12:00pm: Conference Welcome with Host Presidents Martha Pollack, Cornell University and Shirley Collado, Ithaca College

President Martha Pollack, Cornell University, and President Shirley Collado, Ithaca College, will welcome conference participants from across New York State to the 2020 New York State of Sustainability Conference, touching on campus accolades such as Cornell's plans to reach carbon neutrality by 2035 and recent STARS Platinum Rating, and Ithaca College's holistic approach to sustainability inclusive of human, ecological, and financial needs.

Martha E. Pollack is the fourteenth president of Cornell University and professor of computer science, information science, and linguistics. She sees Cornell’s foundational commitment to diversity and equity as central to our identity and success, and has engaged the entire university in the work of building an open, inclusive community whose members communicate effectively across difference.  

Shirley M. Collado is the ninth president of Ithaca College. She is known nationally for designing and implementing innovative approaches to higher education that expand student access and success, and has extensive experience overseeing complex not-for-profit organizations in both the private and public sectors of higher education. 

12:30pm: Sustainability and Resiliency in Times of Change

Connecting the dots between fiscal challenges, racial justice, and health and operational concerns due to the COVID19 pandemic, join administrators and faculty as they discuss how keeping sustainability on the table has allowed for an even more innovation and potential for the Cornell community, and why disruption can sometimes lead to a stronger future. 

• Rick Burgess, Vice President of Facilities & Campus Services, Cornell University

• Lynden Archer, Dean of the College of Engineering at Cornell University

• Dr. Neil Lewis, Faculty of Communications, Cornell University

Moderated by Sarah Zemanick, Director of the Campus Sustainability Office, Cornell University & Dan DeZarn, Director of Sustainability, SUNY Geneseo

1:30pm: The UN’s IPCC 1.5 Report: How to reach low climate targets

Natalie Mahowald, one of the lead authors of the 2018 United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Report and the Irving Porter Church Professor in Engineering at Cornell University will present results from the IPCC 1.5 special report on how to reach low climate targets as well as achieve sustainable development goals.  Reaching low climate targets will require substantial changes to behavior, switches to sustainable energy and the development of new technologies in carbon dioxide removal as well as other non-power sector CO2 emission areas.  How can nations and higher education partners engage in the work to do to this, while allowing developing countries to continue to develop, but along more sustainable pathways?

Moderated by Enid Cardinal, Senior Advisor to the President for Strategic Planning and Sustainability, Rochester Institute of Technology

10:00am: New York’s Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act (CLCPA)

Anne Reynolds is the Executive Director of the Alliance for Clean Energy New York (ACE NY), an Albany-based nonprofit organization formed in 2006 to promote clean and renewable energy and energy efficiency. Ms. Reynolds has over 20 years of experience in the energy and environmental arena. Most recently she served as a Deputy Commissioner at the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC), in the role of chief financial and operations officer, overseeing an annual budget of over $900 million and a portfolio that includes facility operations and construction, budgeting and fiscal management, capital planning, human resources, department-wide planning, and information technology. At DEC she also served as Assistant Commissioner for Policy and Planning, which included legislative affairs, and the Director of the Commissioner’s Policy Office.

10:45am: One Health Sustainability: Human, Animal, and Environmental Health are All Connected

Human health and well-being are linked to the health of wildlife, livestock, and the environment. This One Health framework allows us to see the connections between sustainability challenges, linking the protection of natural ecosystems to the improvement of human health – including the our timely challenge of COVID-19.  Understand some examples of the One Health framework from one of the leading practitioners Dr. Daryl Nydam, whose research focuses on the intersection of agriculture and public health with sustainable dairy production.

Daryl Van Nydam, DVM, is a Professor in the Dept. of Population Medicine and Diagnostic Science at the College of Veterinary Medicine at Cornell University.  Read his full bio here.

12:30pm: Dr. Ayana Johnson, with special guest Bill Nye: Connecting the dots between climate issues and racial justice:

Dr. Ayana Elizabeth Johnson is a marine biologist, policy expert, writer, and Brooklyn native. She is founder of Urban Ocean Lab, a think tank for coastal cities, and is co-creator and co-host of the Spotify/Gimlet podcast How to Save a Planet. With Dr. Katharine Wilkinson, she co-edited the anthology All We Can Save, and co-founded The All We Can Save Project.  Recently, Dr. Johnson co-created the Blue New Deal, a roadmap for including the ocean in climate policy. She curates and hosts the Science & Society series at Pioneer Works in Brooklyn. Ayana was co-director of partnerships for the March for Science, creating a coalition of over 300 organizations that inspired over 1 million people around the world to take to the streets to support the role of science in policymaking. S In this talk she will explore the intersections of science, policy, culture, and justice.

Dr. Johnson will be welcomed by Bill Nye "The Science Guy", science communicator, television presenter, and mechanical engineer, Cornell '77.  As a comedian, author, and inventor, Bill is a man with a mission: to help foster a scientifically literate society, to help people everywhere understand and appreciate the science that makes our world work. 

Moderated by: Shorna Allred, Associate Professor of Natural Resources & the Environment, Cornell University

12:15pm: Raven the Science Maven: We're All in This Together

Raven Baxter, also known as Raven the Science Maven, is an award-winning and internationally acclaimed science communicator and molecular biologist and rapper who works to progress the state of science education and culture by creating spaces that are inclusive, educational, and real.Baxter is a doctoral student at the University at Buffalo and is the founder of Science Haven, a non-profit organization that operates at the intersections of science, education, and the public. Science Haven houses STEMbassy, a live web series that connects the public with science and technology professionals, and Black In Science Communication, a group that works to build relationships in the science community, equipping others with the knowledge and resources necessary to share science with the world in their own flavor.

She is recognized in Fortune magazine's "40 Under 40" list for 2020. Join her for a talk about understanding the power of your voice and living unapologetically to build bridges between sustainability, science, and the public.