Register now for Texas Environmental Grantmakers Group’s upcoming fall meeting when the topic will be climate change. Confirmed speakers are Environmental Attorney, Planner and Professor in the Practice of Environmental Law at Rice University Jim Blackburn, Texas Meteorologist and Climatologist John Nielsen-Gammon, Editor of Texas Climate News Bill Dawson, and Cynthia and George Mitchell Foundation Clean Energy Program Officer Drew Nelson. You do not need to be a member of the group to attend, just a funder with an interest in the topic. The session will include presentation, lunch, an opportunity to network with your peers and a brief business meeting. An optional 45-minute tour and glass-bottom boat excursion of The Meadows Center for Water and the Environment will follow.
Confirmed Speakers:
Jim Blackburn is an environmental lawyer and planner as well as Professor in the Practice of Environmental Law in the Civil and Environmental Engineering Department where he teaches environmental law and sustainable design at Rice University. He is co-director of the Severe Storm Prevention, Education and Evacuation from Disaster (SSPEED) Center at Rice and a faculty scholar at the Baker Institute and Director of the undergraduate minor in energy and water sustainability.
Bill Dawson, who founded Texas Climate News in 2008, has written about climate change as a journalist since 1988. He was previously the environment writer at the Houston Chronicle for 17 years, the senior writer for environmental issues at the Center for Public Integrity (a nonprofit investigative reporting organization in Washington) and an adjunct faculty member at Rice University. He has worked as an independent journalist since 2003.
As the clean energy program officer at the Cynthia and George Mitchell Foundation, Drew Nelson works to continue the energy leadership of Texas while ensuring all Texans benefit from a clean energy economy that minimizes land, air, and water impacts from energy production. The current areas of focus of the Clean Energy program are to accelerate deployment of Distributed Energy Resources, catalyze community-based energy resources, and to reduce emissions from industrial emissions in Texas. Mr. Nelson has more than 15 years working on energy and climate issues, finding solutions that both reduce emissions and increase economic development, most recently, as director, international affairs for Environmental Defense Fund’s U.S. Climate and Energy Program.
John Nielsen-Gammon is a meteorologist and climatologist. He is professor of meteorology at Texas A&M University, and the Texas State Climatologist, holding both appointments since 2000. His research group uses a combination of observational and computational techniques to study the characteristics, dynamics, and forecasting of certain weather phenomena. Much of his recent work has involved air pollution meteorology. He writes an online column on climate science for the Houston Chronicle.
The Meadows Center for Water and the Environment at Texas State University is dedicated to inspiring research, innovation and leadership that ensures clean, abundant water for the environment and all humanity. Headquarters are located on the site of an environmentally, culturally, and archaeologically significant resource, Spring Lake, which serves as a living laboratory, a community center, and an irreplaceable educational resource.
The Meadows Center is managed by Texas State University and is a showcase for research, education, stewardship and environmental leadership projects. It brings together departments and research centers to both engage in scholarly inquiry and provide practical, science-based solutions to complex water-related challenges across Texas and around the world.
The Meadows Center was founded by Dr. Andrew Sansom, who is a long-time member of TEGG and a trustee of the Jacob and Terese Hershey Foundation.
Formed in 1996, TEGG is a loose federation of community, family, and corporate foundations, as well as a few individual donors, who explore the challenges and opportunities for environmental support in the state of Texas. For more details about TEGG and to stay informed, visit TEGG's landing page on Philanthropy Southwest's website.