It’s appropriate that the first panel of the first TechCrunch Sessions: Climate event begins with climate science. Establishing a shared understanding of the global crisis and what the future holds if we fail to act decisively — and with all due haste — is essential. It sets the stage for a discussion about pragmatic and realistic ways to mitigate climate change through technology.
We are thrilled that Dr. Williman Collins, an internationally recognized expert in climate modeling and climate-change science, and Dr. Kari Nadeau, a world-renowned environmental health expert, will join us for a panel called, The Climate Crisis Is Real —The Solutions Should Be, Too, at TC Sessions: Climate and The Extreme Tech Challenge 2022 Global Finals on June 14 in Berkeley, California.
This discussion will cover a wide range of topics. We’ll explore air quality and how decreasing emissions from short-lived greenhouse gasses — like methane and hydrofluorocarbons — acts like a stop-gap measure to buy more time to deal with carbon dioxide, which can stick around in the atmosphere for hundreds of years.
We’ll dig into socioeconomic and racial disparities to understand how climate change disproportionately affects low-income communities and people of color.
And, of course, we’re curious to hear which emerging technologies have captured our experts’ attention. Those are just a few of the issues and questions we’ll have for Collins and Nadeau, both of whom are eminently qualified.
William Collins is the Director of the Climate and Ecosystem Sciences Division for the Earth and Environmental Sciences Area at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), a Professor of Earth and Planetary Science at UC Berkeley and the Director of the Carbon Negative Initiative at LBNL.
Collins is also a Coordinating Lead Author of the Sixth Assessment of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), a Lead Author of the Fifth IPCC Assessment and a Lead and Collaborating Author of the Fourth IPCC Assessment, for which the IPCC received the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize.
Kari Nadeau is the Naddisy Foundation Endowed Professor of Medicine and Pediatrics and Director of the Sean N. Parker Center for Allergy and Asthma Research at Stanford University.
An expert on air pollution and its effects on the immune system, Nadeau is focused on global climate change and wildfire exposures, particularly in underserved areas. She’s currently working on air pollution and climate change policy at the World Health Organization.
Passionate about breaking down health barriers and creating meaningful change for children and adults in underserved areas, Nadeau has developed outreach and educational programs with partners in East Palo Alto, Chicago, Harlem and San Francisco. Don’t miss this vital conversation as Collins and Nadeau provide a clear-eyed look at the climate crisis.
TC Sessions: Climate takes place in person on June 14 at UC Berkley’s Zellerbach Hall with an online event on June 16. Literally hundreds of leading climate tech founders, investors and scientists will be in the house. Join them: Buy your ticket today and take advantage of our 2-for-1 Memorial Day sale happening now!