Melissa Allen Heath is the Executive Director of GreenLaw, bringing to the position a career of environmental enforcement practice and a lifelong dedication to conservation. Ms. Heath graduated Magna cum laude in History of Science from Harvard College, and received her J.D. Cum laude from the University of Georgia School of Law. After several years of private practice, she went on to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region 4, as an enforcement attorney. In addition to her 28 years of experience under every federal statute implemented by EPA, Ms. Heath has designed and implemented numerous environmental education and engagement programs. She has been lauded for her work on a number of projects and efforts, including partnering with external parties on children's environmental health issues, creating new environmental stewardship strategies, engineering successful compliance innovations, and lending exceptional support to cases undertaken by the Department of Justice.
]]>If you have asked these questions or are just seeking a better understand for what this agreement means, then please join our distinguished guest His Excellency Denis Barbet, Consul General of France, and faculty from the Sam Nunn School of International Affairs, the School of Public Policy, the School of Economics, and the School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences at “The Paris Climate Summit: Paving the Way for a Sustainable Tomorrow” - a panel discussion hosted by the Center for European and Transatlantic Studies and the Center for International Strategy, Technology, and Policy.
]]>Tim Keane brings over twenty years of urban design and planning experience to his new position as Commissioner for the Department of Planning and Community Development for the city of Atlanta.
Keane previously served as the Director of Planning, Preservation and Sustainability for the City of Charleston, S.C. and was responsible urban planning, design review, historic preservation and zoning for the City of Charleston. He also led Charleston’s sustainability initiatives and managed code enforcement and neighborhood beautification. In addition, his office also led the city’s tourism management planning efforts. Under his leadership, the city created a Century Five Comprehensive Plan—a ten-to-fifteen year guide for growth and development.
Tim previously served as the Director of Planning for the Town of Davidson, N.C., where he led all planning and regulatory operations. He also started a private design firm where he worked with private developers on notable projects including Mixson in North Charleston—a community of green and energy efficient homes.
Keane received his graduate degree in Architecture from the University of North Carolina—Charlotte. He was a Knight Fellow in Community Building at the University of Miami School of Architecture in 2001.
http://www.atlantaga.gov/index.aspx?page=191
http://www.atlantaga.gov/index.aspx?recordid=3568&page=672
]]>Michael J. Montoya is a professor of anthropology, Chicano/Latino Studies, public health and nursing science at the University of California, Irvine. He is the author of Making the Mexican Diabetic: Race, Science, and the Genetics of Inequality. Montoya is also the director of the Community Knowledge Project, which is an experimental space for communities of all kinds to learn and engage in action together. Montoya's work seeks to characterize the ways community knowledge can make academic questions more relevant and research more robust. Equally important, he believes that making community is a birthright and that health and wellbeing require it.
]]>Rebecca E. Curzon is Senior Program Manager with IBM Corporate Citizenship and Corporate Affairs, with leadership roles in business integration, philanthropy, and volunteer enablement. Ms. Curzon manages IBM’s global strategy in humanitarian disaster response, applying IBM technology, solutions, expertise and innovation to critical needs in the aftermath of disaster; and developing strategic partnerships around mitigation of the effects of disaster using technology for smarter and more resilient cities. She represents IBM on the US Chamber of Commerce Foundation’s Disaster Assistance and Recovery Working Group. She also serves on the board of directors of the American Red Cross of Massachusetts and leads IBM’s global citizenship Grant-making Center of Excellence.
Ms. Curzon has been part of global teams to integrate IBM’s strategies in corporate citizenship into the business and to leverage business offerings for community benefit. In 2003 she helped launch the On Demand Community, IBM’s flagship global initiative and website to support IBMers as they volunteer in their communities.
Ms. Curzon came to IBM from Lotus Development Corporation where she managed volunteerism and philanthropic programs focusing on nonprofit use of Lotus software. Previously she was with the Smithsonian Institution. She is a certified Project Management Professional through the Project Management Institute. She has volunteered actively for decades at schools, nonprofits, and in her faith community.
