineering Jobs Across Climate
2023-03-15 09:00 - 11:00 | Online
Meet innovative companies hiring software engineers across industries.
REGISTER HERE
About Terra.do job fairs
Action-packed job fairs each month, giving candidates upfront access to hear from companies about their climate solutions and why you should join them.

Hear about dozens of open roles, in a single event
Engage directly with CXOs and hiring managers
Get vetted by Terra.do and move into recruiters’ “priority lists”
Free for candidates to attend

Visions of Reproductive Justice Series: Perspectives on Climate Justice, Public Health, and Reproductive Justice
2023-03-15 12:15 - 13:30 | Online
Join the Emmett Institute on Climate Change and the Environment and the Center on Reproductive Health, Law, and Policy for a virtual discussion about the intersection of climate change and reproductive justice.
REGISTER HERE

UCLA Farmers Market
2023-03-15 14:00 - 18:00 | Bruin Plaza, 308 Westwood Plaza, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, United States
Biweekly market (last market of the quarter) with fresh produce and local farmers in Bruin Plaza!

Webinar: Carbon Capture and Storage and What it Means for Environmental Justice
2023-03-16 10:00 - 11:30 | Online
Join Just Solutions Collective in a webinar to explore precisely what carbon capture and storage, or CCS, is and how the technology works. CCS is often purported as a just environmental solution, aiming to reduce the levels of decades of carbon emissions in the earth’s atmosphere. However, many environmental and climate justice advocates point to the harmful impacts CCS technologies have on our communities.
Speakers will also discuss how CCS fits into the current landscape of federal funding opportunities and what EJ communities can expect with increased support for this technology. Lastly, they will examine if we can save the planet without CCS and what options are available as potential alternatives to this solution.
REGISTER HERE

Innovative approaches for building disaster and climate change resilient communities
2023-03-16 10:00 - 11:30 | Online
The University of the West Indies through the Office of Global Affairs, together with the Institute of the Environment and Sustainability at UCLA and the Clara Lionel Foundation will host a webinar themed, Innovative approaches for building disaster and climate change resilient communities.
Join the conversation via Zoom on Thursday, March 16, 2023 at bit.ly/CaribbeanResilienceWebinar
This webinar seeks to capture some of the best Caribbean-based practices and case studies on disaster resilience and climate change adaptation.
Expert panellists will present innovative strategies and processes that have been adopted and produced encouraging results.
Opening Remarks
Marilyn Raphael, Director, UCLA Institute of the Environment and Sustainability
Keynote Speaker
Krystle Francis
Program Manager, Climate Resilience Initiative Clara Lionel Foundation
Panelists
Dr. Stephen Commins
Lecturer, Department of Urban Planning, and Associate Director for Global Public Affairs Luskin School, UCLA
Dr. Therese Ferguson-Murray
Deputy Dean and Senior Lecturer, School of Education, The UWI, Mona Campus
Ms. Marissa McMillan
Watershed Planner, Trinidad and Tobago Water and Sewerage Authority

UCLA Anderson Energy Innovation Conference - Decarbonizing the Future
2023-03-17 09:30 - 18:00 | Marion Anderson Hall Grand Salon, 110 Westwood Plaza, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, United States
RSVP required | UCLA Anderson’s Energy and Cleantech Association is thrilled to host the annual Energy Innovation Conference on Friday, March 17. This year’s theme is “Decarbonizing the Future.” The event will feature panels on electric mobility, carbon management, cleantech finance and women’s representation in the industry. Professionals and MBA students will learn from leaders and subject matter experts and engage in discussion about career development in cleantech.
Breakfast and lunch will be provided.
The expert panels will be followed by a networking happy hour.
REGISTER HERE

Environmental Justice Series Symposium — with Angela Johnson Meszaros
2023-03-17 14:00 - 16:00 | UCLA Mildred E Mathias Botanical Garden, La Kretz Garden Pavilion, 707 Tiverton Dr, Los Angeles, CA, 90095
Angela Johnson Meszaros is is a Managing Attorney at Earth Justice.
Angela’s docket focuses on working with communities of color on issues related to air pollution, energy, and the urban environment. For over 30 years, Angela has used a range of tools to enhance the health, safety, and quality of life in communities impacted by environmental hazards including providing technical assistance to community members to support their effective advocacy on behalf of their communities, litigation, legislative drafting, policy advocacy, and media engagement.
Refreshments will be served.
REGISTER HERE
About the series
The struggle for environmental justice defines many of the communities that make up Los Angeles. This winter we welcome you to come and hear from some of the region’s leaders about the issues communities have faced, continue to face, and to learn from their activism and commitment.
All events to be held at UCLA Mildred Mathias Arboretum, La Kretz Garden Pavilion. Google Map

