Panel Sessions & Research Posters

Panel Sessions

Concurrent panel sessions featuring sustainability researchers and practitioners are organized by topic, and will take place throughout the day, each with an interactive Q&A.

Panel Session 1 | 10:00 am – 10:50 am

1a: Air Emissions & Impacts

 Detecting Greenhouse Gas Emissions, Air Pollution, and their Impacts 

10:00 am | Salon A 

Researchers will discuss topics related to climate change and air pollution, addressing both the sources of emissions of greenhouse gases and other pollutants and their impacts.  A researcher with the CHARMED initiative will present a local project monitoring the health impacts of industrial refining and petrochemical usage on hazardous air pollution exposure and risk to vulnerable communities. Researchers from the Baltimore Social-Environmental Collective will share about their work in leveraging weather variability research to develop equitable solutions for urban heat, flooding, and air pollution to protect disproportionately affected low-income communities in Baltimore City and on methods for estimating greenhouse gas emissions using satellite data, in situ measurements, and models. Researchers involved in Climate Intelligence efforts at APL will discuss several applications of artificial intelligence to climate challenges, including using remote sensing to characterize sources of greenhouse gas emissions, investigating connections between emissions and air quality, and accelerating and improving air quality forecasting models for NASA and NOAA. 

Moderator:  Ben Zaitchik, PhD, Professor, Earth & Planetary Sciences 

Panelists:

• Scot M Miller, Assistant Professor, Environmental Health & Engineering, WSE 
• Peter DeCarlo, Associate Professor, Environmental Health & Engineering, WSE 
• Darryn Waugh, Professor, Earth & Planetary Sciences, KSAS 
• Marisa Hughes & Elizabeth Reilly, Assistant Program Manager, APL  

1b: Healthcare Practices    

Sustainability Practices in Healthcare and Medicine

10:00 am | Barber Room | Virtual Option

As a global leader in clinical innovation and research, Johns Hopkins has always been at the forefront of healthcare. However, healthcare facilities play a complex role in their neighboring communities. On the one hand, we are the providers of comprehensive and safety-net care to some of our most vulnerable neighbors. Paradoxically, healthcare facilities also contribute significantly to global pollution and are drivers of climate change, which in turn, threatens health and well-being.  Panelists will share their expertise in advancing more sustainable healthcare practices, expertise around advancing more sustainable healthcare practices including enhancing sustainable financing of health systems in low- and middle-income countries, reducing anesthetic greenhouse gas emissions and waste in pediatric operating rooms, and reducing and managing waste in clinical care and research labs.   

Moderator: Jeremy Greene, PhD, Professor, Medicine

Panelists:

• Nick Dalesio, MD, MPH, Associate Professor, Anesthesiology and Critical Care Medicine and Pediatrics, Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery Director of Pediatric Anesthesia Clinical Operations, SoM 
• Deborah Schwengel, MD, MEHP, Associate Professor, Anesthesiology, Critical Care Medicine and Pediatrics, Director Education Research Core, SoM 
• Frances Ilika, DrPH Candidate, Global Health Policy and Evaluation, BSPH 
• Ryan Weeks, PhD, Sr. Specialist, Green Labs & Zero Waste, Office of Sustainability, JHFRE 

1c: Campus as a Living Lab

JHU Campus as a Living Lab: Research & Teaching for Innovation 

10:00 am | 304 East

Join a panel discussion on how JHU’s campuses are used as testbeds for sustainability research and innovation. Learn about the new Campus as Living Laboratory Program and grant funding opportunities launched this year alongside the JHU Climate Action & Sustainability Plan. Panelists from facilities management will discuss their collaborations with researchers and a doctoral student will discuss their research on JHU’s air travel emissions. This session will include faculty, staff and student panelists, a moderated roundtable discussion, and a Q&A with the audience. 

