Nov 2, 11AM Global Change Seminar: Stories of Culture and Adaptation

Join us for a virtual Global Change Seminar organized by the Southeast CASC Global Change Fellows

Tuesday, November 2, 2021, 11:00am – 12:15pm ET

Stories of Culture and Adaptation

Presenters: 

• Michael Regan, Administrator, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
• Queen Quet, Chieftess and head of State of the Gullah/Geechee Nation
• Kaylah Brathwaite, Climate change youth & zero hour activist. Link to her Teen Vogue oped: My Home Is Already Being Destroyed by Climate Change
• Coral Avery, Natural Resource Specialist, Bureau of Indian Affairs Tribal Climate Resilience Program and Tribal Youth & Climate Liaison, and Citizen of the Shawnee Tribe
• Jorden Revels, NC Warn environmental activist and organizer, Lumbee Tribe Member, and Grassroots Organizing Fellow for Friends of the Earth
• Beth Roach, Citizen of the Nottoway Tribe, co-founder of the Alliance of the Native Seedkeepers, and Tribal Resilience Coordinator for the North Carolina Commission on Indian Affairs

Summary: EPA Administrator Michael Regan launches this event, “Stories of Culture & Adaptation,” with a special message recognizing the 10th Anniversary of the Global Change Fellows program. Regan’s message will be followed by a Gullah/Geechee greeting from Chieftess Queen Quet, and then a panel discussion focused on how climate change has impacted marginalized communities. The panel will also highlight the need for diverse voices in climate change conversations and narratives, and cultural conservation/adaptation/resiliency in distinct communities. The program’s diverse group of panelists includes perspectives from Native American community members, the unique Gullah/Geechee culture, natural resources managers, and youth activists. As EPA Administrator Regan recently noted, underrepresented and marginalized communities are frequently the most impacted by climate change and environmental injustice. Our panel will discuss how distinctive cultures are being shaped by and are reacting to climate change. These communities are long-term stewards of their environments, where they have an intimate and deep knowledge of place and changes over time. The panel will engage in a discussion on cultural challenges that underrepresented communities are facing in the wake of climate change, alongside the personal power of story.

Register here.

Once registered, you’ll receive a Zoom link to join the meeting.
See Administrator Regan’s just released, Draft EPA Strategic Plan out for public comment. For the first time, EPA’s plan includes a strategic goal focused solely on addressing climate change, as well as an unprecedented strategic goal to advance environmental justice and civil rights.