WISE-LA Spring Brunch
2023-03-19 11:00 - 14:00 | Greenleaf Kitchen & Cocktails, 1239 Abbot Kinney Blvd, Los Angeles, CA, 90291, United States
Join the Women Investing for a Sustainable Economy (WISE)-L.A. chapter for a fun brunch to meet and connect with others involved in the sustainable investment space in LA.
Feel free to bring your colleagues/friends in the industry who you think would benefit from this incredible WISE community!
REGISTER HERE

Anjali Bansal: The Opportunity to Drive Value Creation Through Climate Investing
2023-03-22 08:00 - 09:00 | Online
About the event
When applied to large-scale problems, technology and innovation can help create solutions with an outsized impact on climate outcomes.
There is an extraordinary opportunity to build and scale technology-led solutions that can accelerate low-emissions and climate-resilient development pathways and drive impact for people and planet.
Investment in these climate technologies is required across the capital continuum – from early-stage venture capital funding to large public funds. For developing nations such as India, which are critical participants in achieving global sustainability, climate technologies must encompass adaptation, resilience, and mitigation to drive maximum value creation.
REGISTER HERE
About the speaker
Anjali Bansal is the Founding Partner of Avaana Climate and Sustainability Fund – investing in technology and innovation-led start-ups catalysing climate solutions and sustainability. Previously, Anjali was the Non-Executive Chairperson of Dena Bank, appointed by the Government of India to steer the stressed bank’s resolution and merger with Bank of Baroda.
Prior to that, Anjali was a Global Partner and Managing Director with TPG Growth PE, responsible for India, SE Asia, Africa and Middle East. She was also a strategy consultant with McKinsey & Company in New York.
Anjali has invested in various successful start-ups including Nykaa, Delhivery, Urban Company, Darwinbox, Farmart, and climate tech startups like Turno and Eeki. She serves as an independent director on leading boards including Tata Power, Nestle, and Piramal Enterprises. She has been appointed on the Board of ONDC (Open Network for Digital Commerce) and GIFT City, and chairs the Climate Council within IVCA. She is a Member of the Evolution Review Committee for Niti Aayog, India’s premier policy think tank chaired by the Indian Prime Minister. Anjali has also previously chaired the India board of Women’s World Banking, and served on the boards of GSK Pharma, Siemens, and Bata.

Planes, Trains and Automobiles: Electrifying Everything
2023-03-22 09:00 - 12:00 | Online
Electric vehicle adoption has significantly progressed in the past few years, and the technologies and regulations to electrify other kinds of transportation has also accelerated. For years, we have talked about light duty electric vehicles, but total transportation electrification means electrifying every single way in which we move people and goods. This Summit will highlight the wider world of electric transportation including electric vertical take-off and landing, airplanes, ports, school buses, and micro-mobility to explore the current state of the market and what is needed for mass adoption.
REGISTER HERE

Emerging Research: Air Pollution Health Outcomes and Valuation
2023-03-22 09:00 - 13:00 | Online
The California Air Resources Board (CARB) Research Division invites you to attend a public meeting to hear information about emerging science in the areas of assessing air pollution related health outcomes and approaches for valuation of health outcomes.
The purpose of this meeting is to hear information about emerging science in the area of air pollution and health in order to better understand the current available research and methodologies to assess and quantify health outcomes and benefits. This meeting will involve several presentations by academic and governmental experts on topics including health outcomes and valuation.
The scientific health experts are listed below:
Irva Hertz-Picciotto, M.P.H., Ph.D., Environmental and Occupational Health, UC Davis
Michael Jerrett, Ph.D., Environmental Health Sciences, UCLA
Rob Scot McConnell, MD., Population and Public Health Sciences, USC
Penelope JE Quintana, M.P.H., Ph.D., Environmental Health, SDSU
Bhavna Shamasunder, M.ES., Ph.D., Urban and Environmental Policy, Occidental College
Tracey Woodruff, M.P.H., Ph.D., Reproductive Health and the Environment, UCSF
The presentations will be followed by questions and a panel discussion with health experts under contract to CARB (see list of scientific health experts below). Afterwards there will be a period of public comment.
REGISTER HERE
Please register for the Public Meeting of Emerging Research: Air Pollution Health Outcomes and Valuation. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email with information about how to join the webinar by computer or by telephone.
This webinar will be recorded. A link to the recording will be sent to registrants two weeks after the meeting date. The meeting agenda will be made available a week in advance of the meeting, and meeting slides will be made available the day of the meeting online.

