2024 Wilkes Climate Summit: Full Schedule

Science and Innovation to Accelerate Climate Solutions

9:00am MDT

Day 1 Welcome

Speakers

William Anderegg

Director, Wilkes Center for Climate Science & Policy

Dr. William Anderegg is a world-renowned climate scientist and the director of the Wilkes Center for Climate Science and Policy. Dr. Anderegg has been recognized by the National Science Foundation’s Alan T. Waterman Award, National Science Foundation Faculty Development Early Career... Read More →

Tuesday May 14, 2024 9:00am - 9:30am MDT
Main Ballroom

Plenary

9:30am MDT

Day 1 Morning Keynote

Speakers

Stephen W. Pacala

Professor Emeritus and Senior Scholar, Princeton University

Stephen W. Pacala is Professor Emeritus and Senior Scholar at Princeton University. He has researched a wide variety of ecological and mathematical topics. At Princeton, his work focuses on problems of global change with an emphasis on interactions among the biosphere, greenhouse... Read More →

Tuesday May 14, 2024 9:30am - 10:30am MDT
Main Ballroom

Plenary

10:40am MDT

Climate Prize Finalist Presentations

Tuesday May 14, 2024 10:40am - 11:55am MDT
Main Ballroom

Plenary

12:00pm MDT

Day 1 Lunch

Tuesday May 14, 2024 12:00pm - 1:00pm MDT
Main Ballroom

1:00pm MDT

Climate and AI Breakout Session

Speakers

Elizabeth Callaway

Assistant Professor, English, University of Utah

Penny Atkins

Director, Research and Science, University of Utah

Court Strong

Professor, Atmospheric Sciences, University of Utah

Court Strong is an Associate Professor of Atmospheric Science at the University of Utah. His research focuses on atmosphere-cryosphere interactions, where the cryosphere is the frozen part of the climate system including mountain snow pack and sea ice. He studies climate change using... Read More →

Chiel Borenstein

Principal, Partnerships, WattTime

Chiel is a Principal on the Partnerships team at WattTime, responsible for establishing and maintaining key relationships with sustainability teams at Fortune 500 companies. Over the past nine years, Chiel has been involved in various roles and responsibilities associated with the... Read More →

Masood Parvania

Roger P. Webb Endowed Professor in Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Utah

Dr. Masood Parvania is the Roger P. Webb Endowed Professor in Electrical and Computer Engineering, and the Co-Director of NSF WIRED Global Center that involve 11 universities across the western U.S. and Canada to study and develop solutions for climate resilience of western interconnected... Read More →

Tuesday May 14, 2024 1:00pm - 2:15pm MDT
Dumke Reception Room (1st Floor)

Day 1 Breakout Session

1:00pm MDT

Methane Breakout Session

Speakers

Seth Lyman

Research Associate Professor, Chemistry and Biochemistry Department, Utah State University

Logan Mitchell

Utah Clean Energy

Mark Heinnickel

Principal Scientist, Lumen Bioscience

Mark Heinnickel is a Principal Scientist leading Lumen Bioscience’s Bioproduction team. Mark has over 20 years’ experience in academia and industry studying the proteins and pathways essential for photosynthesis. He previously worked at Matrix Genetics and ExxonMobil, where he... Read More →

Kim Shelley

Executive Director, Department of Environmental Quality, State of Utah

Jessica Swanson

Assistant Professor, Department of Chemistry, Henry Eyring Center for Theoretical Chemistry, University of Utah

Computational biophysicist studying biological methane mitigation

Tuesday May 14, 2024 1:00pm - 2:15pm MDT
Henricksen Conference Room (1st Floor)

Day 1 Breakout Session

1:00pm MDT

Water Innovation & Policy

Speakers

Joel Ferry

Executive Director, Utah Department of Natural Resources

Joel Ferry was appointed DNR executive director in June 2022 by Gov. Spencer J. Cox. (He was formally confirmed by the Utah Senate Sept. 21.) He leads an agency of about 2,000 employees from eight divisions and two offices, including Forestry, Fire and State Lands; Oil, Gas and Mining... Read More →

Beth Parker

University of Utah, SJ Quinney College of Law

Amy Haas

Executive Director, Colorado River Authority of Utah

Ted Kowalski

Senior Program Officer, Walton Family Foundation’s Colorado River initiative

Tuesday May 14, 2024 1:00pm - 2:15pm MDT
Boyer/Sorenson Conference Room (2nd Floor)

Day 1 Breakout Session

2:30pm MDT

Day 1 Afternoon Keynote

Speakers

Sarah Jewett

VP of Strategy, Fervo Energy

Sarah is Fervo’s VP of Strategy. In this role, she runs multiple corporate functions including corporate strategy, policy and regulatory engagement, external affairs, people operations, and future business lines. Prior to joining Fervo, she worked in the oilfield for Schlumberger... Read More →