Moderator: Katalin Szlavecz, PhD, Research Professor, Earth and Planetary Sciences, KSAS 

Panelists:

• Stacy Villegas, Sustainability Fellow, Office of Sustainability, JHFRE  
• Bill Jamieson, Energy Services Engineer, Public Health Facilities Management, BSPH  
• Rose Weeks, DrPH Candidate, Research Associate II, International Health, BSPH
• Justin Sontag, Undergraduate Student, Earth & Planetary Sciences, KSAS  

1d: Food & Agriculture Research

Interdisciplinary Sustainable Food & Agriculture Research 

10:00 am | Salon B/C

Food systems are complex and intrinsically related to health, environment, politics and economics. These systems are under pressure from environmental and economic factors; unstable food systems can result in malnutrition, hunger, and biodiversity loss. Despite their importance, our understanding of food system dynamics is limited. Researchers from across JHU will explore research pertaining to food and agricultural research from a diverse array of perspectives. Researchers will discuss a variety of topics, including environmental threats to agricultural and food production workers, modeling food simulation decision-making, upcycling agricultural and food waste into biofuels, and developing biopolymers as efficient agrochemical delivery systems. 

Moderator: Roni Neff, Associate Professor, Environmental Health & Engineering; Center for a Livable Future

Panelists:

• Howard Fairbrother, PhD, Professor, Chemistry, KSAS 
• Grant Tore, PhD Candidate, Environmental Health & Engineering, BSPH  
• Shilva Shrestha, PhD, Assistant Professor, Environmental Health & Engineering, WSE 
• Jason Lee, Researcher, Applied Physics Laboratory, APL 

Panel Session 2 | 11:00 am – 11:50 am

2a: Coastal Resilience

Coastal Resilience in the Face of Climate Change 

11:00 am | Salon A

 Climate change is threatening our coastal communities and ocean systems, and some of these threats may be addressed through policy changes or emerging technologies. Researchers from JHU, including the Applied Physics Laboratory, will discuss nature-based solutions for improving sustainability in coastal zones, coral bleaching, and how coral reefs respond to marine heat waves. Research on coastal protection and biodiversity conservation will include developing materials solutions for hybrid reef design, examining the cascading effects of climate tipping points on our coastlines, and the effect of near-shore surface waves, current, and wind. The discussion will also explore potential mitigation and adaptation approaches. 

Moderator: Shere Abbott, Research Professor, Engineering  

Panelists:

• Chris Overcash, PE, Program Manager EP, Adjunct Professor, Environmental Health & Engineering, WSE 
• Jenny Boothby, PhD, Faculty, Engineering , APL; WSE   
• Umesh A. Korde, PhD, Research Professor, Environmental Health & Engineering, WSE 

2b: Sustainability Education

Synergy in Sustainability Education 

11:00 am | Barber Room | Virtual Option

This session will explore synergy in sustainability education from various (and potentially unexpected) perspectives. Using Baltimore City as a case-study, we will hear from an array of stakeholders impacted by/impacting sustainability education agendas in the city and beyond. Our panelists include: a high school student engaged in environmental justice research, an education specialist who trains and supports Baltimore City teachers, a pastor curating healthy and sustainable learning environments, a physician working with schools and communities to educate about health and climate change, and a Hopkins professor taking an innovative approach to teaching sustainability at the university-level. Together we will engage and ponder: What are the goals of sustainability education? What should educators of all levels and settings keep in mind when tackling topics such as climate change and environmental justice? And what can researchers do to support the sustainability-focused goals of educational organizations? 

Moderator: Dana Kachman, Undergraduate Student, Electrical Engineering

Panelists:

• Vilma Gutierrez, High School Student, Benjamin Franklin High School 
• Mark-Anthony Montgomery, Pastor, Union Baptist Church 
• Laura Genello, Farm to School Specialist, Baltimore City Public Schools  
• Katalin Szlavecz, PhD, Research Professor, Earth and Planetary Sciences, KSAS 
• Hunter Gehlbach, PhD, Professor, School of Education

