UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — The student committee of the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences Sustainability Council will host an alumni panel discussion, “Be the Change,” from 6:30 to 8 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 14, in 112 Walker Building on the University Park campus.
The panel will discuss solutions for energy challenges of the future and career paths in sustainability-related fields following graduation. The event is free and open to the public.
“This panel discussion about opportunities for future employment and careers will help provide insights into the sustainability actions and careers of some of our alumni, and how those may influence career trajectories after graduation,” said Harman Singh, chair of the student committee and one of the organizers of the event.
Panelists include:
- Jasmine Fields
- John Lease
- Mark Ortiz
- Bernadette Woods Placky
Refreshments will be served at 6 p.m. and attendees will have an opportunity to network with the alumni. At 6:30 p.m. the panel discussion will begin, followed by a Q&A session.
“With sustainable development goals at the forefront of the conversation, the student committee of the Sustainability Council strives to inspire students from all walks of life to share their diverse perspectives,” said Singh, who is pursuing a doctorate in geography at Penn State.
Panel discussion will also be available on Zoom.
About the panelists
Jasmine Fields is the sustainability program officer for the Borough of State College’s Department of Public Works. She assists local and regional governments with developing strategies and implementing programs that reduce greenhouse gas emissions and improve community resiliency. She graduated from Penn State with a bachelor’s degree in geosciences where her studies focused on the impacts of anthropogenic activities on our natural environment. She is passionate about environmental conservation, equitable climate action and sustainability planning, and utilizing bottom-up approaches to develop solutions to solve climate and environmental sustainability issues.
John Lease is a member of the Graduates of Earth and Mineral Sciences (GEMS) board of directors, currently serving as secretary. He is also the GEMS liaison to the college’s sustainability council and provides support and counsel for the numerous sustainability initiatives underway in the college. He graduated from Penn State with a bachelor’s degree in earth science and a master’s degree in environmental pollution control. Lease worked at Alcoa in Pittsburgh in the field of environment, health and safety (EHS), working primarily at Alcoa’s global operating facilities, corporate headquarters and the R&D laboratory to implement programs and systems to achieve Alcoa’s EHS goals and ensure regulatory compliance. He retired from Alcoa in 2016 and is now engaged as a consultant, providing EHS consulting services for business and industrial clients.
Mark Ortiz is a Presidential Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of Geography at Penn State where he directs the Global Youth Storytelling and Research Lab. He is a community-engaged scholar of climate justice and youth politics, and his research examines youth advocacy and the global politics of climate change and develops frameworks for intergenerational and international climate justice. Ortiz’s work also has an emphasis on policy impact. He regularly shares research findings in policy fora like the United Nations climate negotiations.
Bernadette Woods Placky is an Emmy Award-winning meteorologist and director of Climate Central's Climate Matters, a program that offers data analyses, graphics and other reporting resources to a growing network of more than 3,000 local TV meteorologists and journalists to help them tell their local climate stories. Before coming to Climate Central, Woods Placky worked for a decade as an on-air meteorologist in markets in Arkansas, Kentucky, and Maryland. Woods Placky holds a bachelor’s degree in meteorology and a minor in French from Penn State. She is a fellow of the American Meteorological Society, chairs Penn State’s Department of Meteorology and Atmospheric Science Advisory Council and is a former GEMS board member.