Curzon will speak at Georgia Tech's IMPACT Speaker Series on Wednesday, January 27, 2016.
About the Impact Speaker Series:
Since 2002, the IMPACT Speaker Series has brought highly successful business leaders from a variety of industries to campus to share their experiences and give advice to students and other entrepreneurs on topics ranging from "building a venture around intellectual capital" to "successful entrepreneurship in large organizations" and "socially responsible leadership". The weekly series provides Georgia Tech students, alumni and the Atlanta business community an opportunity to network and learn from successful entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, and notable business and non-profit leaders.
About the Center for Health and Humanitarian Systems:
The HHS Center serves as an academic engine to improve the delivery of healthcare, disaster response, and long-term development though the discovery and translation of scientific methods and solutions in health and humanitarian systems.
The series is free and open to the public, and reservations are not required.
Please RSVP for a guaranteed meal and learn more at our website
]]>About the Westside Communities Alliance:
The WCA is a communications network sponsored and managed by the Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts in collaboration with the College of Architecture and Office of Government and Community Relations at the Georgia Institute of Technology. Launched in 2011 by these units and the neighborhoods of English Avenue and Vine City, the Alliance works to build and sustain relationships among other constituencies across communities west of the Connector, and with others, in order to partner on issues of common concern.
Greg’s presentation will offer memorable encounters with Painted Dogs over the course of his 25- year journey to protect this remarkable species. He will focus on lessons learned and future directions, including training tomorrow’s generations of local conservationists.
Painted Dog Research Trust, Zimbabwe
With research and science as guiding tools, Painted Dog Research Trust is dedicated to conserving the highly endangered Painted Dog, also known as the African Wild Dog (Lycaon pictus). Dr. Rasmussen, the trust’s founder, has led this work for 25 years, thus making it one of the longest continuous study of the remarkable species. Painted Dog Research Trust is based near Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe, in a landscape mosaic of national parks, forestry, private safari areas, and traditional communal lands.
With the pan-African population declining from half a million to some 5,000, the Painted Dog is listed by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature as “Highly Endangered.” Painted Dog populations in Zimbabwe link to all five neighboring countries: Namibia, Botswana, Zambia, South Africa and Mozambique. Thus, Zimbabwe is an important keystone for this species. To maintain the integrity of the populations in Zimbabwe and other countries, research must continue unabated, because long-term study and monitoring are core to the continued survival of Painted Dogs.
Dr. Gregory Rasmussen
Gregory Rasmussen was born in London and moved to Zimbabwe with his parents when he was still a child. After college, he began work on a research project on Painted Dogs in Hwange National Park and became so committed to the species that he sold his belongings to live and work for their protection.
Greg is a conservation biologist who retains affiliation with the Wildlife Conservation Unit at Oxford University, where he earned his Ph.D. He is also a research associate and lecturer at the University of Zimbabwe. His research interests are wide ranging, but with special focus on trans-boundary conservation.
In 2003, an airplane crash left Greg severely injured and alone in the African bush. He endured extreme temperatures and exposure to predators while waiting for help. Eventually he was rescued, and the story of his survival was featured in Discovery Channel’s, "I Shouldn’t Be Alive" series.
A reception follows the lecture.
(Parking available in Visitors Lot, on the south side of North Avenue, across from Tech Tower.)
]]>The symposium brings together individuals whose work reinforces the life and work of Nancy Parrish. Each stands as a witness to their own personal commitment to sustaining social change and promoting ethical leadership. Symposium participants will hear from each panel and then engage in spirited dialogue at their tables with fellow attendees.
