Columbia Climate School in the Green Mountains

• The Science of Climate Change - Natural Variability vs. Anthropogenic Change, Climate Projections and Modeling, and Climate Information and Decision-Making
• Climate Impacts and Resilience - Global Processes and Local Impacts, Preparedness and Risk, Recovery and Planning, and Mitigation and Adaptation
• International Climate Policies and Negotiations - Sustainable Development Goals and the Paris Agreement, Decarbonization Pathways and the Energy Transition, Monitoring and Measuring Progress, United Nations Climate Change Conferences, and Global Governance and International Law
• Sustainability and the Circular Economy - Consumerism and Throwaway Culture, Building a Value Chain, New Economic Models and Circular Systems, and Achieving Sustainable Business Practices
• Climate Action & Advocacy - Local Community Impacts, Strategic Communication, and Youth Roles and Action

This two-week trans-disciplinary program led by Columbia Climate School faculty and researchers will encourage learner to consider diverse fields of study within climate and sustainability. Through seminars, small group discussions, field excursions, team-building and networking activities, and final projects, students will discover their own climate passions.

The Green Mountains program will give students direction, allow them to gain skills such as critical thinking and problem-solving, and encourage them to take climate action in their own communities. It will also provide students with an opportunity to engage in cutting-edge climate content with Columbia Climate School experts and prepare for the college experience.

Day 1  Arrival and Welcome

Day 2  Orientation & Climate Change Impacts

Day 3  The Science of Climate Change, Modeling, and Projections

Day 4  Climate Change Preparedness Tools and Strategies

Day 5  Environmental Justice

Day 6  Sustainability and Systems Thinking

Day 7  Full Day Excursion/Real World Community Impact

Day 8  Policy and Negotiations 

Day 9  Climate Change in Your Community

Day 10  Storytelling & Advocacy

Day 11  Honing Your Actions and Plans

Day 12  Telling Your Story and Celebrations

Day 13  Departure

Laurel DiSera is interested in understanding how climate impacts society, especially in Latin America. She holds an MA in Climate and Society from Columbia University and, through the program, spent time in Guatemala working with the Adapting Agriculture to Climate Today, for Tomorrow Project (ACToday), the first of the Columbia World Projects. There, she strived to increase climate communication throughout the country, specifically with locals in rural regions, and she analyzed the network of those who currently participate in the climate and food security conversation in Guatemala.

Now at the International Research Institute for Climate and Society at the Columbia Climate School, Laurel is researching how Aedes-borne diseases in the Americas and worldwide are impacted by climate. She is focused on assessing and improving the skill of Subseasonal to Seasonal (S2S) forecasts and how these models can be used by decision makers to improve the livelihoods of their constituents. In the coming years, she hopes to focus on cross timescale interference to enhance S2S forecasting and beyond.

Miriam Nielsen studies compound hydrological extremes as a PhD student in Earth and Environmental Sciences at Columbia University and NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies. She is interested in how severe hazards will change under warming and the vulnerability of people and ecosystems to these changes. She uses large-scale climate datasets and model simulations to investigate regional climate and ecosystem dynamics related to precipitation and drought. Miriam also creates online educational videos about climate change and environmental advocacy. She has a BA in Environmental Studies at Middlebury College and a MA in Climate and Society from Columbia University Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. 

Josh DeVincenzo is a Senior Project Coordinator/Instructional Designer at the National Center for Disaster Preparedness, Columbia University. His focus is on developing learning experiences associated with FEMA training projects that navigate housing and economic recovery. He has developed instructor-led and web-based curricula regarding financial literacy, economic impact analysis, and community partnerships.

Prior to working at the NCDP, Josh worked as the Learning & Development Specialist at Fifth Third Bank in their Learning Solutions and Technology division. He hopes to create accessible and quality educational programming that benefits the common good at scale. He holds a master’s degree in Education Policy, Organization and Leadership from the University of Illinois at Urbana – Champaign and is currently a doctoral student of Adult Learning and Leadership at Teachers College, Columbia University.

Lucia Bragg is a Policy Manager and Instructor for the National Center for Disaster Preparedness (NCDP) focusing on the FEMA housing and economic recovery training grants. She has been working in government affairs at the state and federal levels for a collective nine years.

Prior to joining NCDP, Lucia directed federal disaster and FEMA policy advocacy for the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) for nearly five years, lobbying Congress, and the administration on disaster policy during the development and passage of the Disaster Recovery Reform Act, COVID-19 national emergency declaration and stimulus packages, transportation bills, and myriad supplemental disaster aid packages. Lucia also started and directed NCSL’s Public-Private Partnership on Disaster Mitigation and Recovery – a bipartisan task force of state legislators representing disaster-impacted districts and private sector partners from a range of sectors. Lucia holds an MA from Columbia University’s Climate School and BA in political science from Middlebury College.

Martin Dietrich Brauch conducts economic and legal research, training, and advisory work at the Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment. He focuses on extractive industry investments in the context of sustainable development and the zero-carbon transition, and he leads the Center’s cross-cutting work on climate investment policy. His expertise also extends to investment law and policy, among other areas of international economic governance. He has worked extensively with developing countries, speaking English, French, Portuguese, and Spanish.

Prior to joining CCSI, he worked as international law advisor at a global think tank, in-house counsel at a media conglomerate, and associate attorney at a boutique law firm. As a graduate student, he undertook a legal internship at United Nations Climate Change. He received a B.A. in Economics, a Bachelor of Laws, and a specialization certificate in Environmental Law from the Federal University of Pelotas, Brazil. He holds an LL.M. in International Legal Studies from NYU School of Law, where he was an IILJ International Law Fellow.

Sandra Goldmark is a teacher, designer, and entrepreneur whose work focuses on innovative and sustainable engagement with material culture. She is an Associate Professor of Professional Practice in the Department of Theatre at Barnard College, and has designed sets and costumes for theaters around the country. She also serves as Barnard’s first Director of Campus Sustainability and Climate Action.

Sandra is also the Founder of Fixup (formerly Pop Up Repair), a which uses an innovative business structure to create a practical alternative to use-and-discard culture, by making it easy for people to take care of what they have, reduce waste from new manufacturing, and create local jobs. In theater, campus sustainability, and repair, Sandra’s multidisciplinary approach focuses on creating innovative solutions, especially about the things we choose to make, buy, use, and discard (both onstage and off), and the way those choices impact our environment and our daily lives. Sandra has a BA in American History and Literature from Harvard College, and an MFA in Design from Yale School of Drama.

Laurel Zaima-Sheehy is the Program Manager of K12 and Continuing Education activities at the Columbia Climate School. Laurel has substantial experience working with youth, teaching students through informal education about the natural environment through hands-on experiences. As an educator, Laurel works on education initiatives that communicate topics of sustainability, climate change, sea level rise, and climate action to the general public, K12 and undergraduate students, and formal and informal educators. Laurel has led and advised high school and undergraduate students through a variety of summer research opportunities including the Secondary School Field Research Program (SSFRP) and Next Generation of Hudson River Educators Program. Laurel has a BS in Marine Science and Biology from the University of Miami and a MS in Sustainability Science from Columbia University.