Conference Program

OUR HOSTS, PANELISTS, AND TRAINERS

HOSTS

Dorah Pierre-Louis

Board Member, MASSPIRG Students
Ocean Campaign Coordinator
Computer Science, UMass Boston

Eli Hochkeppel

Board Member, MASSPIRG Students
Ocean Campaign Coordinator
Environmental Science, UMass Boston

Ashanti Mclean

Board Member, MASSPIRG Students
100% Renewable Campaign Coordinator
Environmental Science, UMass Boston

Owen Myka-Smith

Member, MASSPIRG Students
Summit Recruitment Chair
Environmental Science, UMass Boston

Panel: How We Can Protect the Right Whale

Right whales are amazing, endangered animals with only 360 individuals remaining. If we act now, we can save them.

  • National Protect Our Oceans Campaign Director, Environment America

    Kelsey directs Environment America’s national campaigns to protect critical ocean habitats, save endangered marine mammals and stop threats like offshore drilling. Kelsey lives in Boston, where she enjoys cooking, reading and exploring the city.

    Kelsey got her B.A. from Columbia University and her M.A. in International Relations from Leiden University in the Netherlands.

  • Partnership & Youth Engagement Coordinator, Bow Seat Ocean Awareness

    Jeremy has worked for over a decade in environmental conservation, international climate change diplomacy, and public health. His efforts have brought him around the world from the United States, Madagascar, the Sargasso Sea, the Coral Triangle region in Southeast Asia, to Indonesia Borneo.

    Jeremy received an MS from the University of California, Berkeley School of Public Health’s Joint Medical Program, where he focused on the social determinants of health, and a BA in Environmental Biology from Washington University in St. Louis, where he graduated summa cum laude as an Ethan A.H. Shepley Scholar, the University’s highest honor. He loves to sail, play board games, and spoil his nieces and nephews.

  • The Calvineers

    Anabelle Kneisel, a freshman at George Steven Academy in Blue Hill, Maine, was first introduced to the plight of North Atlantic right whales in 2022 at the Adams School in Castine, Maine. It was here that she joined an afterschool program, the “Calvineers,” which was started by Bill McWeeny 20 years ago.

    Annabelle looks forward to continuing her role as a voice for North Atlantic right whales and other endangered animals, with a focus on conveying the importance of a balanced world where humans and animals can successfully coexist. She hopes to support this objective through pursuit of future studies in law and marine biology.

  • Executive Director, Whale & Dolphin Conservation

    Regina Asmutis-Silvia is the executive director and senior biologist for Whale and Dolphin Conservation’s North American office, located in Plymouth, MA. She has been active in whale research, conservation and education since 1990 and currently sits on the federally appointed Atlantic Large Whale, Harbor Porpoise, Bottlenose dolphin and Atlantic Pelagic Longline Take Reduction Teams.

  • The Calvineers

    Luke Cukierski, a resident of Castine, Maine, is a freshman at George Stevens Academy. He is a Life Scout, Assistant Senior Patrol Leader, and recipient of the BSA Life Saving Medal of Merit award. He is a member of the JV basketball team, math team member ranked fourth in the region for freshman, and dedicated school volunteer. He is a proud three-year member of the Calvineers, a right whale advocacy group run by Bill McWeeny. He plans to be a marine biologist and/or a paramedic.

Panel: Protecting New England’s Ocean Treasure

Cashes Ledge is an ocean wonderland off our coast, home to whales, seabirds, fish and more, and it deserves permanent protection. 

  • Clean Energy Campaign Associate, Environment Massachusetts

    Lydia Churchill is the Clean Energy Campaign Associate with Environment Massachusetts. She is spearheading campaigns to transition Massachusetts to 100% clean, renewable energy, to make our homes and buildings more efficient, and to enact policies to incentivize the widespread adoption of solar rooftops.

    Lydia graduated from Swarthmore College with High Honors as a political science major and double minor in history and dance.

  • Senior Scientist, Conservation Law Foundation

    Gareth Lawson is a Senior Scientist in the CLF Ocean Program focusing on sustainable fisheries, habitat protections, and climate change in New England’s marine environment. Prior to CLF, Gareth was a scientist at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. Gareth earned his PhD in the MIT-WHOI Joint Program in Oceanography, his MSc from Memorial University of Newfoundland, and his BSc from McGill University.

  • Youth Leadership Committee Alumni with Earth Echo

    sha is a final-year undergraduate at Harvard who studies Computer Science and Integrative Biology. She will transition into building software at Crusoe Energy--a cloud startup that is reducing the carbon footprint associated with computing. She formerly served as a Program Assistant at the National Ocean Protection Coalition and Youth Leadership Councilmember at EarthEcho International, where she conducted marine policy research and helped lead campaigns to protect areas including Stellwagen Bank, the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts, and the Olympic Coast.

Workshop: Telling Your Ocean Story

  • Professor of Asian American Studies, UMass Boston

    Dr. Shirley S. Tang is Endowed Distinguished Professor for Asian American Studies in the School for Global Inclusion and Social Development and College of Education & Human Development at the University of Massachusetts Boston. Shirley is a national leader in developing a model of curricular innovation for digital storytelling, pedagogies of wholeness, and AANAPISI-centered knowledge production. She has more than two dozen publications in print and received the Chancellor’s Award for Distinguished Teaching at UMass Boston in 2016. Shirley is a co-Investigator for UMass Boston’s current three-year NASA MUREP grant and a co-Principal Investigator for the university’s two current five-year AANAPISI grants from the US Department of Education. She has nearly 20 years of experience with digital storytelling in higher education institutions and community organizations, including recent collaborations with the Institute for New England Native American Studies and minority-serving institutions such as Bunker Hill Community College and Langston University.