Ivan Allen Jr. Prize for Social Courage Symposium Schedule
9 a.m. - Doors open, Continental Breakfast will be served
9:45 a.m. - Welcome, Protect Our Defenders video clip
10 - 11:45 a.m. - Conversation I: Creating and Sustaining Social Change
Facilitated by: Charlayne Hunter-Gault, Journalist and Author
Panelists: Lee Helmken, Health Educator, Georgia Institute of Technology; Emily Li, Mechanical Engineering Undergraduate Student, Georgia Institute of Technology; Miranda Petersen, Program and Policy Director, Protect Our Defenders; and Jabari Simama, President, Georgia Piedmont Technical College
Noon - 1:30 p.m. - Ivan Allen Jr. Prize for Social Courage Award Luncheon honoring Nancy Parrish, Founder and CEO, Protect Our Defenders
1:45 - 3:30 p.m. - Conversation II: Courage and Ethical Leadership
Facilitated by: William Wepfer, Professor and Chair of the George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering
Panelists: Jennifer Abrams, Public Policy Undergraduate Student and Undergraduate Student Government Association President, Georgia Institute of Technology; Seletha Butler, Assistant Professor of Business Law and Ethics, Georgia Institute of Technology; Don Christensen, Colonel of the U.S. Air Force (Ret.) and President, Protect Our Defenders; and Deanna Ferree Womack, Assistant Professor in the Practice of the History of Religions and Multi-Faith Relations, Emory University and Georgia Institute of Technology
The Georgia Tech community and public are welcome to attend. RSVP by February 10, 2016.
]]>Bill attended Southern Methodist University for his undergrad and received his Bachelors of Science in Economics with a Math minor. he received his Master's in Business Adminstration from the University of Virginia, graduating in the top 5% of class.
Bill is involved in many other nonprofits and charities including: Board Member of State Housing Trust Fund for the Homeless (Georgia); State of Georgia Balance of State Homeless Continuum of Care, The Howard School, Former Board Member The Atlanta Academy, Community Co-Chair Governor’s Office of Transition, Support and Reentry For Ex-Offenders, Founder and Chairman of Changing Lives in Guatemala, Former Chairman of the Board of From Houses to Homes, Former Board Member of The National Foundation For Facial Reconstruction. In his spare time Bill mountain climbs, he has summited 6 of the seven summits, which are the tallest mountains on each continent (Kilimanjaro, Elbrus, Denali, Kosciuszko, Vinson Massif and Aconcagua). He resides with his family in Atlanta.
McGahan will speak at Georgia Tech's IMPACT Speaker Series on Wednesday, February 24, 2016.
About the Impact Speaker Series:
Since 2002, the IMPACT Speaker Series has brought highly successful business leaders from a variety of industries to campus to share their experiences and give advice to students and other entrepreneurs on topics ranging from "building a venture around intellectual capital" to "successful entrepreneurship in large organizations" and "socially responsible leadership". The weekly series provides Georgia Tech students, alumni and the Atlanta business community an opportunity to network and learn from successful entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, and notable business and non-profit leaders. The lecture series is sponsored by the Institute for Leadership and Entrepreneurship and Serve, Learn Sustain.
The series is free and open to the public, reservations are not required.
Peace Corps volunteer, Arthur Murray dance instructor, Ernst and Young partner, Fortune 50 senior executive and accidental advocate. Before retiring in 2013, as Senior Vice President he led Walgreens’ logistics division for sixteen years as the chain grew from 1,500 to 8,000 stores with the most advanced logistics network in its industry. Believing that people with disabilities could do more, he also pioneered a disability employment model in its distribution centers that resulted in ten percent of its workforce consisting of people with disabilities (1,000+ PWDs). This initiative is being rolled out nationwide in Walgreen stores across America. It is changing the lives of thousands and serving as a model for other employers in the U.S. and abroad including large employers such as P&G, Lowe’s, Meijer and Marks & Spencer (UK).
Randy has shared the story across the U.S., Canada and abroad of how steward leadership can both improve performance and benefit the community. His book, No Greatness Without Goodness, recounts the story of what led him to create the Walgreens Model that has been referred to as the “gold standard of disability hiring” and how he was able garner the support to make it successful.
He remains active in business and serves as a director of Wendy’s. In addition to maintaining an active speaking schedule, he lends his time and experience to the disability hiring movement. Over the past year, he has been developing the NOGWOG Disability Initiative, as an effective, low-cost and sustainable disability hiring model for employers. It a private/public partnership between employers, community providers and government to provide employers the qualified candidates they need and people with disabilities the opportunities they seek.
