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Thomas C. Peterson, IPCC Scientist

Thomas C. Peterson is a research meteorologist at NOAA’s National Climatic Data Center in Asheville, North Carolina. After earning his Ph.D. in Atmospheric Science from Colorado State University in 1991, Tom primarily engaged in creating NCDC’s global land surface data set used to quantify long-term global climate change.  Key areas of his expertise include data archaeology, quality control, homogeneity testing, international data exchange and global climate analysis using both in situ and satellite data. He was a lead author on the Nobel Prize winning Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s Fourth Assessment Report. Currently he is a member of the Global Climate Observing System Atmospheric Observation Panel for Climate, chairs the United Nation’s World Meteorological Organization Commission for Climatology Open Programme Area Group on Monitoring and Analysis of Climate Variability and Change, and co-chairs the Unified Synthesis Product: Climate Change and the United States: Analysis of the Effects and Projections for the Future.  The U.S. Department of Commerce has honored him with three Bronze Medal Awards and one Gold Medal Award. Essential Science Indicators has ranked him as one of the top 1% of scientists in the field of Geosciences based on Journal Citation Reports. He is the author or co-author of over 60 peer-reviewed publications and three data sets.

Julian Keniry, NWF Campus Ecology, Sr. Director of Campus & Community Leadership

Julian co-founded the National Wildlife Federation’s Cool-It! Program in 1989 (which became Campus Ecology in 1993) and, for more than two decades, has helped to develop the movement for sustainability in higher education in the U.S.  In 2004, she and her team helped launch the Energy Action Coalition, comprised of more than 30 campus and youth organizations advocating for leadership to confront global warming, and co-organized meetings that helped form the Higher Education Associations’ Sustainability Consortium (HEASC).  She and her team have been recognized for numerous national initiatives, including the Campus Ecology Fellowship Program, the annual Chill Out Competition on campus solutions to global warming, the first national report card on higher education sustainability in 2001, and a variety of webinars, web courses, videos, publications and books, including Ecodemia: Campus Environmental Stewardship at the Turn of the 21st Century (1995), Green Investment, Green Return: How Practical Conservation Projects Save Millions on America’s Campuses (1998), and Higher Education in a Warming World: The Business Case for Climate Leadership on Campus (2008).  She serves on the board of the Institute for Conservation Leadership and earned undergraduate degrees in international relations and German from Agnes Scott College, Decatur, Georgia as well as a Master’s degree in environmental science and policy from Johns Hopkins University.

Jennifer Andrews, Clean Air-Cool Planet, Campus Program Manager

In her role as Campus Program Manager at Clean Air-Cool Planet, Jenn Andrews advises stakeholders at colleges, universities and private K-12 schools across the US and Canada on how to measure and manage their greenhouse gas emissions. She directs continued development and support of the Campus Carbon Calculator(tm), now in use at over 1000 institutions across the US and Canada; oversees CA-CP's Climate Fellows program, and works closely with campus sustainability leaders across the country to share resources and strategies supporting campus climate neutrality. In her seven-plus years at CA-CP, Jenn has presented extensively at conferences and in classrooms about carbon accounting and campus sustainability. Jennifer's diverse previous experience included work in public radio, as an historic and environmental educator for children, and as a group leader for growth-oriented intergenerational writing workshops. Jenn studied English as an undergraduate at the University of New Hampshire and mental health counseling as a graduate student there. She is a co-founder of her local Young Professionals association, and heads up the sustainable agriculture/local food committee of her town's Green Team.

Georges Dyer, Second Nature, Senior Fellow

Mr. Dyer's work at Second Nature has focused on supporting the American College & University Presidents' Climate Commitment (ACUPCC). The ACUPCC is a high-profile national initiative led by college and university presidents who have agreed to join together in creating a plan for climate neutrality in campus operations and promoting research and education on climate change and sustainability. Over 550 institutions have joined the ACUPCC to date, serving as powerful role models and catalysts for change throughout higher education and beyond.  Most recently he has coordinated a highly collaborative process with ACUPCC presidents, their representatives, and carbon offset experts to create a protocol for using carbon offsets in meeting GHG reduction targets through the ACUPCC.

Martha Knight-Oakley, Ph.D., Warren Wilson College, Professor of Psychology

Martha Knight-Oakley is Professor of Psychology at Warren Wilson College, where she teaches courses in Social Psychology; Research Methods; Personality; Introduction to Psychology; Eco-psychology; and Environmental Attitudes and Behavior.  She also advises students in Advanced Research and senior theses.  As Chair of the Social Sciences Division she strengthened the contributions of the Social Sciences to Environmental Studies at Warren Wilson.  In addition to curriculum development, she systematically recruited numerous faculty members who now bring environmental expertise from areas such as Psychology, Anthropology, Sociology, Global Studies, Peace Studies, Social Work, and Religious Studies to Warren Wilson’s interdisciplinary Environmental Studies curriculum. Her interest in the application of social psychology to understand and change environmentally relevant behaviors grew out of her graduate work in Social and Personality Psychology at Purdue University, where she earned a Masters in 1978 and Ph.D. in 1981.  Her professional presentations and publications address issues of interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary curriculum development, self-awareness, self-concept, self-deception, and the “ecological self”.  She is currently working with colleagues on behavioral change strategies to substantially reduce greenhouse gas emissions at Warren Wilson College.


Jolea Bryant, NWF Campus Ecology, Southeast Field Coordinator

Jolea is the Southeast Campus Field Coordinator for the National Wildlife Federation’s Campus Ecology Program.  Based out of NWF’s Southeast Natural Resource Center in Atlanta, GA, Jolea works to raise awareness of the importance of reducing carbon emissions on campuses throughout the Southeast.  She also helps colleges and universities develop innovative, cost-friendly ways to reduce greenhouse gas emissions on their campuses.  Before becoming a campus field coordinator, she worked as Assistant Director of Environmental Education for a local, community-based, environmental group based in Southwest Atlanta where she was a key organizer for the first outdoor activity club at a local Atlanta high school.  Jolea also served as program assistant for the Atlanta Earth Tomorrow program, where she helped to coordinate activities for teen leaders that foster environmental stewardship and community service through leadership training, civic engagement, and career development.  Jolea received her Masters of Science in Public Policy from the Georgia Institute of Technology in August, 2007.