Climate Change and Cities

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Professor Michael Weisberg, Director of Post-Graduate Programs at the Perry World House, and Perry World House Visiting Fellow and Penn Alumna Lolita Jackson talk about the impacts of climate change at the municipal level. While vastly different in scale, New York City and the Galápagos Town of Puerto Baquerizo Moreno (population 8000), the towns in which they have worked for many years, face similar threats: sea level rise, increased flooding from storms, and population growth. They also face the challenge of having their needs prioritized in the national and international arena. Join us for a lively conversation about climate change and these two cities.

This event is sponsored by Penn Alumni and Penn Engineering.

Speakers

Michael Weisberg

Department Chair Philosophy, University of Pennsylvania

Michael Weisberg is Senior Faculty Fellow and Director of Post-Graduate Programs at Perry World House, as well as Professor and Chair of Philosophy at the University of Pennsylvania. He serves as Editor-in-Chief of Biology and Philosophy, advisor to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change’s Nairobi Work Programme, and directs Penn’s campus-wide transdisciplinary research in Galápagos. He is the author of Simulation and Similarity: Using Models to Understand the World and Galápagos: Life in Motion, as well as a contributing author to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's 6th Assessment Report. Much of Professor Weisberg’s research is focused on how highly idealized models and simulations can be used to understand complex systems. He also leads efforts to better understanding the interface between humans and wildlife, between humans and the climate system, and how scientific issues are understood by communities in the Americas and in East Asia. Professor Weisberg received a B.S. in Chemistry and a B.A. in Philosophy from the University of California, San Diego in 1999, and continued graduate study in Philosophy and Evolutionary Biology at Stanford University, earning a 2003 Ph.D. in Philosophy.

Lolita Jackson

Executive Director of Communications & Sustainable Cities Sustainable Development Capital, LLP

Lolita Jackson is the Executive Director of Communications & Sustainable Cities for Sustainable Development Capital, LLP, a London-based climate finance and investment firm. Lolita previously worked for the NYC Mayor’s Office for 15 years in a variety of roles, and until March 2021 she served as the Special Advisor for Climate Policy & Programs, where she was the climate diplomat and lead for the administration regarding global work on divestment and climate finance. Prior to her appointment to that role, she was Deputy Director of External Affairs for the Housing Recovery Office, Director of Outreach for the Special Initiative for Rebuilding and Resiliency, lead for operational city agencies for the Second Avenue Subway and Barclays Center, and Manhattan Director of Community Affairs. Prior to her tenure in the NYC Mayor’s Office, Lolita worked for Morgan Stanley Investment Management for 12 years. She is the President of the Penn Class of 1989 and is a 2007 winner of the Penn Alumni Award of Merit. She is a 1989 alumna of the Penn School of Engineering, majoring in Applied Science with a concentration in Chemical Engineering.