Speakers
A series of presentations throughout the Summit challenged expert participants to think about climate adaptation across a range of disciplines and from the perspective of science, business, and government. Available PowerPoint files are provided on this page below each speakers' information. You may also watch and listen to every presentation .
Thomas Dietz | Kristie Ebi | Howard Frumkin | Mayor John Hieftje
Thomas Karl | Anthony Janetos | Anthony J. McMichael | Edward Miles
Franklin W. Nutter | Peter Schultz | Joel Scheraga |Susan Tierney
Professor of Environmental Economics
University of East Anglia, School of Environmental Sciences
Neil Adger is Program Manager on adaptation in the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research at the University of East Anglia, and Professor in Environmental Economics in the School of Environmental Sciences. He is an environmental economist with research interest in the local and global aspects of environmental change and social transformation. From 2004, Adger has served as a Convening Lead Author for the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, writing on adaptation to climate change. In 2001 Neil was awarded a Philip Leverhulme Prize in Geography from the Leverhulme Trust for research achievement. He co-edits the journal Global Environmental Change.
Director of Research Relations, National Center for Atmospheric Research
Peter Backlund is Director of Research Relations at the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR), where he concentrates on developing new partnerships and communicating NCAR programs and results. His research interests include climate change and land cover change impacts assessment; the application of information technologies to environmental research and the interplay of public policy, decision-making, and scientific research. Before joining NCAR, Backlund held positions at the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, the National Science and Technology Council, NASA, SM Systems Research Corporation, LRS Associates, and SAIC.
Dean and Professor, University of Michigan School of Natural Resources & Environment
Rosina served both the U.S. Congress and the U. S. President through twenty years of science policy leadership in Washington, D.C. As Acting Director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, Dr. Bierbaum was the Administration's senior scientific advisor on environmental research and development, with responsibilities for scientific input and guidance on a wide range of national and international environmental issues. The first National Assessment "Climate Change Impacts on the United States" was completed under her tenure and she currently co-chairs the UN Scientific Expert Group on Mitigation and Adaptation to Climate Change.
Director, Global Change Program, The Heinz Center
Before coming to the Heinz Center, Dr. Corell served as a Senior Policy Fellow at the Policy Program of the American Meteorological Society and an Affiliate of the Washington Advisory Group. He recently completed an appointment as a Senior Research Fellow in the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs at Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government.
Download Corell's Summit PowerPoint
Director, Environmental Science and Policy Program
Michigan State University
Thomas Dietz is director of the Environmental Science and Policy Program at Michigan State University. At MSU, Dr. Dietz is also a professor of Sociology and of Crop and Soil Sciences and is the Assistant Vice President for Research and Graduate Studies and Associate Dean in the Colleges of Social Science, Agriculture and Natural Resources and Natural Science. He is a National Associate of the National Academy of Sciences and a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. He currently chairs the U.S. National Research Council Panel on Public Participation in Environmental Assessment and Decision Making. Dr. Dietz has co-authored or co-edited six books and more than 80 papers and book chapters. His current research examines the human driving forces of environmental change, environmental values and the interplay between science and democracy in environmental issues.
Independent Consultant, ESS LLC
Kristie Ebi has been conducting research on the impacts of and adaptation to climate change for more than 10 years, primarily on extreme events, thermal stress, and food and vector borne diseases. She is working with the World Health Organization, the United Nations Development Programme, the US Agency for International Development and others on implementing adaptation measures in low income countries. She is a lead author for the Human Health chapter of the IPCC Fourth Assessment Report, has edited three books on climate change and health, and has more than 75 publications.
Download Ebi's Summit PowerPoint
Director
National Center for Environmental Health /
Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Dr. Howard Frumkin is Director of the National Center for Environmental Health and the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (NCEH/ATSDR) at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Prior to joining the CDC in 2005, he was Professor and Chair of the Department of Environmental and Occupational Health at the Rollins School of Public Health of Emory University, and Professor of Medicine at Emory Medical School. He is the author or co-author of over 100 scientific journal articles and chapters, and has published 4 books on topics related to urban sprawl, safe and healthy school environments, and environmental health. Frumkin’s interests include: the building of healthy communities, the health consequences of global climate change, and the mitigation of health disparities.
Mayor, City of Ann Arbor
Mayor Hieftje has been a very active community leader, serving on the boards of numerous area organizations, including the Ann Arbor Summer Festival, Michigan Theater, Huron River Watershed Council, and Lake Superior Conservancy and Watershed Council. Mayor Heiftje is also the Co-Chair of the Washtenaw Metro Alliance and has served as Chair of Recycle Ann Arbor and of Urban Core Mayors of Michigan.
Download Hieftje's Summit PowerPoint: Climate Change: The Local Government Response
Director, Joint Global Change Research Institute at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
Anthony Janetos joined the Joint Global Change Research Institute as Director in October 2006. He was a co-chair of the U.S. National Assessment of the Potential Consequences of Climate Variability and Change, a lead author in the recent IPCC Working Group II report on Climate Impacts and Adaptation, and a coordinating lead author in the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment. Most recently he has served on National Research Council Committees on 'Funding Scientific Research at the Smithsonian Institution', 'Reviewing the Bush Administration's Climate Change Science Strategic Plan', and 'The Decadal Study for Earth Observations'.
