People

Sarah Buie is a designer/educator who encourages deeper collective, comprehensive awakening to our situation within our planetary ecosystem. She is Founding Convener of the international network, the Council on the Uncertain Human Future, and the campus-wide climate curriculum initiative A new Earth conversation at Clark University (both funded by the Christopher Reynolds Foundation). She is Professor Emerita and Research Scholar at Clark, where she served as Director of the Higgins School of Humanities and its Difficult Dialogues initiative; major grants from Ford, Mellon, and Kaiser Family Foundations were received during her tenure. She is also an award-winning museum exhibition designer.

Kevin Gallagher (JD/MA) is an attorney, author, and facilitator. He is the Director of Emergent Resilience, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that helps government agencies, private organizations, academic institutions, and individuals build resilience for a climate changing world. Kevin previously worked as a climate change law and policy attorney in Washington, D.C. and as a Peace Fellow with the Public International Law & Policy Group, where he advised state and sub-state entities in post conflict areas on international peace building issues. He has a Masters degree in International Affairs and has trained with the Sati Center for Buddhist Studies, the Center for Council, and the School of Lost Borders. He is the author of Hike The World, a guide book to the planet’s best long-distance hiking trails, and the forthcoming Emergent Resilience, an exploration of the psychosocial dimensions of a climate changed world.

Melissa Hoffer is an attorney specializing in environmental law. She currently serves as Massachusetts’ Climate Chief—the state’s first Cabinet-level climate position. She previously served as the principal deputy general counsel at the US Environmental Protection Agency. As chief of the Energy & Environment Bureau in the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office (AGO), Melissa was responsible for overseeing the AGO’s work to enforce environmental laws, protect ratepayer interests, and support federal regulations addressing emissions of mercury, air toxins, and greenhouse gases.

Liz Monson is the Spiritual Co-director of Natural Dharma Fellowship and the Managing Teacher at Wonderwell Mountain Refuge. She has studied, practiced and taught Tibetan Buddhism in the Kagyu and Nyingma lineages for over twenty years. Liz is interested in practical methods for incorporating the Buddhist teachings into everyday life through the practices of kindness and compassion, as well as recognizing the natural state in every moment of our lives.

Diana Chapman Walsh served as the President of Wellesley College for fourteen years; her presidency was characterized by her collaborative leadership style, innovations in curriculum, campus expansion and successful fund-raising. She was the Norman Professor at the Harvard School of Public Health and chair of the Department of Health and Social Behavior prior to her presidency. She has written, edited and co-edited twelve books on both healthcare and education topics, and a seminal essay on Trustworthy Leadership published by the Fetzer Institute. Until recently, she served on the governing boards of the Mind and Life Institute, the MIT Corporation (and its executive committee), and the Kaiser Family Foundation.

Jane Androski is an independent designer and brand strategist based in Providence RI. As Founder/Principal of the studio Design Agency, she spent 10 years collaborating with non-profit and educational institutions to elevate issues from food system enterprise, to cultural heritage, to prison reform. She has a background in teaching and community youth arts engagement. Prior to graduate school at the Rhode Island School of Design, Jane served as Assistant Director of the Difficult Dialogues initiative at Clark University, her alma mater.

John Bailes is a Buddhist Priest whose life and teaching activities have basically become the conversation we hold in Council. He is the Buddhist Chaplain at Wellesley College, the Founder and President of One Heart Zen, and the Guiding Teacher of the Monmouth Zen Circle.

Pat Benjamin is Associate Professor Emerita of Geography in the Department of Earth, Environment and Physics at Worcester State University, where she taught human geography and environmental studies courses. She is active in environmental work in the wider community, including 350.org Central MA.

Sarah Buie is a designer/educator who encourages deeper collective, comprehensive awakening to our situation within our planetary ecosystem. She is Founding Convener of the international network, the Council on the Uncertain Human Future, and the campus-wide climate curriculum initiative A new Earth conversation at Clark University (both funded by the Christopher Reynolds Foundation). She is Professor Emerita and Research Scholar at Clark, where she served as Director of the Higgins School of Humanities and its Difficult Dialogues initiative; major grants from Ford, Mellon, and Kaiser Family Foundations were received during her tenure. She is also an award-winning museum exhibition designer.

Kevin Gallagher (JD/MA) is an attorney, author, and facilitator. He is the Director of Emergent Resilience, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that helps government agencies, private organizations, academic institutions, and individuals build resilience for a climate changing world. Kevin previously worked as a climate change law and policy attorney in Washington, D.C. and as a Peace Fellow with the Public International Law & Policy Group, where he advised state and sub-state entities in post conflict areas on international peace building issues. He has a Masters degree in International Affairs and has trained with the Sati Center for Buddhist Studies, the Center for Council, and the School of Lost Borders. He is the author of Hike The World, a guide book to the planet’s best long-distance hiking trails, and the forthcoming Emergent Resilience, an exploration of the psychosocial dimensions of a climate changed world.

Melissa Hoffer is an attorney specializing in environmental law. She currently serves as Massachusetts’ Climate Chief—the state’s first Cabinet-level climate position. She previously served as the principal deputy general counsel at the US Environmental Protection Agency. As chief of the Energy & Environment Bureau in the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office (AGO), Melissa was responsible for overseeing the AGO’s work to enforce environmental laws, protect ratepayer interests, and support federal regulations addressing emissions of mercury, air toxins, and greenhouse gases.

Megan Holmes is an art historian at the University of Michigan, specializing in late medieval and early modern Italy. She is interested in social history, popular religious culture, and material culture, with two books, Fra Filippo Lippi the Carmelite Painter and The Miraculous Image in Renaissance Florence. In her teaching she emphasizes experiential learning and community building, and has recently become involved in the University of Michigan Prison Creative Arts Program.

