Agenda - UMass Boston

Thursday, March 27, 2025

8:00 a.m.

Breakfast

9:00 a.m.

Word of Welcome & Plan for the Day

Marcelo Suárez-Orozco, Chancellor, University of Massachusetts Boston
Joachim von Braun, President of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences
Martin T. Meehan, President, University of Massachusetts
His Eminence Peter Cardinal Turkson, Chancellor, Pontifical Academy of Sciences & Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences

9:30 – 9:40 a.m.

Keynote Address

Honorable Maura Healey, Governor, Commonwealth of Massachusetts

9:45 – 9:55 a.m.

Keynote Address

Honorable Michelle Wu, Mayor, City of Boston

10:00 – 10:45 a.m.

Whole of Government—Overview of Massachusetts’s statewide climate adaptation initiatives, including using science, whole-of-government actions, innovative ways to increase investments in resilience, and building the capacity of our communities while centering environmental justice

Moderator: Honorable Melissa Hoffer, Climate Chief
Panelists: Honorable Rebecca Tepper, Secretary, Energy & Environmental Affairs; Honorable Ed Augustus, Secretary, Executive Office of Housing & Livable Communities; Dr. Robbie Goldstein, Commissioner, Department of Public Health; Lynsey Heffernan, Chief of Policy & Strategic Planning, MBTA; Michael Caljouw, Commissioner, Division of Insurance

10:45 – 11:00 a.m.

Coffee break

11:00 – 11:45 a.m.

Finance and Investment Strategy – Investments of resilience measures and recommendations for innovative finance mechanisms

Moderator: Honorable Gina McCarthy, Former White House National Climate Advisor and Former Administrator, EPA
Panelists: Dan Nees, Program Director, Throwe Environmental; John Macomber, Senior Lecturer of Business Administration, Harvard University; Lou Gritzo, Chief Science Officer, FM Global

11:45 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.

Pursuing Innovative Solutions for Climate Resilience

Moderator: Honorable Kim Driscoll, Lt. Governor, Commonwealth of Massachusetts
Panelists: Julie Wormser, Climate Chief, City of Cambridge; Katherine Moses, City of Lowell, Sustainability Director, Oliver Sellers-Garcia, Green New Deal Director, City of Boston

12:45 – 1:45 p.m.

Lunch and Fireside Chat: Thinking Globally, Acting Locally

Moderator: Marcelo Suárez-Orozco, Chancellor, University of Massachusetts, Boston
Panelists: Honorable Maura Healey, Governor, Commonwealth of Massachusetts; Honorable Wilbur Ottichilo, Governor, Vihiga County, Kenya; Honorable Gustavo Beliz, Member, Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences & Former Minister of Justice, Security and Human Rights, Argentina

2:00 – 2:50 p.m.

Breakout Panels

Coastal Resilience
- Moderator: Stephanie Cooper, Undersecretary for Environment, Energy & Environmental Affairs
- Panelists: Kirk Bosma, Senior Coastal Engineer and Innovation Director Woods Hole Group; Jarrett Byrnes, Associate Professor of Biology, UMass Boston; Stratton Lloyd, President & CEO, Essex County Community Foundation
Climate and Health
- Moderator: Dr. Bisola Ojikutu, Executive Director, Boston Public Health Commission
- Panelists Dr. Anna Goldman, Primary Care Physician & Medical Director of Climate and Sustainability, Boston Medical Center; Patricia Fabian, ScD, Associate Director, Boston University Institute for Global Sustainability and Climate Science Advisory Panel Member; Allan Just, Associate Professor of Public Health and Associate Professor of Epidemiology and Environment and Society, Brown University; Gene Baur, Founder & CEO, Farm Sanctuary
Inland Flooding and Resilience
- Moderator: Viktoria Zoltay, State Hydrologist, Department of Conservation & Recreation
- Panelists: Paul Kirshen, Professor, School for Environment, UMass Boston; Mia Mansfield, Assistant Secretary for Resilience, Energy & Environmental Affairs; Kenneth Strzepek, Research Scientist, MIT; Veronique Blanchard, Town Administrator, Conway
Nature-Based Solutions
- Moderator: Katie Dafforn, Professor, School for Environment, UMass Boston & Director, Stone Living Lab
- Panelists: Joe Christo, Managing Director, Stone Living Lab; Chris Osgood, Director, Office of Climate Resilience, City of Boston; Gail Latimore, Executive Director, Codman Square Neighborhood Development Corporation
Lessons Learned from Recent Weather Disasters
- Moderator: Carola Suárez-Orozco, Professor-in-Residence, Harvard Graduate School of Education & Director, Immigration Initiative at Harvard
- Panelists: Mary Waters, John L. Loeb Professor of Sociology & PVK Professor of Arts and Sciences, Harvard University; Fonna Forman, Professor of Political Science & Director, UCSD Center on Global Justice; Dawn Brantley, Director, Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency; Sam Assefa, Director of California’s Office of Land Use and Climate Innovation

2:50 – 3:10 p.m.

Coffee Break

3:10 – 4:00 p.m.