Download Janetos' Summit PowerPoint
Director, NOAA’s National Climatic Data Center
United States Department of Commerce
Dr. Karl is the Director of NOAA’s National Climatic Data Center in Asheville, North Carolina and is NOAA’s Program Manager for Climate Observations and Analysis. He has served and continuous to serve on a variety of National Research Council Committees. He Co-Chairs NOAA’s Data Management Committee. Dr. Karl is a fellow of the American Meteorological Society and the American Geophysical Union, and a National Associate of the National Research Council. He is author of many climatic atlases and technical reports, has published over 150 articles in various scientific journals, and has edited or contributed to a number of textbooks. He has served as Editor of the Journal of Climate (1997-2000) and Lead Author and Coordinating Lead Author of several IPCC reports, Co-Chair of the US National Assessment of Climate Change and Variability and recently completed the first Climate Change Science Program Synthesis and Assessment Report on Temperature Trends.
Download Karl's Summit PowerPoint: Adaptation to Climate Change
Director, National Centre for Epidemiology and Population Health
The Australian National University
Prior to achieving directorship of NCEPH, Tony McMichael was Professor of Epidemiology at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, University of London, UK. His research interests encompass occupational disease, including social and physical influences on patterns of health in an urban environment; life course epidemiological prospectus on infant/child/adult evolution of disease risks; diet, nutrition, energy balance and health on both individual and population aspects; food safety; environmental health hazards; and ecological sustainability and health. McMichael has a major interest in assessing the health risks from global environmental change, having contributed particularly to the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.
Download McMichael's Summit PowerPoint: Adapting to Climate Change: Human Population Health
Virginia & Prentice Bloedel Professor of Marine & Public Affairs & Senior Fellow, Joint Institute for the Study of Atmosphere and Oceans, University of Washington
Edward Miles is a professor of marine studies and public affairs at the University of Washington, as well as the principal investigator for the NOAA supported Project on the Impacts of Climate Variability, Climate Change, and Response Strategies in the Pacific Northwest. Miles has held numerous leadership positions at the University of Washington since 1974 and is the author of many studies on international organizations, international science and technology policy, and marine policy and ocean management. Miles has also served as consultant to the United Nations, the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO, and the Dept. of Fisheries of FAO. In 1994, he was appointed Lead Author for Marine Policy for the 2nd Assessment (1995) of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). In 2003, Miles was elected to membership in the US National Academy of Sciences and, in 2005, he was elected a fellow of AAAS.
President, Reinsurance Association of America
Frank Nutter is the president of the Reinsurance Association of America and currently serves on the Board of Trustees of the Bermuda Institute of Oceanic Research; the Board of the International Hurricane Research Center; the Advisory Board of the Center for Health and the Global Environment; the Board of the University Center for Atmospheric Research; and is an adjunct to the Harvard University Medical School. Mr. Nutter has a Juris Doctor from Georgetown University Law Center.
Download Nutter's Summit PowerPoint: Financing Major Natural Catastrophes
National Program Director for the Global Change Research Program and the Mercury Research Program, USEPA
Dr. Joel D. Scheraga is the National Program Director for the Global Change Research Program and the Mercury Research Program in the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Office of Research and Development. He is the EPA Principal Representative to the U.S. Climate Change Science Program (CCSP), which coordinates and integrates scientific research on climate and global change supported by the U.S. Government. Dr. Scheraga directs policy-relevant assessments of the potential impacts of global change (particularly climate change and climate variability) on air quality, water quality, ecosystems, and human health. Dr. Scheraga was Chair of the U.S. Global Change Research Program’s National Assessment Workgroup from 2000-2002 and Vice Chair from 1998-2000. Scheraga has authored and co-authored numerous articles, technical and synthesis reports, and books on global climate change, environmental economics, public policy, and applied microeconomics and microeconomic theory.
Director, U.S. Climate Change Science Program Office
Before joining CCSPO in 2004, Schultz worked at the National Academies/National Research Council, where he directed or co-directed a dozen scientific studies related to global environmental variability and change. He also directed the creation of the National Academies new museum exhibition on climate change. Prior to his work at the NRC, Schultz conducted research at NOAA and Penn State on issues ranging from remote sensing of vegetation to carbon and climate modeling. His current responsibilities include management of CCSPO's program-wide scientific integration, planning, prioritization, and assessment activities through coordination with the program's principals and interagency working groups.
Download Schultz's Summit PowerPoint
Managing Principal, The Analysis Group; former Assistant Secretary of Energy
Dr. Tierney provides business consulting, litigation support, and economic, environmental, and policy advice and analysis to clients in the electricity and natural gas industries. Prior to her work at Analysis Group, Tierney served as Assistant Secretary for Policy in the U.S. Department of Energy and as Secretary of Environmental Affairs and commissioner of the Department of Public Utilities for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. She now serves as Chairman of the Board of the Energy Foundation and Clean Air-Cool Planet, is a member of the National Commission on Energy Policy, and is on the boards of the Catalytica Energy Systems Inc., the Climate Policy Center, the American Council on Renewable Energy, and the North East States Clean Air Foundation. She is on the Advisory Council of the National Renewable Energy Laboratory and the Environmental Council of the New York Independent System Operator.
Download Tierney's Summit PowerPoint: Adaptation and the Energy Sector