2c: Waste in Brazil

Public Innovation for Waste Management in Fortaleza, Brazil 

11:00 am | 304 East

This Bloomberg Center for Public Innovation at Johns Hopkins panel will feature its work with Labifor, the innovation lab of Fortaleza, Brazil, and IPLANFOR, its planning institute, to implement the city’s Excellence in Solid Waste Management Program. The panel includes JHU staff and SAIS master’s students, who spent 10 weeks with Labifor and IPLANFOR through the Center’s Summer Scholars program. The panelists will discuss how innovative methods helped the city deliver a portfolio of ambitious waste management interventions, such as the incorporation of informal waste picker associations into the city’s collection system of recyclable materials, working with the city’s waste picker associations to digitize data collection and build a dashboard to track the volume of recycling material; and assessing environmental and waste management conditions by neighborhood and the prevalence of dengue. Participants in this session will learn about forward-thinking, inclusive, and sustainable waste management strategies in a South American city and the contribution of public innovation methods to developing those strategies. 

Moderator: Francisca Rojas, Academic Director, Bloomberg Center for Public Innovation at Johns Hopkins 

 Panelists:

• Anthony Sernus, MA candidate, International Relations, SAIS 
• Mustafa Ahmad, MSPH & MA candidate, International Relations, BSPH; SAIS 

Panel Session 3 | 1:30 pm – 2:20 pm

3a: Urban Resilience

 A Sustainable Urban Future for Baltimore

1:30 pm | Salon A

Researchers will discuss community-engaged research and practice to build urban climate resilience, with a focus on Baltimore.  A community leader will describe his work to transform a Baltimore neighborhood through innovative greening strategies. An engineering student will discuss an award-winning sustainable design proposal for waterfront revitalization that includes floating wetlands and water quality monitoring, community programs, multimodal transportation, a flood-risk plan, and recreational areas, as well as the role of urban metrics for decision-making and civic engagement. A doctoral Carey Business School teaching assistant will share how students use contemporary media (HBO’s The Wire) to identify community needs and innovate novel business ideas that account for historical, societal, and environmental injustice and how some students went on to implement those ideas in communities in Baltimore and across the nation. 

Moderator: Ben Zaitchik, PhD, Professor, Earth & Planetary Sciences, KSAS 

Panelists:

• Mateusz Rozanski, Research Assistant, Earth & Planetary Sciences, KSAS 
• Kristen Corlay Sanmiguel, Undergraduate Student, Civil Engineering, WSE  
• Lucy Howey, PhD Candidate, Business Administration, Carey 

3b: Medical Waste

Integrating Public Health & Environmental Impact in Decision-Making 

1:30 pm | Barber Room | Virtual Option

Join members of the Johns Hopkins research, academic, and sustainability community along with representatives of the South Baltimore Community Land Trust for a panel discussion about public health and environmental impact. CHARMED researchers will their share data and research regarding the October 2023 Curtis Bay Energy guilty plea for environmental crimes in the South Baltimore community of Curtis Bay; community partners will discuss their collaboration with CHARMED researchers, and JHU staff will share institutional perspectives on new approaches to medical waste management.

Moderator: Maria W. Merritt, PhD, Professor, Berman Institute of Bioethics; International Health, BSPH 

Panelists:

• Leana Houser, Sustainability Manager, Zero Waste, Office of Sustainability, JHFRE 
• Matthew Aubourg, Research Associate, CHARMED, Environmental Health & Engineering, BSPH 

3c: Climate-Smart Transportation

Sustainable & Equitable Transportation in Baltimore

1:30 pm | 304 East

Transportation contributes 29% of total greenhouse gas emissions in the US. The new sustainability plan aims to reduce JHU’s emissions via reductions in single occupancy vehicles. For many, this would likely include using public transit. However, the current system is often inefficient and unreliable for JHU commuters and the Baltimore community. The panel will discuss findings from the Baltimore Area Survey; efforts and plans at the Transportation Services program at JHU; equity and health research-to-action efforts; the new health and equity-focused Center for Climate–Smart Transportation at the university; and a community perspective from the No Boundaries Coalition. The No Boundaries Coalition’s Director of Health and Food Justice will discuss collaborative efforts between community organizations and academic institutions, focusing on the partnership with the JHU Public Health Students to secure funding for vans to deliver produce from community market– an initiative that addresses food justice, reduces transportation emissions and promotes local access to healthy food. 

