Speaker and Panelist Bios

Cecilia Estolano

Chair of the Board of Regents

University of California System
regentsoffice@ucop.edu
https://regents.universityofcalifornia.edu/about/members-and-advisors/bios/cecilia-estolano.html

Is CEO and Founder of Estolano Advisors, an urban planning and public policy firm, and CEO of Better World Group, an environmental policy and advocacy firm. Has worked directly with public, private, institutional and nonprofit clients to plan, finance, design, implement and operate policy-driven programs and projects that promote sustainable solutions tailored for each community.


The Honorable Zoe Lofgren

US House of Representatives, CA-19
https://lofgren.house.gov/contact/email
https://lofgren.house.gov/about

Represents the 19th District of California, based in the “Capital of Silicon Valley,” San Jose, and the Santa Clara Valley. Currently serves on the House Judiciary Committee, the House Science, Space and Technology Committee, and the Committee on House Administration.


theresa

Theresa Maldonado

Vice President, Research & Innovation
University of California System
Research&innovation@ucop.edu
Biography Theresa Maldonado, UCOP

Leads UC’s office of Research and Innovation, bringing  together people and resources from across our campuses and partner institutions around the world: to organize around common challenges and opportunities; advocate for research needs, policies, and resources; and maximize the effectiveness and impact of research and innovation across the University of California and the State.


Assembly Member Richard Bloom

State of California, District 50
https://lcmspubcontact.lc.ca.gov/PublicLCMS/ContactPopup.php?district=AD50
https://a50.asmdc.org/biography

Chairs the Assembly Budget Subcommittee on Resources and Transportation where he has pushed for increasing renewable energy development and reducing our reliance on fossil fuels. Promotes smart and sustainable planning that expands affordable housing and reduces traffic congestion and commute times.


Ken Alex

Ken Alex

Director, Project Climate
Center for Law, Energy & the Environment (CLEE)
Berkeley Law, University of California, Berkeley
ken.alex@berkeley.edu

Served as a senior policy advisor to Governor Jerry Brown in California, the director of the Governor’s Office of Planning and Research, and the chair of the Strategic Growth Council.  Before joining the Brown Administration, headed the California Attorney General’s Office Environment section.


Ricardo Lara

Ricardo Lara

California Insurance Commissioner
https://cdiapps.insurance.ca.gov/contactus/default.aspx
http://www.insurance.ca.gov/0500-about-us/01-commissioner/

As California’s 8th Insurance Commissioner, helps Californians recover from natural disasters and resist the impact of climate change on communities. As Senator, expanded protections for disaster survivors from losing their homes to insurance cancellation and nonrenewal and wrote the nation’s first climate insurance law, SB 30, to engage the insurance industry in the fight against climate-linked environmental disasters like wildfires and sea level rise.


Judson Boomhower

Judson Boomhower

Assistant Professor of Economics
University of California, San Diego
boomhower@ucsd.edu
https://www.judsonboomhower.com/

Focuses research on energy, environmental economics, and applied microeconomics.


Andrew Plantinga

Andrew Plantinga

Professor of Natural Resource Economics and Policy
Bren School of Environmental Science and Management
University of California, Santa Barbara
plantinga@bren.ucsb.edu
https://econ.ucsb.edu/people/faculty/andrew-plantinga

Focuses on the economics of land use, climate change, and forests. Gives particular emphasis to the development of methods for econometrically modeling land-use decisions, the analysis of environmental policies that affect private land-use decisions, and the modeling of land development pressures.


Karen Chapple

Karen Chapple

Professor Emerita of City & Regional Planning
University of California, Berkeley
chapple@berkeley.edu 
https://ced.berkeley.edu/ced/faculty-staff/karen-chapple

Studies inequalities in the planning, development, and governance of regions in the U.S. and Latin America, with a focus on economic development and housing. Currently engaged in research projects related to inequality and sustainability planning, particularly on residential and commercial/industrial displacement.


Rodman Linn

Rod Linn

Senior Scientist, Los Alamos National Laboratory
Adjunct Professor, University of California, San Diego
Associate Director for Fire Science, WIFIRE Lab, University of California, San Diego 
rrl@lanl.gov
https://www.lanl.gov/search-capabilities/profiles/rod-linn.shtml

Has expertise in wildfire behavior modeling, atmospheric phenomena, theoretical turbulence, computational fluid mechanics, and heat transfer. Leads LANL efforts to use next-generation process-based wildfire models for the study of fundamental wildfire behavior.


