AIChE Climate Conference
April 2nd, 2022
Inspiration Hall or join via Zoom
Norm Asbjornson Hall, Montana State University
The Conference
The American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE) Climate Conference is a student-run and organized event at Montana State University (MSU) in Bozeman, Montana. The conference brings speakers from the MSU & Bozeman community, the State of Montana, and beyond to speak on climate change. Our goal is to provide personal experience and data-based information on climate change, its impacts in various sectors of life in Montana, and how we can help in the cause. Additionally, we aspire to facilitate an engaged and informed community dialogue surrounding climate change. The conference is free to attend and open to the public, and will be held in person at MSU on April 2nd, 2022.
We aim to provide science-backed data on climate change to ALL and to inspire a community-centered discussion on positive change.
RSVP & Donate here
RSVPs are required for both in-person & virtual attendance to the Climate Conference of 2022, and donations are welcomed.
Schedule
April 2nd
10:00 aM - 4:00 PM
10:00 AM — Welcome, Team Introduction, Land Acknowledgement
Click Here to View Opening Remarks
10:15 AM — Dr. Ben Poulter
“Countdown to 2030 - how Earth observations contribute to carbon budgets and avoiding 1.5 degrees warming”
Click Here to View Dr. Ben Poulter’s Presentation
11:15 AM — 15-minute break
11:30 AM — Kristin Blackler and Megan Sterl
“MSU’s Sustainability Framework”
Click Here to View Kristin Blackler’s Presentation
Click Here to View Megan Sterl’s Presentation
12:30 PM — Catered Lunch and Community Involvement Session
1:15 PM — Prof. Joe Seymour
“Research and Exploration in Antarctica: What DOES a chemical engineer know about the global climate?”
Click Here to View Dr. Joseph Seymour’s Presentation
2:00 PM — Dr. Richard Ready
“The Economics of Addressing Climate Change”
Click Here to View Dr. Richard Ready’s Presentation
2:45 PM — 15-Minute break
3:00 PM — Craig Mathews
“Saving the Planet”
Click Here to View Craig Mathew’s Presentation
3:45 PM - Closing Remarks
Click Here to View Closing Remarks
*All times are in MST and are subject to change
selected speakers
Craig Mathews
Craig Mathews holds a BS with honors from Michigan State University. He went on to post grad studies there in education and criminal justice while working in law enforcement. He and his wife Jackie came to West Yellowstone in 1979 from Grand Rapids, Mi. Craig was the Town’s Police Chief. In 1979 they founded Blue Ribbon Flies of West Yellowstone, Mt which they sold in 2014. Craig and Jackie have won numerous conservation awards for their environmental work such as “The Protector of Yellowstone National Park Award” presented by Yellowstone National Park, both The Nature Conservancy and Greater Yellowstone Coalition’s coveted “Business Conservation of the Year” awards, and Federation of Fly Fishers International’s “Lee Wulff Award”, and many others. Craig has authored and co-authored 9 important books on fly-fishing. His latest, “Simple Fly-Fishing” was first released in April 2014 and co-authored with Patagonia Inc. founder, Yvon Chouinard and Mauro Mazzo. Craig’s proceeds from sale of this book are donated to the native Yellowstone Cutthroat trout restoration program in Yellowstone National Park. Craig co-founded 1% for the Planet with Yvon Chouinard of Patagonia Inc in 2001. 1%FTP is an alliance of businesses donating 1% of their gross sales to researched and approved environmental and conservation causes. To date 1% for the Planet has donated over $350 million to conservation and environmental programs. Craig and Jackie both enjoy fly-fishing for wild and native trout in Montana and Yellowstone country.
Megan Sterl
Megan Sterl is the Director of Engineering & Utilities at Montana State University overseeing building engineered systems and campus utility infrastructure. She has over 15 years of experience in building energy engineering and facilities management. Megan earned a BS in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Michigan, an MBA from the University of Colorado and is a licensed engineer.
Dr. Joe Seymour
Joe Seymour is co-director of the Magnetic Resonance Lab and a Professor in the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering at Montana State University. His primary area of research interest is in transport quantification and imaging using Magnetic Resonance (MR). Prior and future research includes laboratory and field studies of transport phenomena using MR's ability to measure both coherent motion, or velocity, and random motion, or diffusion. During a postdoctoral stay in New Zealand with Prof. Paul Callaghan research was conducted in Antarctica in 1995 and 1997 to study the structure of sea ice using NMR in the Earth's magnetic field. The opportunity to combine science, outdoor adventure and the history of Antarctic exploration, was a unique and rewarding experience. Another adventure in research was undertaken with Prof. Eiichi Fukushima in the Gorno Altay region of Siberia along the Mongolian border. Experiments to measure groundwater content up to 50 meters underground using Surface NMR were conducted with Prof. Oleg Shushakov's group. The Katun River valley is a beautiful region of rocky mountains and was an ancient trade route from Russia to Mongolia.
Dr. Richard Ready
Dr. Ready's research centers on how people benefit from, and impact, the environment and natural resources. His research topics have included environmental health, climate change, invasive species, landscape change and outdoor recreation. Prior to coming to Montana State University, he served on the faculty at University of Kentucky, The Norwegian University of Life Sciences, and Penn State University. He has published numerous articles in scientific journals, and served on the EPA Science Advisory Board Environmental Economics Advisory Committee.
Dr. Ben Poulter
Concerned about how climate change will affect ecosystems and society, Dr. Ben Poulter's research uses satellite and aircraft observations of the Earth's surface and atmosphere to understand the global carbon cycle. As a Research Scientist at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Ben develops ecological models that use remote-sensing observations of fire, land-use change, soil moisture, carbon dioxide and methane fluxes to track where emissions or removals of greenhouse gases are taking place. He is involved in developing NASA's next generation of satellites that will form the new NASA Earth System Observatory and also leads NASA's Blueflux field campaign to measure greenhouse gases in coastal ecosystems. Before joining NASA, Ben worked overseas at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK), the Swiss Federal Research Institute (WSL), and Laboratoire des sciences du climat et de l'environnement (LSCE), and joined Montana State University from 2014-2016 as a professor in the Department of Ecology. At Montana State University he helped set up the WAFER-X project to evaluate Bioenergy and Carbon Capture and Sequestration technologies across the Upper Missouri River Basin. He contributed to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Fifth and Sixth Assessment Reports, the United States Second State of the Carbon Cycle Report, and is currently an author with the United States Global Change Research Program's Fifth National Climate Assessment. In addition to contributing to the scientific literature, Ben's edited book "Balancing Greenhouse Gas Budgets" will be published in early summer.
Kristin Blackler
Kristin Blackler (she,her, hers) has served as the Director of the Office of Sustainability at Montana State University since 2013. Kristin has over 15 years of experience advancing sustainability in higher education. She earned a BA in Environmental Studies with a special concentration in Ecology, Evolution, and Marine Biology from the University of California, Santa Barbara, and an MBA from the University of Montana. Kristin serves on the Streamline Advisory Board, the City of Bozeman Sustainability Board and is an elected member of the Montana State University All Staff Council. When not at work, Kristin can be found skiing, fly fishing or mountain biking throughout the beautiful state of Montana.
Get involved
Featured businesses and organizations
Gallatin Valley Earth Day
Montana CITIZENS’ CLIMATE LOBBY
Happy Trash Can compost
Go Gallatin
Student organization & Program spotlight
Green Cats Program
Campus Climate Coalition
MSU Citizens’ Climate Lobby
Sustainability Now
meet our team
Contact us
Please feel free to reach out with any inquiries - we’d be happy to help!