Harvard-Radcliffe Class of 1977

The next Climate Change Zoom Gathering will be Thursday, May 30, 2024, from 8:00 to 9:30 PM EST. We are blessed with classmates who have made important and inspiring contributions to address this crisis. Please join us to hear from three of them: James F. Lavin, Deborah Gans, and Felicia Marcus – each of whom is doing inspiring and important work to help address climate change. They will share their experiences and lessons learned that can inform and inspire others. The session will include their presentations, breakout groups to talk with classmates, and a Q and A session with our panelists. We will also begin the conversation about creating a “class project” to enable our classmates to come together to make a lasting impact on climate change. Please REGISTER by clicking HERE.

Here is more about our speakers:

• James Lavin has a deep passion for the climate/energy related technology including Carbon Capture and Sequestration Direct Air Capture, energy storage in electrical and thermal forms, electrical grids, building level efficiency, real time location sensing systems, and the overall energy transformation.  Jim is a serial entrepreneur with an extensive technology background, ability to understand technologies, and then convert ideas into reality to address a market opportunity. 
• Deborah Gans FAIA is the founder of the architecture and community planning office Gans & Company, and a Professor at Pratt Institute. For thirty years, she has devoted her attention to projects with social dimensions, many of them for underserved populations challenged by environmental impacts. Deborah has written about these issues in Extreme Sites: Greening the Brownfield ( AD/Wiley), Beyond Shelter: Architecture and Human Dignity (Metropolis Books), New Orleans Under Reconstruction (Verso) and PLACES Journal,  among others. Gans & Co has helped to replan and rebuild neighborhoods after Hurricane Katrina and Superstorm Sandy.
•  Felicia Marcus is the William C. Landreth Visiting Fellow at Stanford University’s Water in the West Program, an attorney, consultant, and member of the Water Policy Group. She most recently served as the Chair of the California Water Resources Control Board, implementing laws regarding drinking water and water quality and state’s water rights, hearing regional board water quality appeals, settling disputes, and providing financial assistance to communities to upgrade water infrastructure. In the non-profit world, she was the western director for the Natural Resources Defense Council, and prior to that the executive vice president and chief operating officer of the Trust for Public Land. Marcus also has an extensive background as a private sector and public interest lawyer, as well as a community organizer, most notably as a founder and general counsel to Heal the Bay.

Whatever your current level of experience or commitment, we hope you’ll join us to learn from our classmates, share your experience and perspectives, and explore how to make a difference on this critically important topic. 

HR '77 Climate Change:  Learning From and Being Inspired By Our Classmates

 November 30, 2023 

The Addressing Climate Change Group is sharing the results of the Zoom Gathering where three of our classmates – Philip Warburg, Molly Fisk, and Bill Chapman – shared inspiring and important work to help address climate change. Following are links to

• the video of the recorded meeting (https://bit.ly/11_30_2023_HR77ClimateAction_ZoomVideo)
• the presentation (https://bit.ly/HR77ClimateAction11_30_2023_Presentation)
• the questions raised by participants and answers provided after the meeting by the panelists (https://bit.ly/HR77_Climate_Action_11_30_2023_Q_and_A_Answers).

Philip Warburg:  Author of Harvest the Wind and Harness the Sun, after having worked to support a US Senator on energy issues and as executive director of both Israel’s and New England’s leading environmental advocacy groups.

Molly Fisk: Edited and published California Fire & Water, A Climate Crisis Anthology, with a Poet Laureate Fellowship from the Academy of American Poets. Poet, essayist, humorist, and radio commentator living in rural California who has twice evacuated to escape fast-moving wildfires.

Bill Chapman:  Founding and current Board Member and past President of Sound Greenway Trust - gaining designation of the 1.55 million-acre Mountains to Sound Greenway as a National Heritage Area in Seattle and the mountain pass immediately east.  Founding and current Board Member and past President of Washington Wildlife and Recreation Coalition - establishing a legislative program in Washington State providing $2 billion in grant funds for 1700 conservation purchases and projects enhancing city and state parks, bicycle trails, shoreline access and critical wildlife habitat.  Bill served under three Washington Governors in implementing this program and is widely recognized for his capacity to work with divergent views and stakeholders.

We hope to see you at future Climate Change events!

Peter Dunn, Carol Fisler, David Gardiner, Callie Hancock

This program is organized by ’77 Classmates Peter Dunn and David Gardiner, former Executive Director of the White House Climate Change Task Force in the Clinton Administration. Facilitation volunteers include Michael Banks, Bill Chapman, Carol Fisler, Nathaniel Foote, John Fox, Deborah Gans, Caroline (Callie) Hancock, Ruth Hayes, Pam Hogan, Peter Patton, Michael Payne, Philip Sheldon, Joan Soble, Mark Taylor, and Peter Tovar. We are still looking for facilitation volunteers. If you are interested, please email peterdunn@pdunn.com.

Without major changes, human actions are forecast to cause global warming and catastrophic consequences.  Many of us are deeply concerned; some of us are already taking actions while others are wondering how to get involved.

During this session, brief presentations will be shared about the four climate-related topics identified as most important in our recent class interest survey—

• the roadmap to stabilize the climate,
• energy options,
• the impact of policy changes,
• and ways we personally and collectively can make a difference.

Then we will have the opportunity to hear what actions some of us are already taking, and to discuss how we can best engage at the reunion in June and beyond to address this most pressing issue.

Optional Background Reading and Slack Website Resources

We have created a Slack web site with multiple channels enabling access to common resources, the ability to share ideas and feedback about the April and June events and more.  Here is the link.

https://join.slack.com/t/harvardclasso-rho9953/shared_invite/zt-17cn9eahf-Lhfhq8IwU3elXuQXoa369Q

For optional background reading on recommended books and chapters on Climate Change, click:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1sOYOa62YFhusGU6hHSGp1IgoKIWF0q40WUp7MFoSYkc/edit?usp=sharing

Our hope is that we can use this meeting and the June meeting to find a way for classmates to work together going forward to optimize our impact on climate change and enjoy each other’s company along the way.

Please check out this link to the Harvard Alumni for Climate and the Environment. This is a community that embraces all Harvard Alumni, and supports ongoing information sharing, connections and the exchange of ideas.

https://www.harvardclimate.com/

Finally, please also explore the following website and application that helps us understand and improve our carbon footprint and support broader change.  This app has been tailored to enable the class of ’77 to share collective learning and progress on our climate change actions and community engagement.

https://brightaction.app/climateactionharvard77

Within a week or two this link may be simplified to:  https://climateactionharvard77

Thanks for your time and support on this topic that will affect the world for generations.