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.
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.
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.