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 Principal Deputy General Counsel and interim Acting General Counsel in the EPA Office of General Counsel. She previously served as the 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.

Kerri Stearns has over 20 years’ experience in education and is currently employed with Clark University as the Undergraduate Student Assistant for the Psychology Department. In 2022, Kerri expanded her role by becoming the Administrative Coordinator for the Council on the Uncertain Human Future. Kerri is in the process of earning a master’s degree in Public Administration at Clark University.

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.

Kyle Richmond-Crosset is a masters student at the Yale School of the Environment, specializing in energy and the environment. Kyle is interested in developing and implementing policies that accelerate the clean energy transition and center equity and justice. Before Yale, he worked on energy and climate resilience issues for both Swarthmore College and The Cadmus Group, an environmental consulting firm. Kyle earned a Bachelor of Arts with high honors at Swarthmore College with a major in environmental studies and a minor in computer science. Kyle currently serves as the technical support lead for CUHF events.

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.

Krista Hiser is a professor of writing at Kapiʻolani Community College in Honolulu, Hawaii. Her Ph.D. in Educational Administration focused on students as stakeholders in curriculum related to sustainability, and she works closely with national networks including Sustainability Curriculum Consortium, AASHE, and the Global Council for Science and the Environment. Her Medium.com blog, Teaching Climate Change in Higher Education, highlights the critical role of faculty in teaching to these times.

Melissa Hoffer is an attorney specializing in environmental law. She currently serves as Principal Deputy General Counsel and interim Acting General Counsel in the EPA Office of General Counsel. She previously served as the 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.

Linda Kentro is a public health professional who serves as Environmental Health Team Leader, USAID / Nepal working on water, sanitation, hygiene, & rehabilitation of disability issues. She is also an architect, and worked with John Sanday Associates in Kathmandu for several years.

Nastasia Lawton-Sticklor is a climate justice activist and a researcher at the Hiatt Center for Urban Education at Clark University. Her work focuses on cultivating multi-generational spaces of inquiry that uplift the voices and knowledges of young people in building movements for social change. She is also an exhibiting photographer and a mom of two young children.  

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.

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.

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.

Lily Swanbrow-Becker is an ecologist and facilitator who brings a body of experience spanning the environmental and psychosocial dimensions of climate change resilience to her new role with the Council on the Uncertain Human Future. Prior to joining CUHF, Lily served as Network Manager at the American Society of Adaptation Professionals and Climate Change Coordinator for Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. Her full range of experience to-date includes positions and consultancies across non-profit, public, and academic institutions with focus on strategic planning, network building, professional development, and most recently, supporting people and organizations in building psychological resilience for life in a changing climate. Lily graduated from the University of Michigan and has a Masters degree in Conservation Biology from Texas State University. Lily lives in North Florida where she enjoys hiking the region’s pine flatwoods, swamplands, and Gulf Coast beaches with her partner, two young children, and dog.

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.

Aurora Winslade is the Director of Sustainability at Stanford University where she directs the Office of Sustainability. She also serves as an adjunct faculty in the Bard College Sustainable MBA program, where she teaches the Leading Change in Organization course, and works with the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education, where she has co-facilitated retreats for sustainability professionals since 2011.

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.