Moderator: Megan Weil Latshaw, PhD, Public Health 

Panelists:

• Greg Smith, Director, JHU Transportation Services, JHFRE 
• Mac McComas, PhD, Sr. Program Manager, JHU 21st Century Cities Initiative 
• Shima Hamidi, PhD, Director, JHU Center for Climate-Smart Transportation, BSPH 
• Bolon Xi-Amaru, Director of Health and Food Justice, No Boundaries Coalition 

Panel Session 4 | 3:00 pm – 4:15 pm

4a: Personal Resilience

Personal Resilience for Sustainability Practitioners & Students 

3:00 pm | Salon A

Many of us who work in occupations that try to address ever-changing, significant global challenges are affected by stress, overwhelm, and burnout. These experiences can impede our ability to stay ‘in the game,’ even for issues to which we are deeply committed. In this interactive practice session, we will discuss this growing global mental health epidemic and how the climate mental health research space is nascent and siloed with significant caps across regions and disciplines. Speakers will showcase lived experiences (including local examples among JHU undergraduate students), recent science from Connecting Climate Minds initiative, positive psychology, neuroscience, and mindfulness that supports personal resilience. During the session, practice using tools that can build positive mental habits and foster personal agency, to help navigate daily challenges, increase positive emotions, decrease stress, and plan for your future in sustainability work and beyond. 

Moderator:  Hannah Fritz, Senior Research Associate, Department of International Health, Public Health 

 Panelists:

• Kate Cornwall, PhD Candidate, Education, SoE 
• Tulsi Modi, Senior Project Coordinator, Planetary Health Alliance, BSPH  
• Anita Shankar, PhD, Associate Scientist, International Health, BSPH 

4b: Planetary Health Curriculums

Planetary Health and Sustainability in Health Curriculums   

3:00 pm | Barber Room | Virtual Option

Planetary Health Education is dedicated to preparing global citizens, practitioners, and professionals to address the complex health challenges facing our world today. This initiative strives to inspire individuals worldwide to engage in the creation, restoration, stewardship, and conservation of healthy ecosystems, thereby ensuring the prosperity of human civilization, especially as it relates to human health. Panelists will discuss JHU’s initiatives to integrate concepts of Planetary Health, climate change, and sustainability into healthcare education. JHU medical students will present the Planetary Health Report Card, highlighting the University’s commitments, achievements, and opportunities for improvement in this critical area. Additionally, colleagues across Public Health, Medicine, Nursing, and the newly established Johns Hopkins Institute for Planetary Health will offer their perspectives on ongoing initiatives and outline forthcoming strategies for integrating Planetary Health principles into JHU’s respective curricula. They aim to foster a culture of comprehensive and impactful education that prepares current and future healthcare leaders to effectively address the greatest threats to the well-being of our society. 

Moderator: Chris Lemon, MD, Assistant Professor, Emergency Medicine, SoM & Faculty Director, Clinical Programs, Johns Hopkins Institute for Planetary Health 

Panelist:

• Jessica Mo and Amy Parampil, Medical Students, Planetary Health Report Card, SoM 
• Cecília Tomori, Associate Professor, Director of Global Public Health and Community Health, SoN 
• Marie Studer, Executive Director, Johns Hopkins Institute for Planetary Health, BSPH   

4c: Nature Sacred & Urban Health

 Urban Socioecology, Health and Place: “Nature Sacred”   