Lewis will speak at Georgia Tech's IMPACT Speaker Series on Wednesday, March 2, 2016.
About the Impact Speaker Series:
Since 2002, the IMPACT Speaker Series has brought highly successful business leaders from a variety of industries to campus to share their experiences and give advice to students and other entrepreneurs on topics ranging from "building a venture around intellectual capital" to "successful entrepreneurship in large organizations" and "socially responsible leadership". The weekly series provides Georgia Tech students, alumni and the Atlanta business community an opportunity to network and learn from successful entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, and notable business and non-profit leaders.
The series is free and open to the public, reservations are not required.
The panel will be followed by an informal networking reception. The full agenda is available at:
http://www.energyexpo.gatech.edu/agenda
About the Expo:
This two-day event includes a keynote address by Anya Cherneff, co-founder of Empower Generation, and features panel sessions on The Future of Natural Gas, Energy Start-Ups in the Southeast, Corporate Sustainability Initiatives, and Global and Domestic Energy Policies. There will be informal networking receptions on both the 3rd and 4th, and the Expo concludes with a Showcase competition.
Sign up to present a poster, demonstration, or other project at the Showcase competition, where first, second, and third place prizes will be awarded. Showcase presenters also enjoy free admission to both days of the Expo.
Mark your calendars and tell your friends! Register here:
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/3rd-annual-energy-expo-tickets-19803426582
Sign up to present at the Showcase: http://goo.gl/forms/XREGlKrTJL
Or sign up to be a volunteer (also includes free admission): http://goo.gl/forms/ahn6eE5XHI
]]>Guests are encouraged to stay after the official Expo concludes to enjoy a reception at 4 p.m. and view the Showcase posters, presentations, and domonstrations. Guests of the reception will be able to vote for the winner Showcase presenter, to be announced at the end of the reception.
Mark your calendars and tell your friends! Register here:
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/3rd-annual-energy-expo-tickets-19803426582
Sign up to present at the Showcase: http://goo.gl/forms/XREGlKrTJL
Or sign up to be a volunteer (also includes free admission): http://goo.gl/forms/ahn6eE5XHI
]]>Here are this year's workshops:
Workshop 1: Pitch Perfect - how to create a winning pitch Joey Asher, SpeechWorks
Workshop 2: Who’s your customer? - the importance and art of knowing whom you serve Colin Ake and Melissa Heffner, VentureLab
Workshop 3: Where does the $ come from? – fundraising strategies for and not-for profits Jay Cranman, Points of Light
Open to all and highly recommended for I2S Participants! Lunch provided. Please RSVP here.
Entries might focus on reducing poverty, alleviating hunger, promoting health and wellness, improving air and water quality, reducing of the rate of depletion of natural resources, or developing alternate sources of energy…just to name a few!Check out our website and view past winners. Contact Dori Pap (dori.pap@ile.gatech.edu) for more information.
]]>“Reimagining Bioproducts Industries: New Ideas — New Opportunities,” will be held at the Paper Tricentennial Building, 500 10th St. NW, on the Georgia Tech campus in Atlanta.
The conference will focus on three strategic areas and will be led by RBI associate directors: Operational Excellence in Advanced Pulping, Paper & Packaging led by Chris Luettgen; The Future of Biocomposites and Nanocellulose led by Meisha Shofner; and New Opportunities in Biochemicals led by Matthew Realff. A full agenda can be seen here.
Keynote speakers will complement faculty and student presentations for each of these tracks—Soydan Ozcan, Oak Ridge National Lab, for biocomposites and nanocellulose; Gregg Beckham, National Renewable Energy Lab, for biochemicals; and John Rager, RISI, for pulp, paper and packaging. Beckham will also deliver the keynote address to open the conference.
Georgia Tech Executive Vice President for Research will discuss the Institute’s Innovation Ecosystem and the benefits of collaborations between GT and companies. Those benefits will further be explored Wednesday during the closing plenary session, with presentations by Norman Marsolan, executive director, RBI; Don McConnell, vice president, Office of Industry Collaboration, GT; Naresh Thadhani, chair of the School of Materials Science Engineering; and Sankar Nair, associate chair for Industry Outreach, Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at GT.
