Teaching and Learning about Climate:
The World That Can Be
Thursday, April 13, 2023, Erie 1 BOCES Center, 4:00PM-8:00PM
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An Interdisciplinary Conference for all Educators, and Government and Sustainability Professionals
Featuring worldwide environmental expert and bestselling author, Paul Hawken, this conference will provide participants with the knowledge, skills, and inspiration to teach about climate change and sustainability in their classrooms. Open to educators from all grade-levels and subjects and local thought leaders, the goal is to equip you not only with the knowledge of how the warming of the planet is affecting our world, but also, how its solutions provide opportunities for our region, country, and for the future careers of students. Teaching and Learning About Climate also features: Julie Kwong from SubjectToClimate on lesson plans and resources for teaching about climate in the classroom and Tracy Skalski from the Erie County Department of Environment and Planning on the Erie County Community Climate Action Plan and how your students can become involved.
Registration: $50
Registration includes: resources and ready-made lessons from national experts, three (3) CTLE professional development credits, and a buffet dinner.
Educators, please consult your district bursar for CoSer payment options that may be available. CTLE certificates will be distributed at the end of the conference. |
Sponsored by
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presenters
Paul Hawken is an environmentalist, entrepreneur, author, and activist who has dedicated his life to environmental sustainability and changing the relationship between business and the environment. He is one of the environmental movement’s leading voices, and a pioneering architect of corporate reform with respect to ecological practices. His work includes founding successful, ecologically conscious businesses, writing about the impacts of commerce on living systems, and consulting with heads of state and CEOs on economic development, industrial ecology, and environmental policy. Paul is Founder of Project Drawdown, a non-profit dedicated to researching when and how global warming can be reversed. The organization maps and models the scaling of one hundred substantive technological, social, and ecological solutions to global warming.
Paul has founded several companies, starting in the 1960s with Erewhon, one of the first natural food companies in the U.S. that relied solely on sustainable agricultural methods. He went on in 1979 to co-found Smith & Hawken, the retail and catalog garden company. In 2009 Paul founded OneSun, an energy company focused on ultra low-cost solar based on green chemistry and biomimicry that is now known as Energy Everywhere.
In 1965, Paul worked with Martin Luther King Jr.’s staff in Selma, Alabama prior to the historic March on Montgomery. As press coordinator, Paul registered members of the press, issued credentials, gave updates and interviews on national radio, and acted as a marshal for the final march. That same year, he worked in New Orleans as a staff photographer for the Congress of Racial Equality, focusing on voter registration drives in Bogalusa, Louisiana and the panhandle of Florida, and photographing the Ku Klux Klan in Meridian, Mississippi, after three civil rights workers were tortured and killed. In Meridian, he was assaulted and seized by Klan members, but escaped due to FBI surveillance and intervention. Paul has spoken, conducted research, and traveled extensively throughout the world, undertaking journeys into insurgent-held territories of Burma to research tropical teak deforestation, as well as a 1999 humanitarian/photojournalistic trek to war-torn Kosovo .
Paul has served on the board of many environmental organizations including Point Foundation (publisher of the Whole Earth Catalogs), Center for Plant Conservation, Conservation International, Trust for Public Land, Friends of the Earth, and National Audubon Society. In 2014 he was named one of the three Pioneers of Sustainability along with Professors Peter Senge and Michael Porter. Paul has received six honorary doctorates. In 2019, the National Council for Science and the Environment granted him a Lifetime Achievement Award on Science, Service, and Leadership.
Learn more about Paul and his work here.
Paul has founded several companies, starting in the 1960s with Erewhon, one of the first natural food companies in the U.S. that relied solely on sustainable agricultural methods. He went on in 1979 to co-found Smith & Hawken, the retail and catalog garden company. In 2009 Paul founded OneSun, an energy company focused on ultra low-cost solar based on green chemistry and biomimicry that is now known as Energy Everywhere.
In 1965, Paul worked with Martin Luther King Jr.’s staff in Selma, Alabama prior to the historic March on Montgomery. As press coordinator, Paul registered members of the press, issued credentials, gave updates and interviews on national radio, and acted as a marshal for the final march. That same year, he worked in New Orleans as a staff photographer for the Congress of Racial Equality, focusing on voter registration drives in Bogalusa, Louisiana and the panhandle of Florida, and photographing the Ku Klux Klan in Meridian, Mississippi, after three civil rights workers were tortured and killed. In Meridian, he was assaulted and seized by Klan members, but escaped due to FBI surveillance and intervention. Paul has spoken, conducted research, and traveled extensively throughout the world, undertaking journeys into insurgent-held territories of Burma to research tropical teak deforestation, as well as a 1999 humanitarian/photojournalistic trek to war-torn Kosovo .
Paul has served on the board of many environmental organizations including Point Foundation (publisher of the Whole Earth Catalogs), Center for Plant Conservation, Conservation International, Trust for Public Land, Friends of the Earth, and National Audubon Society. In 2014 he was named one of the three Pioneers of Sustainability along with Professors Peter Senge and Michael Porter. Paul has received six honorary doctorates. In 2019, the National Council for Science and the Environment granted him a Lifetime Achievement Award on Science, Service, and Leadership.
Learn more about Paul and his work here.
Julie Kwong is the Chief Product Officer at SubjectToClimate. In her role, she oversees improvements to the SubjectToClimate website and drives the development of new state hubs through collaboration with stakeholders and analysis of user and market research. Prior to SubjectToClimate, Julie taught high school math for five years with a focus on differentiating instruction for English Language Learners and students with IEPs. She also facilitated professional development to promote inclusive school practices. With certificates in User Experience Design, Julie collaborated with the Princeton Tiger Challenge and SGAP Leaders to facilitate design thinking workshops to empower student communities to practice human-centered problem solving. As a first-generation college graduate of Princeton University, Julie’s commitments center around service, education, and justice. She is an alumna of the New Leaders Council and Collegiate Directions Inc. Previously, she interned with education nonprofits such as uAspire and Asian American LEAD. On the side, she currently advocates for Cantonese-speaking families through Bushwick Ayuda Mutua and facilitates educator programming with ImmSchools.
Tracy Skalski is the Sustainability Coordinator for the Erie County Department of Environment and Planning. She helped develop the county's Climate Action and Sustainability Plan for internal operations and is currently developing the equity-centered Community Climate Action Plan. Tracy is the county’s Climate Smart Communities coordinator and has helped Erie County achieve Silver Certification. She oversees the initiatives of Erie County’s internal Green Team and is part of the Community Climate Change Task Force. Tracy has a Bachelor's Degree in Environmental Earth Science from Buffalo State College and has 17 years of professional experience in the environmental field. Since 2015, she has concentrated on environmental sustainability and climate change.