Join Chapman University's Office of Sustainability and Civic Engagement Initiatives, in partnership with Climate Reality OC and Citizens' Climate Lobby, for a conversation with leaders championing efforts on climate change, clean energy, and civil rights.  Information about our panelists is below.  Please register for the event at your earliest convenience.

The mission of Climate Reality OC is to create consensus around the climate emergency, as well as a shared plan to solve the climate crisis.  For more information, visit www.climaterealityoc.com.

Citizens' Climate Lobby empowers everyday people to work together to build support in Congress for a national bipartisan solution to climate change.  For more information, visit www.citizensclimatelobby.org. 

Event Outline (feel free to join any or all of the sessions)

6:00-6:30pm - Interview with Dr. Kathleen K Treseder, Co-founder of OC Clean Power

6:30-7:00pm - Local efforts to address climate change (featuring Climate Reality LA and Young Evangelicals for Climate Action)

7:00pm-7:30pm - The role of college students in climate advocacy (featuring Sara Wanous and Sophia Kianni)

7:30pm-8:00pm - Q&A with Dr. Jason Keller, Sara Wanous, Sophia Kianni, and William Morris

Ready to take action on Climate?  We've invited Climate Reality - Orange County and civic engagement platform Impactree to help make taking environmental action as simple as possible.  We'll be taking environmental actions live during this event.  All you have to do is join Climate Reality OC's Impactree group prior to or during the event at https://my.impactree.com/g/climatereality-oc!

Featured Speakers

Dr. Kathleen Treseder, Co-founder of OC Clean Power

Dr. Kathleen K Treseder is a soil scientist whose goal is to protect our society from climate change. She co-founded OC Clean Power, a grassroots group advocating for 100% renewable energy. She serves on the City of Irvine's Green Ribbon Environmental Committee. She has published more than 100 peer-reviewed articles about her research. She has also been recognized as one of the most influential scientists in her field by The Web of Science Group. In acknowledgement of her outstanding research and publication record, she has been elected a Fellow of the Ecological Society of America, the American Academy of Microbiology and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Her research has been covered in BBC, NPR, Scientific American, New York Times, Discover Magazine, and OC Register.

Sara Wanous, Citizens' Climate Lobby

Sara Wanous joined Citizens’ Climate Lobby as a volunteer in 2016 and is currently serving on staff as a Research Coordinator. In this role, she tracks the latest research on carbon pricing and related climate policies, develops resources and trainings on timely topics, analyzes lobby meeting notes, and answers technical questions for volunteers, staff, and congressional offices. Sara is passionate about building bridges between scientists and economists’ cutting-edge work studying climate solutions and the legislators that can put those solutions into action.

Her educational background includes a B.A in Economics and B.S. in Environmental Science and Policy from Chapman University and a Masters in Climate Science and Policy from the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UCSD. Sara’s master’s thesis examined the economic strengths and weaknesses of carbon offset policies and local wetland restoration projects’ viability as offsets. Before working at CCL, Sara worked on a trail crew at Crater Lake National Park.

Sophia Kianni, Climate Cardinals

Sophia Kianni is a 19 year old Iranian-American climate activist specializing in media and strategy.  She is the founder and executive director of Climate Cardinals, an international nonprofit with 8,000 volunteers in 40+ countries working to translate climate information into 100+ languages.  She represents the United States as the youngest member on the inaugural United Nations Secretary-General’s Youth Advisory Group on Climate Change.  Sophia’s work has been featured in news outlets including Forbes, CNN, TIME Magazine, The Guardian, NBC, and even on the front page of The Washington Post.  She was previously a fellow with PBS NewsHour and has written for news outlets such as MTV News, BuzzFeed, Teen Vogue, Refinery 29, and Cosmopolitan.  She is an adamant public speaker and has spoken at universities including Stanford University, Columbia University, Harvard University, UC Berkeley, Oregon University, Michigan Tech, and Emory University.  In 2020, she was named VICE's youngest Human of the Year, selected as a National Geographic Young Explorer, and chosen for Energy News Network's 40 under 40 list.

Sybil Azur, Climate Reality LA

Sybil Azur is a mother of two, writer, and activist.  She is a volunteer for Climate Reality LA, and co-led the team that succeeded in getting LAUSD to commit to transitioning to 100% clean, renewable energy, and is proud to be on the Board of Directors of Frederick Douglass Family Initiatives, a non-profit organization focused on the goal of racial equality.  She is a newly elected Assembly Delegate for the California Democratic Party, and is currently earning a Screenwriting M.F.A. from Cal State Northridge.

Tristan Miller, Climate Reality OC

Tristan Miller is Vice Chair of Climate Reality OC and a trained Climate Reality Leader by Al Gore. She has presented on the climate crisis and solutions to schools, colleges, conferences, and businesses including Sony Pictures, Playstation, SEI , Santa Monica College, Climate Leadership Program, and Orange County School of the Arts.  She brings 25 years of International PR and Marketing experience to her work. She has managed with over 100 successful campaigns for major firms like Hill and Knowlton, WorldBank, The Academy of Leadership, AmeriCorps, and PBS. She also led the Meet the Masters art program in school districts for over 12 years as well as produced events, videos, documentaries, events including Earth Day on the Mall in Washington DC, One World for PBS, CBS Sports, and a series of PSAs called People For The Planet.  She now runs the Internet Division of Edge City.

William Morris, Young Evangelicals for Climate Action

William serves on the steering committee for Young Evangelicals for Climate Action. He was born and raised in Southern California and received his degree in environmental science with a focus on ecological restoration and a minor in watershed management.  He works as an environmental missionary going into churches and engaging with them about climate justice and environmental stewardship from a theological perspective. William has also traveled to developing countries to do environmental surveying with faith-based organizations helping people meet environmental and physical needs.  He also a trained Climate Reality Leader and is part of the Los Angeles chapter of the Climate Reality Project where he is chair of the Faith-based Communities Committee.