The conference brings together thought leaders from a variety of companies and industries and connects them with faculty and students conducting research relevant to their businesses. Attendees hear the latest advancements in processing and application of renewable materials during these presentations and join extensive plenary discussions with their peers and colleagues.
The student poster competition allows for one-on-one interaction between company representative and some of the brightest young minds in cutting-edge research.
Three concurrent tracks, moderated by leading experts in their fields of research, will feature faculty presentations on current directions and opportunities. Afternoon workshops will follow, along with discussion regarding the practical application of these advances into a reimagined bioproducts arena.
“We’ve had a tremendous response this year, near record registration,” said Norman Marsolan, RBI executive director. “We believe the executives appreciate the format where they are free to choose the track most relevant to their business, hear in-depth reports on research in that area and then participate in a full afternoon of brainstorming and discussion on how it might positively impact their bottom line.”
“There are very few opportunities to experience this type of up-close interaction with those directing research. The ability to take advantage of and influence our endowment-sponsored student research is another distinction.”
RBI’s endowment sponsors about 42 Ph.D. students this academic year, and more than 40 are expected to participate in the annual poster competition. Students will also be featured speakers during the conference. Attendees will have an opportunity to meet these students, and discuss how their research could be valuable or made more relevant to their companies. Finally, the conference allows companies to influence the future research at RBI.
“During the discussion sessions, we listen to the input, and input has a direct impact on how we tailor our programs and future research projects to create opportunity for their business,” Marsolan said. “This is truly an open discussion between researchers and company leadership.”
For more information, visit the RBI conference site. Click hereto register today.
The Regency Suites-Midtown rooms available at a preferred rate for conference guests. To reserve your room, please call the hotel at 404.876.5003 and ask for the RBI conference rate. Many hotels in the Midtown area have Georgia Tech preferred rates. Please be sure to specify “Georgia Tech” when you call to make your reservation.
All events associated with the conference will be held at the Paper Tricentennial Building, 500 10th St. NW, on the Georgia Tech campus in Atlanta.
The Renewable Bioproducts Institute (RBI) at Georgia Tech builds on nearly a century of lignocellulosics research at Georgia Tech—one of the nation's leading public research universities and engineering schools. RBI is transforming products and processes with forest- and agriculture-based biochemicals and bioproducts to solve the challenges and create competitive advantages and opportunities for industry as it evolves in the bioeconomy.
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]]>The Poster showcase is an inspiring display of Georgia Techs' best social innovation efforts, or as the slogan goes 'Students Who Dare to Care.' Guest are encouraged to show support for their favorite team by voting in the People's Choice Award and everyone is invited to compete for raffle prizes, enjoy a complimentary KIND bar and a King of Pops while browsing the showcase.
I2S is a competition for Georgia Tech students and recent alumni who have early stage product or service ideas aimed at creating a better world. I2S is primarily a competition of ideas, where creativity, imagination, and technology are applied to the solving some of today’s most challenging social and environmental problems.
Ideas for the competition might focus on alleviating hunger in the developing world, promoting health and wellness, improving air and water quality, or developing alternate sources of energy, just to name a few.
The competition is for current Georgia Tech students and recent alumni who have early stage product/service ideas or venture concepts that are geared towards creating a better world.
Judges will circulate among finalists to determine the prize winners; a “pitch off” will be held, and a “peoples’ choice” award will be given.
Thanks to our generous sponsors:
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There will be live music, free Earth Day T-shirts, a green energy challenge, green market, clothing swap, and more. For details about all of the Earth Day events visit www.earthday.gatech.edu.
The goal of Georgia Tech's Earth Day Celebration is to focus attention on the environment and increase people's awareness that small changes make a big impact. The event is free, open to the public, features over 70 exhibitors and includes eco-friendly giveaways, recycling opportunities, a clothing swap, an office supply exchange, live music, and organic popcorn.
This is one of the largest Earth Day celebrations in the southeast. Join us as we celebrate with a purpose!
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