Keynote Speakers

We will be welcoming two keynote speakers to this year’s symposium:

 

Julia Baum holds the Faculty of Science President’s Chair at the University of Victoria, British Columbia, Canada where she is also Professor of Ocean Ecology and Global Change and a Provost’s Engaged Scholar. An expert in coral reef ecology, fisheries and climate change impacts in the ocean, Baum’s research group works to advance understanding of ocean climate change impacts, and inform and catalyze climate solutions. Baum earned her B.Sc. from McGill University, and her M.Sc. and PhD from Dalhousie University. She was a David H. Smith Conservation Research Fellowship at Scripps Institution of Oceanography (2007-2009) and a Schmidt Ocean Institute Fellow at NCEAS, UCSB (2010-2011). Baum was named an Alfred P. Sloan Research Fellow in Ocean Sciences in 2011, a Pew Fellow in Marine Conservation in 2017, and an NSERC E.W.R. Steacie Memorial Fellow in 2018, Canada’s preeminent prize for mid-career scientists. Baum is a vocal champion of equity, diversity and inclusivity, and is also committed to communicating science and the need for climate solutions to policy-makers and the public. She has served on expert panels for the Royal Society of Canada and the Chief Science Advisor of Canada, and is currently Science Advisor for Kelp Rescue and a Senior Advisor to Ocean Visions.

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Alex Trembath is Deputy Director at the Breakthrough Institute, a California-based research center focused on technological solutions to environmental problems. Alex helps coordinate Breakthrough’s research, communications, and events. His writing has been published by Slate, Issues in Science and Technology, Foreign Policy, City Journal, the Boston Globe, the San Francisco Chronicle, Politico, Bloomberg, and elsewhere. His research and analysis have been featured in the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal, Time Magazine, the Los Angeles Times, Bloomberg, Forbes, E&E News, CNN, and other major media outlets.

Alex is a graduate of the University of California at Berkeley where he received his Bachelor’s in Environmental Economics and Policy. Follow Alex on Twitter @atrembath.