FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

8/18/2021

 

CONTACT: lhildebrand@lafollette.wisc.edu

 

AUTHOR KATHERINE WILKINSON TO OFFER KEYNOTE AT UW–MADISON’S LA FOLLETTE SCHOOL CLIMATE POLICY FORUM ON OCTOBER 6

 

MADISON – Katharine Wilkinson, co-founder of The All We Can Save Project, will give the opening keynote address during the La Follette School’s Climate Policy Forum at the University of Wisconsin–Madison on October 6. The daylong event, hosted live on campus, will feature leading climate researchers, policymakers, and community leaders engaged in conversation about innovative solutions for addressing climate issues and improving the lives of people in Wisconsin across and the world.

 

Wilkinson is an author, strategist, and teacher. In addition to her work with The All We Can Save Project, she is co-host of the podcast A Matter of Degrees. She has written, edited, and contributed to books that focus on solutions to climate change, including All We Can SaveThe Drawdown ReviewDrawdown, and Between God & Green. In 2019, Time magazine named her one of the 15 Women Leading the Fight Against Climate Change.  

 

A former Rhodes Scholar, Wilkinson has been passionate about protecting the planet since she attended the Outdoor Academy 20 years ago as a high school student in North Carolina. One of her guiding principles is the need to shift the climate-change conversation to “be more courageous and more emotionally intelligent,” she says. Drawdown, a New York Times bestseller, presents bold ideas on climate change from “an international coalition of leading researchers, scientists, and policymakers.”

 

The Climate Policy Forum features six breakout sessions. Participants may register for on-site, virtual, and hybrid options. In-person attendees can take advantage of several networking opportunities, including an evening reception. Presentations will be available online after the conference.

 

“We have an exciting agenda, top-notch panelists, and high expectations for engaging conversations about innovative solutions to one of our most challenging policy issues,” says La Follette School Professor Greg Nemet, who is leading the conference with Assistant Professor Morgan Edwards.

 

Breakout sessions will focus on:

 

Panelists will include:

  • Former U.S.  Sen. Russ Feingold
  • Wisconsin Lieutenant Gov Mandela Barnes
  • Scott Coenen, executive director, Wisconsin Conservative Energy Forum
  • Randy Romanski , secretary of the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection
  • Kathy Blumenfeld, secretary of the Wisconsin Department of Financial Institutions secretary
  • Kathleen Falk, former Dane County Executive
  • James Edward Mills, journalist
  • Erick Shambarger, sustainability director, City of Milwaukee
  • Dan Vimont, professor of Climatology in the Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences at UW–Madison

 

The Climate Policy Forum is supported by the Kohl Initiative, which was launched by a $10 million gift from former U.S. Sen Herb Kohl in 2019. The initiative focuses on three La Follette School priorities: to expand its public outreach mission, to advance the training of future public leaders, and to support influential research by faculty and students.

 

-Lisa Hildebrand,

lhildebrand@lafollette.wisc.edu

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