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2014 Program & Speakers

Susan Solomon, Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences (MIT) gave the Fred Keeley Lecturer. Solomon is well known for having pioneered the theory explaining why the ozone hole occurs over Antarctica, and for obtaining some of the first chemical measurements that helped establish that chlorofluorocarbons are a cause.

Michael E. Mann, Distinguished Professor of Meteorology, Pennsylvania State University delivered the keynote. He has received many honors and awards including NOAA's outstanding publication award in 2002 and selection by Scientific American as one of the 50 leading visionaries in science and technology in 2002. He was awarded the National Conservation Achievement Award for science by the National Wildlife Federation in 2013.

The first panel was "Current State of Climate Science Research: What Do We Know and What Else Do We Need to Find Out?" It was moderated by Dean Paul Koch, Division of Physical & Biological Sciences. Panelists included:

  • Daniel Cayan, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, UCSD
  • Jeffrey Kiehl, Earth System Laboratory, National Center for Atmospheric Research
  • Benjamin D. Santer, Research Scientist, Program for Climate Model Diagnosis & Intercomparison, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
  • Gavin A. Schmidt, NASA, Goddard Institute for Space Studies, Center for Climate Systems Research, Columbia University

The second panel was "Mitigating the Effects of Climate Change: What is Possible?" It was moderated by Daniel Press, Executive Director, Center for Agroecology and Sustainable Food Systems, Department of Environmental Studies, UCSC. Panelists included:

  • Ken Alex, Director, California Governor’s Office of Planning and Research
  • Steven Cohen, Executive Director, The Earth Institute, Columbia University
  • Guido Franco, Climate Change Research Lead, California Energy Commission
  • Barry Sinervo, Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, UCSC

The third panel, "Adapting to the Future Effects of Climate Change" was moderated by Erika Zavaleta, Pepper-Giberson Chair, Department of Environmental Studies, UCSC. Panelists included:

  • Amrith Gunasekara, Science Advisor, California Department of Food and Agriculture
  • Mike Mielke, Vice President, Environmental Programs and Policy, Silicon Valley Leadership Group
  • Andrew Revkin, New York Times and Pace Academy for Applied Environmental Studies, Pace University
  • Terrie Williams, Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, UCSC