Dr. Wendy Miles’s work focuses on the human dimensions of climate change and how public programs can be improved to support communities and ecosystems through the changes of the 21st century. She is experienced in community-led conservation and adaptation planning, climate change program and policy evaluation, and the provision of targeted climate science decision support to communities and governments. Wendy serves as the Science Collaboration Coordinator for the US Fish and Wildlife Service’s Science Applications program in the Pacific Islands.

Laura McKee is Associate Professor of Psychology at Georgia State University, where her research focuses on designing and testing interventions to support wellness and mitigate suffering in diverse youth and their families. Her published work has highlighted mindful parenting, emotion socialization, and cognitive biases as they relate to health and psychopathology. In a current project, she is using a dialogic approach to inquire into how parents, educators, and practitioners can support youth to create a happier, healthier future for themselves and their communities.

Liz Monson is the Associate Spiritual Director of Natural Dharma Fellowship and the Managing Teacher at Wonderwell Mountain Refuge. She has studied, practiced and taught Tibetan Buddhism in the Kagyu and Nyingma lineages for over twenty years. Liz is interested in practical methods for incorporating the Buddhist teachings into everyday life through the practices of kindness and compassion, as well as recognizing the natural state in every moment of our lives.

Uli Nagel is a Pilates teacher by profession and over the past 8 years has been spending more and more time on climate related issues. She initiated the non-profit Ener-G-save in Pioneer Valley together with Harold Grinspoon; co-founded the group Living the Change Berkshires, and is the liaison of Citizens’ Climate Lobby for Richard Neal’s office. Her main interest has been in building community: she was part of spiritual communities for 20 years and then chose types of activism that emphasize human connection and understanding across differences. She is active with Extinction Rebellion, Citizens Climate Lobby and Deep Adaptation – organizations that look deeper and reach for the next step in human learning through this time.

Professionally, Curt Newton is Director of MIT OpenCourseWare, which freely shares materials from thousands of MIT courses used by millions of learners and educators around the world. Prior to joining OCW in 2004, he worked at AT&T/Lucent Bell Labs as a communications network system engineer and co-founded a data network equipment startup. As a citizen climate activist, Curt is on the statewide volunteer steering team of 350 Massachusetts, using people power to create state and local political will for climate action, and is a trained Climate Reality Project Leader. In MIT’s climate community, Curt co-produced and co-hosted 3 seasons of the Climate Conversations podcast; helped launch and build the ClimateX online climate change community that became MIT’s climate portal; and was staff representative on the MIT Climate Action Advisory Committee. Curt’s participation in a 2016 World Climate Simulation game introduced him to Climate Interactive’s work. Enamored of that experience, he learned to facilitate World Climate, with a personal interest in reaching high school communities (being a parent of two young people). He’s facilitated En-ROADS games and workshops for high school classes and enrichment programs, graduate-level education students, a global network of education innovators, workplaces, citizens, and the MIT community.

Chrissie is an artist, animateur and creative investigator focused on developing a relational aesthetic around community and site with issues relevant to both. She has created community-based art projects in diverse areas of the world and is recognized internationally for her pioneering work. She is a founder of the SeedBroadcast Collective, co-founder of the Academy for the Love of Learning’s EL Otro Lado Project and Living Story Collaborative. Chrissie was born in Scotland, a descendant of the Picts (the painted ones).

A community organizer, public speaker and co-founder of the non-profit ReWild Long Island, Hildur is a founding steering committee member of Transition Town Port Washington and President of the Board of Trustees at The Science Museum of Long Island. She received a PhD in Biochemistry for research at the Max-Planck Institute of Biophysics, followed by post-doctoral research at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, California, and New York University Medical School. Author on several peer-reviewed publications and recipient of awards, Hildur is deeply invested in climate communication. Curious about the intersection of science and spirituality, Hildur co-founded Sol Center with Adina Dabija and Roopali Gupta in 2017. She is also an ordained interfaith minister and certified meditation guide, supportomg eco-spiritual healing & nature-based mindfulness for individuals and groups. Exploring the appropriate response to climate disruption, Hildur coordinates the Rewild The Soul and EcoDharma programming at the Natural Dharma Fellowship and serves advisory board function at the Center for Earth Ethics.

Barbara Waldorf BSN, MPH is a professional nurse with thirty years of domestic and international experience in pediatric and psychiatric nursing, as well as in teaching public health and nursing. As a long time meditator, her interests include teaching and designing contemplative care retreats for health workers and those working with the dying, as well as researching how compassion meditation can be incorporated into training health care workers. She currently serves as the Online Program Coordinator at Wonderwell Mountain Refuge.

Diana Chapman Walsh served as the President of Wellesley College for fourteen years; her presidency was characterized by her collaborative leadership style, innovations in curriculum, campus expansion and successful fund-raising. She was the Norman Professor at the Harvard School of Public Health and chair of the Department of Health and Social Behavior prior to her presidency. She has written, edited and co-edited twelve books on both healthcare and education topics, and a seminal essay on Trustworthy Leadership published by the Fetzer Institute. Until recently, she served on the governing boards of the Mind and Life Institute, the MIT Corporation (and its executive committee), and the Kaiser Family Foundation.

Walter Wright is a Professor Emeritus in the Department of Philosophy at Clark University; he served three times as Dean of the College. Wright has worked extensively on nineteenth century German philosophy and is recently engaged with the theory and practice of dialogue. He helping convene UHF councils on and off campus, recently at Swarthmore College and for the last three years at the Berkshire Waldorf High School in Stockbridge.