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The Biden Administration and Environmental Justice: What's going on?
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Wednesday, February 24
10:00 a.m. Pacific / 1:00 p.m. Eastern
Since Inauguration Day, the Biden Administration has issued a flurry of executive orders, including many references to environmental justice. How will these EOs translate into action? What do we know about new appointees' priorities? How are environmental justice advocates planning to engage with the administration? How does all of this relate to Switzer Fellows' work?
Join the Switzer Fellows' Race & Equity Discussion Group for an open forum on the new administration and environmental justice. Bring your questions, bring your expertise, bring your priorities, hopes, concerns and excitement! This will be a lightly moderated, open discussion, so the more participants the better.
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Breakthrough Collaboration on Environmental Problems: Lessons from the field
Friday, March 19
1:00 p.m. Pacific / 4:00 p.m. Eastern
Practitioners in the field of environmental conflict resolution and stakeholder engagement at the Consensus Building Institute, including Switzer Fellow Ekow Edzie, will host this webinar for members of the Switzer Network to share best practices and lessons learned about breakthrough collaboration for environmental problem solving. The conversation will include a discussion of the key components of effective stakeholder engagement and conflict resolution, drawing on examples from CBI's work on sustainable groundwater management, forestry collaboratives, marine resources management, renewable energy development and "climigration" (climate-related migration). Participants will have the opportunity to "ask the expert" -- sharing challenges and dilemmas around environmental collaboration and problem solving and hear how the expert practitioner would approach the dilemma.
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Recording available for "Decarbonizing Bank Lending" webinar
On January 14th, one week before the inauguration of the Biden-Harris administration, the Switzer Foundation invited the Climate Solutions Collaborative (C2C) of Confluence Philanthropy and the Rainforest Action Network to present a webinar on decarbonizing bank lending. This virtual conversation, attended by Switzer Fellows and colleagues from Confluence Philanthropy, focused on disentangling the complex, systemic relationships tying U.S. banking institutions together with the fossil fuel industry, and explored the role of America's broader financial and philanthropic communities in minimizing greenhouse gas emissions, accelerating climate investing and charting a pathway forward to a net-zero economy. Read more
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Is your Switzer profile current?
Have you graduated or transitioned jobs? Do you have accomplishments you would like represented in your online bio? Please email Laine to receive the form.
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Annual Report
2020 was an extraordinary year that called for the Switzer Foundation to quickly adapt how we work as a team, reimagine several annual events, and create new resources and opportunities for the Switzer Network to connect. The 2020 annual report of the Switzer Foundation is now posted on our website. The report highlights grant awards, operational and programmatic changes, and several inspiring stories about the creativity, passion, and hard work of Switzer Fellows.
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Green Living Seminar Series
Elena Traister is coordinating MCLA's annual Green Living Seminar Series this semester, which began in January and continues through April. This 12-week series will explore how individual decisions can contribute to global sustainability. The webinars are free and open to the public, and recordings are available for previous seminars.
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America needs a climate adaptation strategy
President Biden has an ambitious climate change and energy plan to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050. Yet, his agenda offers little on how to prepare for climate impacts, even after wildfires ravaged the West Coast, a record number of hurricanes churned in the Atlantic, and early freezes and drought devastated crops in 2020. Alongside societal decarbonization, we must simultaneously plan for an already changing climate, write Linda Shi and Sierra Woodruff in The Hill. The Biden administration should develop a national adaptation strategy that prepares us for accelerating climate impacts, steers market and local responses, and promotes justice, they say.
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Fellow News
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President Joe Biden appointed a new political team to NOAA, and Karen Hyun will serve as chief of staff.
Joe Rand was quoted in a Grist article about social acceptance of wind energy. The upshot: a lot more Americans are going to have to get on board with having renewable energy infrastructure like wind farms in their neighborhoods.
Kimberley Rain Miner had a busy media month! She was featured in a CBS Mission Impossible segment about climate change impacts on waterways, and her research into PFAS found on Everest was featured in GQ magazine.
The first chapter of Luis Alexis Rodríguez-Cruz's dissertation, on Puerto Rican farmer's climate change and adaptation perceptions in the wake of Hurricane Maria, was published in PLoS One. His co-author is his advisor, Meredith T. Niles.
David Quist has launched an R&D company to develop materials, foods, and feeds from fungal mycelium.
Have news for this section? Send it to Lauren so she can post it to our website, social media, and a future e-news issue. Please update your profile as well. You can use our new Google Form to submit changes instead of logging in.
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Upcoming Events
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Switzer Fellowship Interviews - California
Friday, May 14
9:00 a.m. - 2:30 p.m. Pacific
Interviews will be held virtually
Switzer Fellowship Interviews - New England
Friday, May 21
9:00 a.m. - 2:30 p.m. Eastern
Interviews will be held virtually
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Opportunities
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The Salazar Center for North American Conservation is hiring a Program Director to oversee the center's programmatic initiatives. Sarah Reed knows the organization's director and would be happy to talk to any fellows interested in the position.
questions.
Genie Bey's team at DC's Department of Energy & Environment (DOEE) just announced an exciting opportunity to construct a high water mark to communicate flood risk in Washington D.C.'s Wharf.
Meredith Niles is looking for a postdoc on "Species Distribution Modeling of Biodiversity and Adaptation of Farmers and Rural Communities To Climate Change" at the University of Vermont.
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A vibrant community of environmental leaders
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