3:00 pm | 304 East

This panel presents a cross-disciplinarity project showing how people in Baltimore City construct their sense of health and well-being through engagement with their environment. Our panel will introduce an environmental health collaborative project focused on community meditation gardens designed by the organization Nature Sacred to build resilience in diverse Baltimore communities. In their contributions, Johns Hopkins University students Heidi Scheiber-Pan from the Chesapeake Mental Health Collaborative & Center for Nature Informed Therapy and Erin Robertson from Nature Sacred will discuss the health benefits of Nature Sacred sites. Designed with natural elements, such as rocks, plants, and water, Nature Sacred locations in the City include public art and wooden benches with a built-in journal. These locations take the shape of a Zen Garden or garden park-like model. In collaboration with service-based organizations in Baltimore’s communities, the Nature Sacred organization facilitates on-site gardens designed by landscape architects and the surrounding community that invite people in urban places to express and share, in writing and drawing, their emotions and ideas. Students show how such places initiate sensory awareness, contributing to individual mental and physical health and providing a social experience for otherwise alienated urban people. 

Moderator: Jana Kopelent-Rehak, PhD, Earth & Planetary Sciences, KSAS

Panelists:

• Erin Robertson, Programs Officer, Nature Sacred  
• Justin Sontag, Undergraduate Student, Earth & Planetary Sciences, KSAS  
• Mikayla Schoff, Undergraduate Student, Earth & Planetary Sciences, KSAS 
• Nat Adams, PhD Candidate, Anthropology, KSAS 
• Heidi Schreiber-Pan, PhD, Center for Nature Informed Therapy

4d: JHU Food Initiatives

 Sustainable Food Initiatives at JHU & Beyond 

3:00 pm | Salon B/C

Practitioners and researchers from across JHU and beyond will discuss how sustainable food is put into practice through Hopkins Dining’s sustainability initiatives around waste, procurement, and awareness; the Center for a Livable Future’s climate label research at campus dining halls and Meatless Mondays campaign; the Alternative Protein Project’s efforts to expand JHU’s sustainable food curriculum; and Student Health and Wellbeing’s Meatless Madness efforts to raise awareness around meatless meal recipes. JHU’s participation in the Menus of Change University Research Collaborative, a global network of colleges and universities using campus dining halls as living laboratories for behavior change, co-founded and jointly led by the Culinary Institute of America and Stanford University, will also be discussed.  

Moderator: Allison Righter, MSPH, RDN, Director of Health & Sustainability Programs, The Culinary Institute of America 

 Panelists:

• Vivian Su, PhD Candidate, Materials Science & Engineering, WSE 
• Clare Lochary, Communications Associate, Student Health Promotion & Well-being, USS 
• Julia Wolfson, PhD, MPP, Associate Professor, International Health, BSPH 
• Graham Browning, Sustainability Manager, Hopkins Dining, USS 

Panel Session 5 | 4:30 pm – 5:20 pm

5a: Environmental Justice

 Advancing Environmental Justice at JHU and Beyond

4:30 pm | Salon A

Environmental justice is the fair treatment and meaningful involvement of all people regardless of race, color, national origin, or income, with respect to the development, implementation, and enforcement of environmental laws, regulations, and policies, according to the EPA. Panelists will discuss initiatives to advance environmental justice at JHU, in the greater Baltimore community, and beyond. JHU researchers, practitioners and community partners who are currently working to support environmental justice will share their work including the Sustainability Leadership Council, Center for Community Health: Addressing Regional Maryland Environmental Determinants of Disease (CHARMED), the Ecological Design Collective, the Sustainability Plan, and more. A moderated roundtable discussion and Q&A will explore strategies and collaborations to further integrate the principles of environmental justice across JHU. 

