Lauren Kurtz is executive director at Climate Science Legal Defense Fund (CSLDF), a non-profit that provides legal protection and education for climate scientists. Legal action against climatologists as a political tactic slows and prevents critical advancements in our understanding of the planet. Lauren works to provide legal resources when scientists are pulled into litigation, connecting them with pro bono resources and facilitating information sharing about key cases and strategies among attorneys. She holds an MA in environmental policy from the University of Pennsylvania and a JD from University of Pennsylvania Law School, where she was involved in the Environmental Law Project.
Nathan Hunter is director of healthy communities at Groundwork Hudson Valley, an urban farming organization dedicated to making neglected neighborhoods more livable and sustainable. Since losing its position as an industrial powerhouse in the 1960s, Yonkers, New York has been economically distressed, segregated by race and class, and deals with many environmental issues. Nathan works to empower the community by providing jobs, agricultural training and inclusion in a supportive community of food lovers and farmers. He was honored by New York State Senator Andrea Stewart Cousins, who declared December 5 “Nathan Hunter Day.” Nathan holds a BS in marketing from Manhattan College.
Mark Huerta is co-founder and CEO of 33 Buckets, a consultancy that empowers rural communities in third-world countries to develop solutions to drinking water problems. The 2017 World Economic Forum report names unclean water as the greatest concern over the next 10 years and one of the top three risks to global society. 33 Buckets, whose name is inspired by the atomic number of arsenic removed (33), addresses the issue by setting up self-sustaining water businesses in rural communities. Mark holds a MS in biomedical engineering from Arizona State University, where he is pursuing a PhD in the Engineering Education Systems & Design Program.
Ed Hawkins is a climate scientist, professor at University of Reading and editor of Climate Lab Book, an experiment in open source science. As media forms evolve, becoming increasingly visual, communication experts are needed to take advantage of media’s newest applications. Inventive diagrams that provide conceptual clarity have become a hallmark of Ed’s visual style, the most notable example of which was his animation of the Earth’s temperature record, which was first shared on Twitter and ended up being used in the opening ceremony of the 2016 Rio Olympics. Ed holds an MS from the UK National Centre for Atmospheric Science (NCAS), where he conducts postdoctoral research and co-authored a paper that was cited almost 1,000 times.
Dr. Dan Hammer is the co-founder of LGND, a venture-backed startup building AI infrastructure for Earth observation data, and co-founder of Ode, a design and technology agency for environmental applications. He previously served as Chief Data Scientist at the World Resources Institute, where he co-founded Global Forest Watch, and as a Senior Advisor at Google X. Dan was a Senior Policy Advisor in the Obama White House (Office of Science and Technology Policy) and a Presidential Innovation Fellow at NASA. He is a National Geographic Explorer and recipient of the inaugural Pritzker Environmental Genius Award and UC Berkeley’s Mark Bingham Award for Excellence in Achievement. Dan holds a Ph.D. and M.S. from UC Berkeley, and graduated with high honors from Swarthmore College as a Lang Scholar and Watson Fellow.
Quentin Gee is a researcher and lecturer in philosophy and environmental studies at UC Santa Barbara, an institution where the environmental studies program was born of activism. To effect societal change, a strong relationship between community activists, research scientists and educators is essential. Quentin is an accomplished player on all three fronts. As the former leader of UCSB’s Associated Students Environmental Affairs board, he advocated for higher LEED certification in UCSB buildings, which became official campus policy. His research identifies how healthy eating can reduce greenhouse gas emissions. As a professor, he supports student theses related to rooftop solar photovoltaic systems in the city of Santa Barbara, work that leads to improved public policy. Quentin holds a PhD in philosophy from UCSB and an MA in philosophy from Western Michigan University.
Eddie Game is the youngest-ever lead scientist of The Nature Conservancy’s Asia Pacific Region and editor-in-chief of Conservation Letters, the conservation field’s top publication. In the face of today’s complex environmental challenges, scientists must be able to bridge the gap between the academic world and the NGO community. Eddie is pioneering a forest biodiversity measurement project that brings together world-class research with real-world application by recording and analyzing forest soundscapes, avoiding the current costly and inadequate methods of measurement that often lead to uncertainty about best forest management practices. Eddie’s has authored more than 50 papers on various aspects of conservation science, including the most highly-cited paper in conservation biology for 2016. He holds a PhD from University of Queensland, Australia, where he studied catastrophes, resilience and the theory of designing marine reserves.
Laura Flessner is an environmental scientist for The Nature Conservancy, where she serves as the global oceans team’s geographic information systems manager, advancing their climate risk and resilience strategy within their coastal resilience program. Given the rise of green infrastructure, technology is becoming a vital tool to educate audiences about environmental changes in order to reach consensus on a best course of action. Laura demonstrated her knowhow as one of the main designers of the award-winning Coastal Defense app, which shows users where the greatest risk of erosion is and provides information about forces that affect habitats. Laura holds an MS in environmental science from University of North Carolina, Wilmington, where she specialized in coastal management.
Ryan Flaherty is director of business partnerships at Sustainable Conservation, a California nonprofit that brings together business, landowners and government to steward resources in ways that make economic sense. California’s dairy industry is currently one of the largest sources of groundwater contamination and is responsible for 48 percent of methane emissions in the state. Under Ryan’s leadership, Sustainable Conservation partners with dairy farmers to evaluate and share practices and technologies that promote a cleaner environment and ensure long-term viability. Ryan holds an IMBA in economic and business analysis from Darla Moore School of Business, as well as a BA in Spanish and business from Tulane University.
Danfung Dennis is CEO and founder of the virtual reality (VR) production company Condition One. As VR continues to establish itself as a viable business, market forces are expected push it towards games and entertainment. VR projects like Dennis’ upcoming film depicting the lives of climate refugees are an ethical voice in an industry that gives audiences first-hand experience with global issues that often feel remote otherwise. Danfung was nominated for an Academy Award for his war documentary Hell and Back Again. As a photographer, his works have been published in TIME, The New York Times, Rolling Stone and The Wall Street Journal.
