Solve Climate by 2030 is a global dialogue at all levels to bring in local and global insights, research, and experiences to solve major climate challenges by 2030. The Harrington School of Communication and Media at URI leads this initiative for 2021 for the State of Rhode Island.
URI’s Harrington School of Communication and Media is working with a global network of institutions—universities, nonprofits and K–12 schools—around the world to raise awareness about solving climate by 2030. The global dialogue has led to the creative development of new educational tools and fresh discourse to identify resources and build awareness around what’s possible to achieve by 2030.
Solve Climate by 2030 is coordinating multiple webinars and panels across the country and around the world, which are all to take place on April 7, 2021. The Rhode Island panel, hosted by the URI Harrington School of Communication and Media, will feature Rhode Island experts on the three topics of this year’s global dialog: Just Transition, Climate Solutions, and Green Recovery. The panel will begin at 12 noon on April 7 and will be followed by a question-and-answer session moderated by Emily Diamond, Assistant Professor of Communication Studies and Marine Affairs at URI.
Our featured guest panelists
Just Transition: Yasmin Yacoby
Energy Justice Program Manager, RI Office of Energy Resources
Yasmin Yacoby is the Energy Justice Program Manager at the Rhode Island Office of Energy Resources, Rhode Island’s lead state agency on energy policy and programming. Her role focuses on the equitability and accessibility of Rhode Island’s energy systems, programs, and policies. She works to ensure that all people have access to clean, affordable, and dependable energy–and that frontline communities can shape their energy future. She is working together with members of her department, other state agencies, and community members to strengthen support for frontline communities and communities of color.
Yasmin is a Govern for America Fellow and graduated from Harvard University with honors in May 2019 with a B.A. in environmental science and public policy. In her spare time, Yasmin loves to hike and knit, and she is a freelance light designer for various theatres in the Boston and Providence area.
Climate Solutions: Rachel Calabro
Climate Change Program Manager, Center for Healthy Homes and Environment
Rachel Calabro is the Climate Change and Health Program Manager at the Rhode Island Department of Health. In that role, Rachel helps Rhode Islanders prepare for the health effects of climate change through education, research, and supporting policy changes that help communities become more resilient. Rachel has been studying climate change and its effects for many years, working in both state government and the non-profit sector as an environmental scientist. She has a master’s degree in geology from the University of Rhode Island and a bachelor’s degree from William Smith College.
Green Recovery: Priscilla De La Cruz
Rhode Island Director, Green Energy Consumers Alliance, Inc.
Priscilla De La Cruz is a Providence resident and has worked for Green Energy Consumers Alliance since 2009. Green Energy Consumers Alliance enables people and communities to access green energy choices in cost-effective and seamless ways. Priscilla De La Cruz leads a small team based in Providence and performs strategic management and marketing as well as coalition organizing in the local energy and environmental communities. She is a trusted advocate on clean energy and has worked to advance community choice aggregation in the Ocean State for the past four years. In June of 2019, she was elected as President of the Environment Council of Rhode Island. Priscilla earned her B.A. in business and marketing at Rhode Island College and a masters in liberal arts, with concentrations in management and sustainability, from the Harvard University Extension School.
URI Moderator: Emily Diamond
Assistant Professor, Communication Studies and Marine Affairs, URI
Emily Diamond is an Assistant Professor of Communication Studies and Marine Affairs at the University of Rhode Island. Emily Diamond’s area of expertise is in environmental communication, and her research focuses on how communication strategies interact with partisan and non-partisan identities to influence public support for environmental policies, especially on the topic of climate change. She investigates how the values and identities related to who we are, where we live, and what we do shape how we think about environmental issues. Diamond received her Ph.D. in environmental policy from Duke University in 2019, where she studied the role of communication and identities in shaping climate change attitudes. Prior to graduate school she also worked in strategic communication consulting and public relations.
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