Moderator: Nicole Labruto, PhD, Sr. Lecturer, Medicine Science & Humanities 

 Panelists:

• Leana Houser, Sustainability Manager, Zero Waste, Office of Sustainability, JHFRE 
• Megan Latshaw, PhD, Associate Teaching Professor, Environmental Health & Engineering. BSPH 
• Matthew Aubourg, Research Associate, CHARMED, Environmental Health & Engineering, BSPH 
• Walkiria Pool, CHARMED Community Co-Chair, Centro de Apoyo Familiar  
• Lia Purpura, Writer-in-Residence and Curator, Ecological Design Collective 

5b: Land Justice

Student-Community Engagement for Land Justice & Sustainability   

4:30 pm | Barber Room

Students who travel abroad for academic activities often describe these trips as life-changing. However, upon their immediate return, there is often little that actually changes in their day-to-day lives. The Center for Social Concern piloted a model for Community-Based Learning Abroad (CBLA). CBLA  integrates local community partner organizations engaged in sustainability work (in this case land justice) with a more traditional model of learning abroad with a faculty member doing research on this issue. The panel involves a JHU student who participated in this pilot with the hosting faculty member, a local Baltimore region community partner, and Dr. Blanks Jones, who developed the model for CBLA. They found bringing together land justice practitioners with expertise in their local contexts yielded the following outcomes: centers the experiences of community partners; draws clearer parallels between local and global contexts in practices of sustainability as they align with the SDGs; draws tension in the perceived linear development model which challenges knowledge cultivation/transfer between the “West and the rest” or global north/south divide; students see first-hand how community partners from both contexts clarify their terms of engagement, practices, and potential applications of methods; upon return, students have a community of local experts with whom they may continue their engagement.   

Moderator: Jasmine Blanks Jones, PhD, Exec. Director, Center for Social Concern, USS  

Panelist:

• Dr. Deena-Marie Beresford, Board Member/Instructor, SOSACRU- School of Sacrament RasTafari University 
• Kailyn Swift, Junior, Molecular and Cellular Biology and Chemistry, KSAS
• Luis Sierra Moncion, Deputy Director, Center for Social Concern, USS  

5c: Renewable Energy

New Green Energy Technologies & the Energy Transition    

4:30 pm | 304 East

JHU researchers are developing the new technologies needed to make fuels and electricity without greenhouses gas emissions that heat up the climate.  This panel will feature engineering and science faculty from the Ralph O’Connor Sustainable Energy Institute (ROSEI) who are applying physical, chemical, and biological sciences in innovative ways to produce the energy sources we need for a sustainable economy and for healthy people and ecosystems.  Each panelist will have 5 minutes to summarize their work and excite the audience about its importance, inherent interest, and potential opportunities for students.  Then there will be a Q&A with questions from the panel chair and audience.

Moderator: Ben Hobbs, Professor, Environmental Health & Engineering, WSE  

Panelists:

• Shilva Shrestha, PhD, Assistant Professor, Environmental Health & Engineering, WSE
• Regina Garcia–Mendez, PhD, Assistant Professor, Materials Science & Engineering, WSE
• Yuting Luo, Assistant Professor, Materials Science & Engineering, WSE

5d: Protein for a Liveable Future

Proteins for a Livable Future – for Human & Planetary Health

4:30 pm | Salon B/C

This panel from the Center for a Livable Future (CLF) will center on protein from the perspective of production, nutrition, community health and consumer behavior. Much of the world’s meat, dairy and egg production is characterized by large-scale, geographically concentrated operations that rely on external inputs and inexpensive labor, and that are controlled by a small number of companies. A growing body of evidence indicates that this industrial manner of animal production threatens rural communities, consumers and ecosystems, and compromises animal welfare. CLF explores these connections and provides scientific advice on shifting toward diets that better align with public health and ecological goals through programs such as Meatless Monday, as well as research in modeling, policy, and communication. Topics will include industrial livestock production and public health; understanding and promoting sustainable aquatic food; climate, health, and other considerations on protein choices; lessons from Meatless Monday; and plant-based protein.

Moderator: Christine Grillo, Communications & Marketing Manager, Center for a Livable Future, BSPH  

 Panelists:

• Brent Kim, Assistant Scientist, Center for a Livable Future, BSPH 
• Liz Nussbaumer, Senior Program Officer, Center for a Livable Future, BSPH 
• Andrew Thorne-Lyman, PhD, Associate Research Professor, Department of International Health, BSPH 
• Becky Ramsing, Sr. Program Officer, Center for a Livable Future, BSPH 

Research Posters: