This free webinar series features 17 outreach perspectives for engaging different communities in addressing climate.
The goal is to share resources, stories, methods, and tools from across the U.S. for re-use locally.
Our primary audience is extension educators but this webinar series is applicable to all citizens.
Join Us!
Connecting Climate to Communities
Webinar Schedule, YouTube Channel for recordings
TOPICS (scroll down for more details)
February 28: YOUTH & Climate, Recording Here.
March 27: STORYTELLING & Climate, Recording Here.
April 24: DIY–Self-Guided Climate Instruction, Recording Here.
May 22: COMMUNITIES & Climate, Recordings Here: PA Women Forest Owners, WA Latine Co-created Materials
June 26: AGING & Climate, Register Here.
WHEN:
4th Wednesday of the month
3pm EST
Free
Register below
Most events will be recorded and shared publicly here, after the event recording has been processed.
Feb 28, 3pm EST: YOUTH & Climate, Recording Here.
This hour long webinar will explore two existing programs focused on educating youth and educators of youth on climate change. It will be followed by a discussion to explore opportunities for collaborative learning and the potential for building upon each other’s efforts to amplify impact.
WORKING WITH YOUTH
TITLE: Engaging Educators and Participants in Youth Climate Education
PRESENTER: Jack Wright (Cornell Cooperative Extension)
Learn how Cornell Cooperative Extension Tompkins County uses an energy efficient tiny home, nicknamed the “PowerHouse,” to teach youth about energy use and climate change. We’ll explore the successes and challenges of our mobile, enrichment-style programming at schools and libraries.
WORKING WITH YOUTH EDUCATORS
TITLE: Networking with Educators Around Locally-Relevant Climate Information
PRESENTER: Rebecca Ward (NC State University)
This talk will describe the NC Climate Education Network, a virtual network designed to bring together education experts and subject matter experts around teaching climate change in North Carolina. The Network focuses on holding semi-regular virtual panel discussions and Q&A’s on locally-relevant topics to creatively explore novel approaches to teaching climate change.
OPEN INTERACTIVE DISCUSSION
Let’s chat on how to connect with youth in your community!
SPEAKER BIOS
Jack Wright (he/him) is the PowerHouse Educator at Cornell Cooperative Extension Tompkins County in Ithaca, NY. Since graduating with his BA in Environmental Science and Public Policy, Jack spent four years working as a nature- and farm-based youth educator in MA and NY. In his current role, Jack uses the PowerHouse, an energy-efficient tiny home, to lead youth education programs on energy and climate change in schools, libraries, and camps.
Rebecca Ward (she/her) is a Postdoctoral Research Scholar at NC State University with backgrounds in climate extension and science education. Her work centers around supporting local communities in North Carolina with building climate resilience through networking, education, and capacity-building.
March 27, 3pm EST: STORYTELLING & Climate, Register HERE.
This hour long webinar will discuss connecting climate change information to communities through storytelling and interdisciplinary approaches.
TITLE: How to Build Data Literacy Skills in your Climate Change Program
PRESENTER: Janice McDonnell (Rutgers)
Data literacy has become an in-demand skill for our future workforce to navigate tough decision making as we adapt to the climate crisis. As New Jersey the first state to adopt climate literacy standards, what are our obligations of Cooperative Extension to support learning about climate change? What partnerships are needed to support climate adaptation and resilience? In this workshop, Janice McDonnell will share experiences developing Data to the Rescue, Penguins Need our Help, an out-of-school time program to teach data skills and climate change solutions. She will share lessons learned about how to integrate data literacy skills and climate science solutions discussions in learning environments including tips for including social emotional learning practices.
TITLE: Interdisciplinary Approaches to Discussing Climate Change
PRESENTER: James Shope (Rutgers)
Connecting stakeholders and students to climate change information can be difficult and often climate data may feel abstract to the audience. What are some methods to make climate change information more relevant and connected to our local communities? In this presentation, James Shope will present activities developed for k-12 educator training that contextualizes climate information from different perspectives such as art and environmental justice to help connect students and communities locally relevant issues and solutions for climate resilience.
Story Map example: redlining and the urban heat island: https://gwmke.maps.arcgis.com/apps/Cascade/index.html?appid=94113f89b61b4b638db54b5aa2b76706
Data Visualization & Mapping Tool example: putting climate data into a more local context: https://njclimateresourcecenter.rutgers.edu/nj-adapt/
TITLE: Climate Change STEM Education for Tribal Youth
PRESENTER: Art Nash
As a part of an NSF grant to reach underserved audiences with climate change education. One of the climate change teaching venues is a public tribal charter school setting. Speaking with Athabascan Indian Elders about what is important for tribal youth to know about climate change, as well as utilizing a national Cooperative Extension curriculum on the topic, classes are guided which cover various science dynamics that are tied to worldwide and regional climate variation. This webinar will describe the teaching process used thus far.
*Note. This talk by Art Nash will not be recorded.
SPEAKER BIOS
Dr. James Shope is an assistant extension specialist in climate services with the New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station and the Department of Environmental Sciences at Rutgers University. His work addresses a wide range of climate change impacts and adaptation strategies in New Jersey. In particular, he is interested in how agricultural production, municipal planning, and public health will respond to a warming climate, heavier rainfall, and more frequent flooding. James frequently engages in outreach efforts across New Jersey, including leading resiliency tool trainings, co-authoring public-facing reports, providing climate science resources for k-12 educators, and sharing actionable scientific resources for community planners.
Janice McDonnell is the STEM Agent in the Department of 4-H Youth Development at Rutgers University where she focuses on developing and implementing high quality STEM programs and resources for young people. She focuses on facilitating hands-on projects where youth receive guidance from adult mentors and are encouraged to build their data literacy by taking on proactive leadership roles in environmental decision making.
Art Nash began working with tribal youth of several reservations nearly 40 years ago and since has taught students as youth group leader, middle school teacher, Title I (remedial math and reading) teacher, interim principal, social (services) worker, and as associate energy professor. Incorporating local, native knowledge with academic data driven info, Art engages youth discovery thru the environmental and social sciences so that they can critically assess/adapt to the world around them and the rapid changes it is going through.
April 24, 3pm EST: DIY–Self-Guided Climate Instruction, Register HERE.
This is an hour long boot camp tailored for extension! Come learn how to use a suite of climate resources designed for DIY-learners and publicly available on https://www.ecoactus.org/neci
EcoActUs is a joint venture between the Climate Reality Project and the Harvard Alumni for Climate and Environment. EcoActUs has been adopted by NECI as a resource for Extension Professionals and Educators who want to understand the latest on climate change, sustainability practices and guidance for incorporating climate education into your daily interactions. It contains extensive and highly curated video presentations and other media resources and is free to use for non-commercial use. EcoActUs can be approached as a self-guided learning and reference tool or you can participate in a two week Climate Boot Camp which incorporates three virtual sessions to help guide you through the resource and network with other users who may be trying to do the same things you are. Help is available if you would like to take a group through the Boot Camp for your organization. Information and registration for the self-guided sessions are found at https://www.ecoactus.org/neci
TITLE: Self-Guided Climate Boot Camp for Extension Professionals
CO-PRESENTERS: 6 different presenters will carry you through their comprehensive DIY educational programming so you can delve in deeper – or help others navigate its resources.
Michael Linn (Co-Director of EcoActUs) is a climate refugee, inventor and entrepreneur with a broad background in energy, software technology, finance and organizational process. He helped build and sell a company to Microsoft, design the Department of Energy information systems and win the 2014 ASHRAE Global First Place Tech Award for Ed buildings. He grew up in a farming community and is currently helping to create a training farm for Inua, Partners in Hope.
Mark Dambro, a Climate Reality Leader, trained in 2020. I’m a retired engineer and physician with a special interest in the health effects of climate change and on the existential question of whether or not humanity can survive this unprecedented crisis. I completed my MD degree at Washington University in St. Louis and practiced family medicine after residency and fellowship. I’m a guest lecturer at TCU (Texas Christian University) in my home town of Fort Worth, TX.
Dr. Dayo Ajayi-Obe, a consulting pediatrician and epidemiologist, trained as a Climate Reality Leader in 2021. Dr. Ajayi-Obe completed her medical training in Nigeria and holds a Master of Science in Epidemiology from the TH Chan Harvard School of Public Health. She supports educational institutions in Nigeria and around the globe. Her mission is to help individuals, groups, businesses and organizations, unravel the hidden treasures of forging forward into the regenerative era of climate sustainability. And to investigate the links between climate change and epidemics.
Scott Graham, a retired Lieutenant Colonel in the Marine Corps, currently the owner of Graham Leadership Growth which provides Leadership Coaching empowering people to realize their professional goals. Scott served with the American Red Cross as the Division Disaster Executive coordinating the responses to numerous disasters including hurricanes Harvey, Matthew, and Florence along with wildfires in Northern California and Oregon. Scott is a graduate of the University of Kansas and holds Executive Leadership Coaching Certificates from Georgetown University and University of Georgia.
Rick Schumann, who comes to us from NECI (National Extension Climate Initiative) which serves to link climate change-related education and research across Extension program areas and associations. Rick is a trained Climate Reality Leader (2020) and a Master Gardener with the University of Florida IFAS Extension. He has a degree in Geological Engineering from the Colorado School of Mines. He is retired from a career in Seismic and Meteorological Applied Research, as well as, Systems Engineering in Radar, Telemetry and Weather systems.
Wendy Hamilton held numerous Extension positions in OR, PA, MT, and NM throughout her 34 yr. career. She retired in 2020 as an Extension Evaluation Specialist from New Mexico State University. She now holds the position of Emerita Professor dedicating her retirement to climate education and mentoring young career professionals.
May 22, 3pm EST: COMMUNITIES & Climate, Register HERE.
This hour long webinar will share lessons learned from co-creating materials made with different communities.
TITLE: Co-creating Opportunities for Women to Engage in Climate-smart Forestry
PRESENTER: Melissa M. Kreye (Pennsylvania State University)
Melissa will present findings from her peer education program for women landowners interested in climate-smart forestry. The program is part of the Forest Owner Carbon and Climate Education Program, a collaboration between 13 extension institutions in the eastern US. More here: https://sites.psu.edu/focce/
TITLE: Creating a culturally inclusive climate change curriculum with and for Indigenous people: Lessons learned
PRESENTER: Ros McCann (Utah State University – Moab)
As part of a national science foundation project inspired by the NECI network, Ros will share her experience in building relationships with tribal members in the Colorado Plateau region. This will include an overview of how she formed a diverse team to co-create a climate change curriculum by and for Indigenous participants, what the curriculum entailed and the products that resulted from this process. Coverage here: https://www.usu.edu/today/story/usu-helps-host-unique-and-indigenous-student-specific-natural-resource-leadership-program
TITLE: Climate Change and the Latine Community: Co-creating Curricula and Programs
PRESENTER: Patricia Townsend (Washington State University)
This presentation will include recommendations for how to co-create education programs with diverse communities. There will be examples from Patricia’s work adapting the UC Climate Steward curriculum with and for the Latine community in Washington State.
SPEAKER BIOS
Melissa M. Kreye is an Assistant Professor of Forest Resources Management and Extension Specialist in the Department of Ecosystem Science and Management at Pennsylvania State University. Her extension programs include the Forest Owner Carbon and Climate Education program and Effective Environmental Outreach Strategies. Recent research projects examine landowner interest in climate-smart forestry and prescribed fire as a forest management tool.
Roslynn Brain McCann is a Professor & Sustainable Communities Extension Specialist in the Department of Environment and Society, College of Natural Resources at Utah State University. She teaches undergraduates Communicating Sustainability, helps lead the National Extension Climate Initiative, is the coordinator USU Extension Sustainability’s Utah Farm-Chef-Fork, the USU Permaculture Initiative, and Sustainable You! kids’ camps, co-leads the Utah High School Clean Air Marketing Contest, and is engaged in tribal climate change resilience.
