Symposium and Conference 2024

21-22 November 2024

Charles Sumner School
1201 17th Street NW
Washington, DC 20036

Climate Change Impacts and Mitigation at U.S. World Heritage Sites

On November 21 and 22, 2024, we will convene the 2024 World Heritage USA / ICOMOS-USA Conference and Symposium focussing on climate change. Make plans now to learn about the latest research and thinking on ways to arrest climate change. Join the conversation and networking. The venue will be the Sumner School in Washington, DC, directly across the street from the National Geographic Headquarters. We are honored to have as keynote speakers Dr. Patrick Gonzalez, former Assistant Director for Climate and Biodiversity of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy and current Executive Director, UC Berkeley Institute for Parks, People, and Biodiversity, and Prof. Gary E. Machlis, Professor of Environmental Sustainability at Clemson University and former Science Advisor to the Director, U.S. National Park Service (NPS). Prof. Machlis is author of the recently published book Sustainability for the Forgotten (University of Utah Pres, 2024).

Join us as we set the course for how we, as the United States National Committee of the International Council on Monuments and Sites and our supporting organization of World Heritage USA can mobilize our professionals, practitioners, and the public to combat climate change.

Schedule (Click the linked text for session descriptions and speaker biographies!)

Thursday, 21 November:  DAY 1 – World Heritage and Climate Change (9 am-5 pm)

Check in and Light Breakfast

Welcome – ICOMOS-USA President Douglas C. Comer, Ph.D.  9:30am

Keynote – Dr. Patrick Gonzalez “Human-Caused Climate Change, World Heritage, and Solutions”

Patrick Gonzalez, Ph.D., is a climate change scientist and forest ecologist at the University of California, Berkeley. He advances science-based action on human-caused climate change to protect nature and people, through research on climate change, ecosystems, and carbon solutions and assistance to local people and policymakers. Dr. Gonzalez has conducted field research in Africa, Latin America, and the U.S., published in Science, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, and other journals, and assisted field managers and local people in 269 U.S. national parks and 26 countries. He has stood publicly for scientific integrity and broadened public understanding of climate change in the New York Times and other media. He served as Principal Climate Change Scientist of the U.S. National Park Service and Assistant Director for Climate and Biodiversity of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. Dr. Gonzalez has served as a lead author for four reports of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the science panel awarded a share of the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize.

 

Setting the Stage – Dr. Lee Lines “Visualizing Climate Change at Everglades and Mesa Verde”

Panel 1 – Climate Change Impacts and Risks – as seen in U.S. World Heritage Sites  10:15-11:15 am

Moderator: Dr. Amber N. Wiley
Panelists: Allison Young, Dr. Joseph Kellndorfer, R. Grant Gilmore III, Ph.D.

Panel 2 – Climate Change Resilience and Adaptation – as seen in U.S. World Heritage Sites 11:15-12:15 pm

Moderator: Kate Montague Perry, JD
Panelists: Dr. Victoria Herrmann, Jennifer Posner, Jennifer Browning

Lunch break: a boxed lunch will be served 12:15-1:15 pm

Panel 3 – Carbon Solutions and Sustainability – Reducing the Cause of Climate Change 1:15-2:15 pm

Moderator: Dr. Arleen Pabon
Panelists: Stephen Tryon, Eric J. Lopez, Megan Brown

Panel 4 – Climate Change – The Role of World Heritage Sites in Communication and Education 2:15-3:15 pm

Moderator: Monica Rhodes
Panelists: Julia Washburn, Dr. Lee Lines, Donna Graves

Panel 5 – Climate Change – National Policy and World Heritage Site Action 3:15-4:15 pm

Moderator: Tom Cassidy
Panelists: Kristen Brengel, Jenny Parker, Amy Gilbert Fehir

Free time to explore museum/network 4-5 pm

Friday, 22 November: DAY 2 – Social Justice and Sustainability in the Face of Climate Change (9 am-12 noon)

Check in and Light Breakfast

Welcome – ICOMOS-USA President Douglas C. Comer, Ph.D.

Keynote – Dr. Gary Machlis: “Maria’s Dilemma and the Challenge of Climate Justice” 

Dr. Gary E. Machlis is University Professor of Environmental Sustainability at Clemson University. Prior to joining the faculty at Clemson, he served as Science Advisor to the Director, U.S. National Park Service (NPS) during both terms of the Obama administration.
Dr. Machlis received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of Washington, and his Ph.D. in human ecology from Yale University. He has written numerous books and scientific papers on issues of conservation, sustainability, disaster response, and the politics of science, including The Future of Conservation
in America: A Chart for Rough Water published by the University of Chicago Press. His newest book is Sustainability for the Forgotten, published in 2024. At Clemson, he teaches courses on social ecology, scientific integrity, and the politics of science.

Dr. Machlis has been active in international conservation and has worked in China on the giant panda, in the Galápagos Islands, and in Kenya, Cuba, and Eastern Europe. He serves on the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine’s Board on Environmental Change and Society, its Sustainability Science and Technology Roundtable, and is an Advisor to the Academies’ Scientists and Engineers in Exile or Displaced Program. In 2010, Dr. Machlis was elected a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Panel 6 – Assuring that Indigenous Knowledge Fits into the United Nations’ Strategic Development Goals (UN SDGs) 10-11 am

Moderator: Destry Jarvis
Panelists: Amelia Marchand, Dr. Valerie Grussing, Theresa Pasqual

Panel 7 – How Climate Change Response Should Treat All Fairly 11-12 pm

Moderator: Courtney Lyons-Garcia
Panelists: Sylvia Cyrus, Omar Eaton-Martinez, Marie Walker

End of Day 2 Regular Programming: attendees are welcome to explore the Sumner School Museum until close at 5 pm or to attend “Roadmap to Resilience: Disaster-Proofing Heritage,” sponsored by the ICOMOS-USA Emerging Professionals Committee, from 1-4 pm.

Lunch break 12-1 pm

Optional Workshop for Emerging Professionals and interested Symposium attendees – Roadmap to Resilience: Disaster-Proofing Heritage 1-4 pm

Workshop Leaders: Angela Lombardi, Sandeep Langar, and Saadet Toker Beeson of the University of Texas at San Antonio

Resilience has become essential to building performance, particularly to historic structures and sites, as they relate to heritage and cultural identity. This workshop addresses: 1) Heritage resilience and its importance; 2) How historically significant buildings and sites can become resilient; 3) Generating community resilience through historic buildings and sites; and 4) Preserving buildings to ensure the continuity of associated traditions.

Celebration of World Heritage to take place 6-10 pm at the
Anderson House, 2118 Massachusetts Ave NW, Washington, DC.

EVENT MAP WITH VENUE LOCATIONS

Accommodations

We have reserved block of rooms at the following hotels for this event. Please be sure to register via the links below.