Frank Kanawha Lake

Frank Kanawha Lake

Research Ecologist
US Forest Service/US Dept. of Agriculture
https://www.fs.fed.us/research/people/profile.php?alias=franklake

Researches wildland fire effects, traditional ecological knowledge, climate change, and ethno-ecology with an emphasis on cultural management and fire ecology of forest, shrub, grassland and riparian environments in the Klamath-Siskiyou bioregion.


Roger Bales

Roger Bales

Distinguished Professor of Engineering 
University of California, Merced
rbales@ucmerced.edu
https://faculty.ucmerced.edu/rbales/

Research contributes to California’s efforts to both build the knowledge base and implement policies that adapt our water supplies, critical ecosystems and economy to the impacts of climate warming. Works with leaders in state agencies, elected officials, federal land managers, water leaders, non-governmental organizations, and other decision makers on developing climate solutions for California.


Bill Stewart

William Stewart

Co-Director, Berkeley Forests
Forestry Specialist, Cooperative Extension
University of California, Berkeley
billstewart@berkeley.edu
https://ourenvironment.berkeley.edu/people/william-stewart

Areas of interest include climate smart forestry, watershed management, forest management, and resource economics. Focuses on improving the positive financial linkages between working forests and rangelands and urban residents.


John Abatzoglou

John Abatzoglou

Associate Professor and Graduate Program Chair (MIST)
University of California, Merced
jabatzoglou@ucmerced.edu
https://engineering.ucmerced.edu/content/john-abatzoglou

Interested in the hows, whys and whats of climate and weather. Work spans many topics, from addressing questions on climate variability, to understanding climate impacts on natural resources, to developing climate datasets and tools.


Anne Foster

Anne Foster

Chief Clinical Strategic Officer
University of California Health
anne.foster@ucop.edu 

Develops, implements, monitors and updates systemwide clinical initiatives to ensure continued alignment of programs with the strategic goals, values and plans of the system and its health campuses. Incorporates the use of complex data sets and population health strategies to improve care statewide.


Karen Ross

Karen Ross

Secretary of CA Dept. of Food & Agriculture
https://www.cdfa.ca.gov/SecretaryBio.html

Appointed Secretary of the California Department of Food and Agriculture in January 2019.  Has unmatched leadership experience in agricultural issues, including environmental stewardship, climate change adaptation, and trade.


Michael Mendez

Michael Mendez

Assistant Professor, School of Social Ecology
Department of Urban Planning and Public Policy

University of California, Irvine
mamende6@uci.edu 
http://www.michaelanthonymendez.com/about-michael-a.html

Researches the implications of climate change policy on environmental justice communities at scales ranging from the local to the global, including the disparate impacts of wildfire on undocumented migrants and the politics of incorporating environmental justice into global climate change policy.


Beth Rose Middleton

Beth Rose Middleton

Assistant Professor, Dept. of Native American Studies
University of California, Davis
brmiddleton@ucdavis.edu 
https://regionalchange.ucdavis.edu/people/elizabeth-beth-middleton

Research centers on Native environmental policy and Native activism for site protection using conservation tools. Broader research interests include intergenerational trauma and healing, rural environmental justice, indigenous analysis of climate change, Afro-indigeneity, and qualitative GIS.


Julia Stein

Julia Stein

Supervising Attorney, Frank G. Wells Environmental Law Clinic
Project Director, Emmett Institute on Climate Change and the Environment

UCLA School of Law
University of California, Los Angeles
steinj@law.ucla.edu

Focuses on environmental litigation, regulatory compliance, and land use practice, including litigating complex environmental cases in state and federal court, advising clients on compliance with state and federal environmental regulations, and assisting clients through land use entitlement and development processes. 


Marjorie Zatz

Marjorie Zatz

Interim Vice Chancellor for Research & Economic Development
University of California, Merced
mzatz@ucmerced.edu 
https://research.ucmerced.edu/about/leadership

Appointed Interim Vice Chancellor for Research & Economic Development in July 2020. Previously joined UC Merced in July 2014 as the first full-time Vice Provost & Dean of Graduate Education.