Renewable Energy Trends in Higher Ed: Different Solutions for Different Institutions
2023-03-22 11:00 - 12:00 | Online
Colleges and universities are buying more renewable energy than ever. Their strategies are evolving and increasing, including: onsite, offsite, PPAs, Utility Green Tariffs, Retail Renewables, unbundled RECs, and emerging approaches. This webinar, which is based on a recent analysis of the state of renewable energy in higher education, will highlight several innovative examples of how institutions are navigating this complex landscape. Participants will hear case studies about Brown University’s community solar projects, Loyola Chicago’s journey from RECs to 100% renewables via retail, and more. Join this webinar to learn what’s happening across the sector and what might work for your institution.
REGISTER HERE
Presenters
Jessica Berry, Director of the Office of Sustainability, Brown University
Jess is the director of the Office of Sustainability and provides leadership and management across the University to enhance sustainability at Brown. She works closely with the associate provost of sustainability and key stakeholders to identify opportunities for integrating sustainability principles into University operations, including the development of a long-term Sustainability Strategic Plan and net-zero strategy. Jess has worked in the environmental field for over 20 years and holds a B.S. and M.S. in environmental studies and natural resources. She can be found mountain biking, skiing or in the Vermont mountains with her family.
Aaron Durnbaugh, Director of Sustainability, Loyola University Chicago
Aaron supports faculty and staff across Loyola’s campuses and academic centers in creating the most sustainable and transformative education experience possible. He serves on the Executive Committee of the Chicago Wilderness Alliance, Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning’s (CMAP) Environment and Natural Resources Working Committee, the Illinois Green Alliance’s Drawdown Steering Committee, and is the interim Chair for the Advisory Committee for the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education’s Sustainability Tracking, Assessment and Rating System (STARS). Previously, he served as the Deputy Commissioner leading Chicago Department of Environment’s Natural Resources and Water Quality Division (NRWQ). The Department of Environment was the lead agency developing and implementing the Chicago Climate Action Plan. NRWQ educated the public on climate change issues through the Chicago Center for Green Technology, Chicago Conservation Corps, and Greencorps Chicago. NRWQ created mitigation opportunities through open space protection in the Calumet region, green infrastructure financing and various urban forestry projects. During his time in City government, Durnbaugh oversaw the City of Chicago’s climate adaptation strategy engaging stakeholders in built environment, public health and the natural environment. He holds a Master’s Degree in Geography and Environmental Studies and is a LEED™ accredited professional.
Dr. Wolfgang Bauer, University Distinguished Professor, Department of Physics and Astronomy, Michigan State University
From 2001 to 2013, Dr. Bauer served as chair of the Department of Physics and Astronomy and from 2009 to 2013 as founding director of the Institute for Cyber-Enabled Research. For the last decade he has worked primarily on MSU’s Energy Transition Plan, with a stint as Senior Consultant (2013-2018) and subsequently Associate Vice President for Administration (2018-2020). He oversaw the development of MSU’s 10 MW portfolio of solar carports, which became operational in 2018 and was the largest solar carport project in the United States at that time.
Chris O’Brien, Vice President, Business Development, Coho Climate Advisors
Chris leads business outreach and solution delivery efforts with a focus on the higher education market. He brings more than 20 years of energy, sustainability, and strategic advisory services including as Director of Sustainability at American University, where he led participation in the Coho-facilitated 53 MW Capital Partners Solar Project. Chris also previously served as Director of Higher Education Programs at Edison Energy. In his side career/hobby in the beer industry, he authored the award-winning book Fermenting Revolution: How to Drink Beer and Save the World. He serves on the board of directors of the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE).