Tuesday May 14, 2024 2:30pm - 3:30pm MDT
Main Ballroom

Plenary

9:15am MDT

Day 2 Welcome

Speakers

Peter Trapa

Dean, College of Science, University of Utah

Peter E. Trapa is an American mathematician and the dean of the College of Science at the University of Utah since 2019. His research focus is on the representation theory of reductive Lie groups. Trapa received his Bachelor of Arts in mathematics and integrated science from Northwestern... Read More →

John Lin

Associate Director, Professor of Atmospheric Sciences, Wilkes Center for Climate Science & Policy

John Lin is a Professor in the Department of Atmospheric Sciences and the Associate Director of the Wilkes Center for Climate Science & Policy. He has over 20 years of experience researching the emissions and transport of greenhouse gases and atmospheric pollutants, publishing over... Read More →

Wednesday May 15, 2024 9:15am - 9:30am MDT
Main Ballroom

Plenary

9:30am MDT

Day 2 Morning Keynote

Speakers

Asmeret Asefaw Berhe

Professor of Soil Biogeochemistry, & Falasco Chair in Earth Sciences at the Department of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of California, Merced

Dr. Asmeret Asefaw Berhe is a Professor of Soil Biogeochemistry and Falasco Chair in Earth Sciences and Geology at the Department of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of California, Merced. She previously served as the Director of the US Department of Energy’s Office of... Read More →

Wednesday May 15, 2024 9:30am - 10:30am MDT
Main Ballroom

Plenary

11:00am MDT

Student Poster Session

Wednesday May 15, 2024 11:00am - 12:00pm MDT
Foyer

Poster Session

12:00pm MDT

Day 2 Lunch

Wednesday May 15, 2024 12:00pm - 1:00pm MDT
Main Ballroom

1:00pm MDT

Urban Heat Breakout Session

Speakers

Daniel Mendoza

Research Assistant Professor, Atmospheric Sciences, University of Utah

Rob Wilson

Science Teacher/ Coordinator of Climate Studies, Rowland Hall

Robert joined the Rowland Hall faculty in 2005. He has a BA in biology from Lewis & Clark College and an MS in biology/ecology from Utah State University. Prior to coming to Rowland Hall, Robert studied migratory birds and taught biology at Utah State University and Westminster College... Read More →

Peter Howe

Utah State University

Austin Clark

University of Utah

Wednesday May 15, 2024 1:00pm - 2:15pm MDT
Boyer/Sorenson Conference Room (2nd Floor)

Day 2 Breakout Session

1:00pm MDT

Wildfire Breakout Session

Speakers

Kerry Kelly

Associate Professor, Chemical Engineering, University of Utah

John Lin

Associate Director, Professor of Atmospheric Sciences, Wilkes Center for Climate Science & Policy

Jeremy Craft

Vice President, Western Fire Chiefs Assoc., Lehi City Fire Department

Jim Randerson

UC Irvine

Ravan Ahmadov

Atmospheric Composition Branch Chief, NOAA

My research has been focused on the simulation of air pollution from various natural and anthropogenic sources. Currently, I am working on improving fire weather and atmospheric composition prediction capabilities in atmospheric models and applying these tools to understand and forecast... Read More →

Wednesday May 15, 2024 1:00pm - 2:15pm MDT
Henricksen Conference Room (1st Floor)

Day 2 Breakout Session

1:00pm MDT

Winter Sports Breakout Session

Speakers

John Horel

Professor, University of Utah

My research is centered on the observation and analysis of weather and climate processes in mountainous regions. My research group is involved in research and software development related to providing access to environmental observations for operational, research, and educational... Read More →

Zakri Siegel

Sustainability Engineer, Brendle Group

Zakri applies his expertise in technical engineering, data analysis, and applied research to support a variety of projects at Brendle Group. He is skilled at data analytics and visualization, developing training and reference resources, building cost estimates, and reviewing project... Read More →

McKenzie Skiles

Associate Professor, Geography, University of Utah

Dr. McKenzie Skiles is an associate professor, and Director of the Snow HydRO Lab, in the Geography Department at the University of Utah. Her research focuses on observing snow and ice covered landscapes, with a focus on seasonal mountain snow cover, to understand change over time... Read More →

Raj Basi

Vice President, Sustainability, Powdr Corp

Raj has over 30 years of experience with environmental monitoring, law, and policy. At POWDR, he is responsible for leading the Company's sustainability and community resilience programs, which collectively advance its vision to help ensure people everywhere may "Play Forever... Read More →

Wednesday May 15, 2024 1:00pm - 2:15pm MDT
Dumke Reception Room (1st Floor)

Day 2 Breakout Session

2:30pm MDT

Day 2 Afternoon Keynote

Speakers

David Lytle

Deputy Chief of Research and Development, United States Forest Service

Dave is the Deputy Chief of Research and Development for the Forest Service, the largest agency in the U.S. Department of Agriculture. As the agency’s leading scientist, Dave directs, coordinates, and integrates the vast network of all research activities, working with regions... Read More →

Wednesday May 15, 2024 2:30pm - 3:30pm MDT
Main Ballroom

Plenary