Dr. Patricia Townsend is an Associate Professor at Washington State University who works with stakeholders throughout the Pacific Northwest on sustainability, climate change, sustainable materials, and ecosystem services. Much of her work is determining how to best implement applied research. Having done her dissertation research in Costa Rica, she has a long interest in collaborating with the Latine community. She is the PI of the NSF funded climate education program C3PO.
June 26, 3pm EST: AGING & Climate, Register HERE.
Older people are the most vulnerable to some climate change effects, and are also an enormous resource for climate change action. This hour long session will explore both the role of adaptive strategies to protect vulnerable older individuals, as well as opportunities for productive engagement of older people in civic engagement and volunteerism around climate change.
TITLE: Older People and Climate Change: An Urgent Issue for Research, Policy, and Practice
PRESENTER: Karl Pillemer (Cornell University)
Karl will provide information regarding both the heightened vulnerability of older people to climate change effects, as well as the role of older individuals in preventing and adapting to climate change.
TITLE: Climate Resilience for an Aging Nation
PRESENTER: Danielle Arigoni
Danielle will discuss why climate resilience planners and community-led efforts should center their work in the needs of older adults, given the disproportionate impact they bear in the face of climate change.
TITLE: Mobilizing Older Adults for Climate Change Action
PRESENTER: Leslie Wharton
Leslie will discuss how older people are engaging in climate change activism and the impacts they are having through organizations like Elders Climate Action.
SPEAKER BIOS
Karl Pillemer is the Hazel E. Reed Professor of Human Development at Cornell University, and Professor of Gerontology in Medicine at Weill Cornell Medicine. A sociologist and gerontologist, his work has focused on the social integration of older people, including promoting meaningful roles and activities after retirement. He created the program Retirees in Service to the Environment, which creates a pathway for older people to engage in climate change and environmental volunteerism and civic engagement. He recently created the Aging and Climate Change Clearinghouse, which serves as a knowledge hub for older people, organizations, and researchers on the intersection of climate change and the older population (https://climateaging.bctr.cornell.edu/).
Danielle Arigoni is an urban planner and community resilience expert. She currently serves as Managing Director for Policy and Solutions at National Housing Trust, where she provides strategic direction for the organization’s sustainability and resilience policy efforts, and oversight and guidance for NHT’s state and local advisory services. She is also author of Climate Resilience for an Aging Nation which explores the impacts of climate change on a rapidly growing demographic – people over 65 – and the need for community-scale solutions to reduce risk for all. Prior to joining NHT in 2022, Danielle served as Director of Livable Communities at AARP and held several leadership positions at HUD, EPA and USAID working to advance sustainable and equitable communities. She holds planning degrees from Cornell University and University of Oregon, and serves as a Board Member for the League of American Bicyclists and Smart Growth America.
Leslie Wharton is Chair of the Elders Climate Action (ECA), which is a grassroots organization in the United States whose mission is to mobilize elders to address climate change. She herself first learned about climate change when she was 56 years old. A few years later, shocked by the lack of progress in the U.S. and elsewhere, she searched for ways that she could get involved. She first became involved with ECA in 2015 when she participated in its Grandparents Climate Action Day in Washington, DC. After that experience, she became a member of ECA, started serving on its national committees, started a local chapter, and then she became Chair. Leslie Wharton received a Ph.D. in History from Princeton University, and a J.D. from Harvard Law School. She spent 25 years as a litigator in private practice and then 12 years in the General Counsel’s office of a federal agency before retiring in 2021.
HOST: this “CONNECTING CLIMATE to COMMUNITIES” webinar series is hosted by National Extension Climate Initiative (NECI) Curriculum Development (CD) Committee – a volunteer group looking to share resources amongst interested extension educators.
This program was curated by NECI CD Active Members Fall 2023
David Kay, Cornell University
Paul Lachapelle, Montana State University
Karl Pillemer, Cornell University
James Shope, Rutgers University
Patricia Townsend, Washington State University
Rebecca Ward, NC State University
Jenifer Wightman, Cornell University
Jack Wright, Cornell University Cooperative Extension
Join us or any NECI working group -learn more here: https://nationalextensionclimateinitiative.net/workinggroups/
***NECI is actively seeking a Communications Lead, please contact David Kay if you are interested.