Conversations on Informality: Providing Sustainable Electricity to Urban Informal Settlements of the Global South
2023-03-23 08:00 - 09:00 | Online
Providing basic services to informal urban settlements has been a historical challenge for cities of the global south. One of the defining features of ‘informality’ in settlements has been their lack of access to basic services. This seminar complicates that discussion by asking how to marry the concerns of sustainability and steady electricity provision in informal urban settlements. Dr. Mensah will present his research on electricity provision in Accra’s slums, while Dr. Kitio will focus on the overall macro picture of fitting sustainability into service provision in informal settlements of the global south. In particular, the seminar features research conducted by Eugenie L. Birch, co-Director of Penn’s Institute for Urban Research, and James Mensah entitled “Powering the Slum” and funded by the Kleinman Centre for Energy Policy at the University of Pennsylvania.
The “Conversations on Informality” Seminar Series of the Penn IUR Forum on Urban Informality bring together leading scholars and practitioners for an exchange across academic disciplines and in policy.
This event is a part of Energy Week at Penn, a week of energy-focused events across Penn’s campus. Browse and register for other Energy Week events: www.energyweek.upenn.edu
REGISTER HERE

GRID Talks | Raise the Roof: Women in Construction
2023-03-23 12:30 - 13:30 | Online
Meet the women who are building a more inclusive solar industry!
with Marie Kills Warror, Anna Bautista, Freida Galindo
Join GRID Alternatives for a one hour discussion and Q&A on women in the solar industry, women in construction, and a just transition to a clean energy future through solar energy.
FREE ONLINE WEBINAR – REGISTER HERE
GRID Talks is a new webinar series that brings together leaders from the environmental justice movement to discuss issues related to clean energy access and community-centered solutions. The webinars seek to amplify the voices of GRID’s communities and share the stories, experiences, and work that are creating mission impact and systemic changes.
Marie Kills Warrior, Energy Research & Project Developer | I am an enrolled member of the Oglala Sioux Tribe. I was born and raised on the Pine Ridge Reservation in the small town of Kyle South Dakota. I began my journey in Solar PV at an Earth Day event in 2016. In 2019 I obtained my NABCEP Associates through Red Cloud Renewables during the first Tribal Train The Trainer Program and I aspire to become a NABCEP certified Solar PV designer and Instructor for Indigenous Communities throughout Turtle Island.
Anna Bautista, Vice President of Construction, GRID Alternatives | Anna has broad experience in the solar industry as a site supervisor, hands-on trainer, and design and installation technician. In the private sector, she managed over $4M in residential and small commercial PV projects. She has worked on renewable energy projects and environmental justice campaigns in the Philippines, Haiti, and Costa Rica but is honored to share her skills locally to help democratize access to renewable energy and energy efficiency solutions and training. Anna has a degree in Electrical Engineering from MIT and is proud to represent among other women who are NABCEP Certified Installers in California.
Freida Galindo, SolarCorps Construction Project Management Fellow | Freida is a project management fellow for single-family homes in the greater Los Angeles area. She is an active environmental advocate in her community through lobbying and volunteering, working to advance community and ecosystem resilience. A first generation college graduate, she double majored in environmental studies and global studies at UC Santa Barbara. Her passion for the environment translates to her hobbies, like roller skating and paddleboarding, that allow her to be outdoors to enjoy nature.

Black Holes, White Gold: A Floristic Inventory of the Silver Peak Range, Esmeralda County, NV.
2023-03-23 18:00 - 19:30 | Online
With Peri Lee Pipkin, Masters student, Claremont University & 2022 WMRC Mini Grant Recipient
Peri Lee is conducting a floristic inventory of the Silver Peak mountains in Esmeralda County, Nevada. These desert mountains are arid yet full of incredible biodiversity, and range from valleys of alkali wetlands, cactus flats to red rock canyons, and peaks bearing lupines and bristlecone pines. There are several species of interest in the area, including the endemic and endangered Tiehm’s buckwheat, and the rare plant Tecopa Bird’s Beak. In addition to this floristic inventory, Peri Lee is also writing a conservation plan in order to preserve the threatened population of Tecopa’s Bird’s Beak that occurs in the alkali wetlands.
Registration required via Zoom. REGISTER HERE.
This talk will be recorded. FREE & OPEN TO THE PUBLIC.

2nd Annual Climate Equity LA Series Launch
2023-03-23 18:00 - 19:30 | Online
The 2nd Annual Climate Equity LA (CELA) Series Launch will provide an overview of Year 2 of the CELA series, including its emphasis on extreme heat and equitable, community-centered solutions for climate resilience, and the collaborative role of the Climate Emergency Mobilization Office (CEMO) in the co-creation of the City of LA’s first Heat Action Plan (HAP), Heat Relief Campaign, and Climate Vulnerability Assessment (CVA).
The launch event will provide an opportunity to review the successes and accomplishments from CELA Year 1, and will highlight the wisdom from community partners in conversation, with the support of public leaders, to improve how the City of LA can meet the needs and priorities of frontline communities most impacted by extreme heat and climate hazards, while advocating for more resources to get there.

Climate Solutions, Justice, and the Rise of a Trillion-Dollar Industry
2023-03-24 07:20 - 08:20 | Online
This is a keynote event of The Penn Regenerative Ag Alliance Workshop.
The workshop’s morning keynote speaker, Dr. Jane Zelikova, will discuss the possibility of regenerative agriculture as a just climate solution. As attention on soil carbon is increasing in rapidly expanding carbon markets, questions of application and scalability must be approached from a framework that prioritizes equity.
Dr. Tamara Jane Zelikova works at the intersection of climate science and policy. Her work focuses on advancing the science of carbon removal and she has published in scientific journals like Nature and Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, written and contributed to climate policy reports and published articles in popular media outlets like Scientific American. She is currently the executive director of the Soil Carbon Solutions Center at Colorado State University, where she works with leading scientists to build the tools and approaches needed to accelerate the deployment of credible soil-based climate solutions, measure their impacts and bring them to scale.
In addition to her scientific and policy expertise, Zelikova is the cofounder of 500 Women Scientists, a global grassroots nonprofit organization with the mission to serve society by making science open, inclusive and accessible and fighting racism, patriarchy and oppressive societal norms. She is also the founder of Hey Girl Productions, coproducing and starring in the film End of Snow, which has been featured in National Geographic and Outside magazine.
REGISTER HERE
This event is a part of Energy Week at Penn, a week of energy-focused events across Penn’s campus.
Browse and register for other Energy Week events: energyweek.upenn.edu

Climate Change, Disruption, and Health Equity
2023-03-24 09:00 - 10:00 | Online
As climate-related disasters, such as floods, droughts, and extreme temperatures become more common, humans are being exposed to unique combinations of health hazards and stressors, which are often inequitably distributed across the population. A panel of experts will discuss how climate change and climate disasters impact health outcomes for different populations and exacerbates health inequities, their impact on health systems, and how we can better prepare for and mitigate the health impacts of a changing climate.
REGISTER HERE
This event is part of Energy Week at Penn. Check out the rest of the 2023 programming at energyweek.upenn.edu.

2023 BizFed Institute Water Forum
2023-03-24 09:00 - 12:00 | Metropolitan Water District, 700 Alameda St, Los Angeles, CA, 90012, United States
Join us the L.A. County Business Federation (BizFed) Institute for its in-person Water Resiliency Forum on Friday, March 24th, at the Metropolitan Water District’s Los Angeles headquarters to talk short-term and long-term solutions. They’ll convene change agents from business and government for a frank conversation about challenges, projects, policies, and urgently needed investments.
REGISTER HERE

Bet the Farm: The Dollars and Sense of Growing Food in America
2023-03-24 10:00 - 11:00 | Online
This is a keynote event of the Penn Regenerative Ag Alliance Workshop.
REGISTER HERE
Bet the Farm: A conversation with Beth Hoffman on the dollars and sense of growing food in America.
Speaker:
Beth Hoffman began her writing career focused on culture and food, producing a radio food series documenting the stories of immigrant women as they cooked in their homes (which was nationally syndicated). Now twenty-five years into writing and producing work on food and agriculture, her areas of expertise have grown to include the potential of agriculture in development, the financial viability of farms, and sustainability in agriculture. She has aired and published on NPR’s Morning Edition and on their food blog The Salt, written for The Guardian, Civil Eats, Forbes and produced work for the News Hour, Latino USA, and The World. Most recently she published Bet the Farm: The Dollars and Sense of Growing Food in America. Hoffman currently works as a consultant on food + communications projects, speaks about sustainable farming, and writes a blog as part of the Iowa Writers Collaborative.
Hoffman also spent much of her adult life teaching, most recently as an Associate Professor in the Media Studies Department at the University of San Francisco. She was a Fellow and Co-Lecturer at UC Berkeley’s School of Journalism (where she also went to graduate school) in the Africa Food and Agriculture Reporting Project and traveled to India, Uganda, and Ethiopia to cover agriculture topics.
Perhaps most importantly, she is now a beginning farmer on a 570-acre farm in Iowa with her husband John. The couple raises pasture-raised beef, goats, and vegetables and forage for mushrooms.
This event is a part of Energy Week at Penn, a week of energy-focused events across Penn’s campus.
Browse and register for other Energy Week events: energyweek.upenn.edu

Urban biodiversity: the importance of scale
2023-03-24 11:30 - 12:30 | Online
REGISTER HERE
While much is known about the scaling of biodiversity, less is known about specifically how biodiversity scales in urban areas. This is an important question because over two-thirds of humans live in urban areas. Understanding how, precisely, biodiversity scales in urban areas will inform management. Linear relationships would imply that similar interventions should work across the range of city sizes (from small towns to the largest mega-cities) whereas non-linear relationships would imply that biodiversity strategies must be tailored to the size of the city. We focused on avian biodiversity because more than half of the species are found in urban areas (6,120 out of 11,162 species), including at least 350 threatened ones. We calculated species richness in 2,568 cities and used eBird, a community science platform, to estimate species richness. After controlling for a variety of variables that might explain variation in avian biodiversity, we found a non-linear relationship in cities and contrasted this to a well-established power law found in natural areas. After controlling for other key variables that might explain variation in urban biodiversity, the log-log relationship between city area and avian biodiversity had a slope of 0.42 until cities got bigger than 331 km2, beyond which it decreased to 0.15. This suggests that unique processes affect urban biodiversity in smaller and larger cities. When we focused on the subset of threatened species, we found a linear relationship with a slope of 0.20. Urbanization not only contributes to a global extinction, but urban areas may provide important habitat for threatened species.
About speaker: Dr. Nannan Gao is a Postdoctoral associate with Daniel T. Blumstein in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at UCLA. Her research mainly focuses on studying the relationship between urban biodiversity and city size by creating global urban biodiversity datasets that include small towns to megacities involving spatiotemporal advanced computing, statistical computing, and data science. Dr. Gao received her Ph.D. from the Chinese Academy of Science and also studied human geography and urban planning at Peking University. She seeks to balance humans and animals in urban areas.

Life after Concrete: Imagining the Future of the LA River
2023-03-27 14:00 - 16:00 | Doheny Memorial Library (DML) 240, 3550 Trousdale Parkway, Los Angeles, CA, 90089, United States
This is the fifth event of the 2022-23 Mellon Sawyer Seminar Precarious Ecologies: Science and Social Justice in the Production of Environmental Knowledge.
Nearly a century after it was encased in concrete for flood control, the LA River has in recent years become a source of hope for a renewed urban ecology, as well as a site of controversy over how to achieve this vision. Artists, activists, landscape designers and others have worked to imagine what the river might become, whether for green space starved Angelenos or for our city’s nonhuman inhabitants. This panel, part of the Mellon Sawyer series on “Precarious Ecologies,” brings together a range of thinkers to examine the possibilities and constraints of a revitalized LA River.
Panelists include artist Lauren Bon, landscape architect Jessica Hanson, activist mark! Lopez, anthropologist Sayd Randle, and Kizh-Gabrieliño tribal biologist Matthew Teutimez. USC historian William Deverell will serve as moderator.
REGISTER HERE

Under the Redwoods: A Sempervirens Fund Webinar Series - "A Climate Action Plan for Redwoods | Laura McLendon"
2023-03-28 13:00 - 14:00 | Online
Join Sempervirens Fund’s Laura McLendon for a look at new evidence about the climate crisis, the impact on redwoods, and how the organization is responding.
REGISTER HERE
Webinars are the last Tuesday of each month (January – October).