  • Led by Dr. Tang, the Digital Storytelling Lab housed in the Asian American Studies Program at the University of Massachusetts Boston is a 20-year commitment to student- and community-centered knowledge coproduction, research and documentation, and archival development. Digital storytelling productions from the lab contribute to training, community capacity building, advocacy, and public awareness. For further information on the Asian American Studies Program, please visit: https://www.umb.edu/education/global-inclusion/asamst/

This workshop consists of two parts. Part I, led by Dr. Shirley Tang of UMass Boston, focuses on how personal storytelling can support advocacy.  Drawing on her storytelling work with students at UMass Boston during the past 20 years, Dr. Tang and her Digital Storytelling Team will share examples of how personal storytelling has contributed to cultural/institutional change and community capacity building as well as crisis response and direct action. In the process, participants will learn approaches to advocacy that involve personal storytelling.

In Part II, Jadyn Kuah of MASSPIRG will guide students to write personal stories in support of protecting Cashes Ledge.

Workshop: How to Build Power for the Ocean

  • Volunteer Coordinator, Surfrider MA

    Kaela Keyes supports as Volunteer Coordinator for the Surfrider Foundation Massachusetts Chapter. She first got involved with Surfrider in September 2021 by joining the monthly Massachusetts chapter meetings and quickly became a vocal participant. Kaela is energized by building connections with volunteers at in-person Surfrider events such as beach clean-ups, Ocean Friendly Restaurant outings, and annual New England Summit to learn successful strategies from her fellow Executive Committee members across the Connecticut, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont chapters & Surfrider team members.

    Kaela grew up vacationing in Brewster, Massachusetts on the Cape. She loves to fish for stripers across the Brewster flats with her family and friends. Since falling in love with the Cape's oceans and beaches as a child, she is passionate about their conservation so future generations can enjoy their beauty and mental health benefits.

  • Campaign Coordinator & Treasurer, Surfrider MA

    Dr. Alex T. Vai volunteers as the Campaigns Coordinator and Treasurer for the Surfrider Foundation Massachusetts Chapter, leading policy and advocacy for the organization at the state and local level. He has been personally involved in over 20 campaign victories since starting with Surfrider MA in 2018. In his day job, Alex is a chemist and product development lead at a Boston-area cleantech start-up. What time remains is spent finding ways to enjoy the outdoors, including as a New England open-water swimmer, hiker, and orienteer.

Surfrider Foundation's mission is to help protect and enjoy the world's oceans, waves and beaches. Through a powerful activist network, Surfriders members, volunteers and team members educate others about the importance of ocean/ beach conservation, empower people to take on conservation efforts within their local communities, and realize the collective power of each individual's environmental advocacy actions. We are excited to discuss how our youth are vital to the positive change we are seeking!

Workshop: Artivism

  • Program Manager, Bow Seat Ocean Awareness

    Susan Tang (they/them) is the current Program Manager at Bow Seat Ocean Awareness Programs, the world’s largest environmental youth program for the creative arts. Growing up in Boston, Susan’s passion for environmentalism is grounded in the idea that urban and natural landscapes are deeply interconnected. Susan graduated from Brown University in 2023, having majored in Environmental Science and Urban Studies.

    Before joining Bow Seat, Susan served as a Curatorial and Communications Fellow at the Rose Kennedy Greenway Conservancy, a public park in Downtown Boston. As a member of the Public Art team, their work involved bringing thought-provoking art pieces to the public space, highlighting the connection between art and the surrounding environment.

The creative arts have long been a powerful vehicle for challenging injustice and bringing about political and social transformation. Art humanizes both its creator and its audience, allowing us to understand issues beyond facts and figures and connect with one another and the world around us. Join Bow Seat Ocean Awareness Programs to learn more about the history of artistic activism (“artivism”) and find inspiration in the ways the environmental movement utilizes art to generate visibility, awareness, and change. Learn more about Bow Seat’s annual Ocean Awareness Contest, and become an artivist yourself through a hands-on climate collaging activity. Join the growing movement of young people using the creative arts to advocate for our blue planet!

Panel: Planet Over Plastic

Nothing we use for five minutes should be polluting our ocean for centuries. Students can advocate to reduce waste on their campuses, at their statehouses, in Congress and in corporate boardrooms. 

  • Sustainability & Resiliency Planner, Sustainable UMass Boston

    Janna joined the team in August 2023. In her role, she leads UMass Boston's sustainability and climate change resilience efforts with a goal of net zero carbon emissions. Collaborating with students, staff, faculty, and community partners, she will help build UMass Boston’s campus as a living laboratory of climate action and leadership.

    Previously, Janna was the director of Climate Programs at Second Nature, working with a national network of higher education institutions on climate change action. In 2008, she founded the Campus Sustainability Initiative at Brandeis University, leading energy efficiency, renewable energy, waste reduction, waste reduction, local food, and transportation efforts. She more recently worked with the MIT Office of Sustainability & the Harvard University Office for Sustainability. Janna has worked with non-profits in Massachusetts to expand renewable energy development, address environmental justice, and increase community resilience. Janna earned a B.A. in Sociology and Environmental Studies and an M.B.A. in Management and Social Policy from Brandeis University.

  • Director of Marine Education, Center for Coastal Studies

    Jesse Mechling is the Director of Marine Education at the Center for Coastal Studies in Provincetown. The ocean and ocean life are one of his great passions, and he relishes his role exciting a new generation to the wonders of the ocean. A lifelong visitor to Cape Cod and permanent resident since 2008, he received a masters from the University of Rhode Island in Marine Affairs and was a 2005 John Knauss Marine Policy Fellow in Washington DC working for the National Ocean Service. He has nearly two decades of experience working in marine policy and education, and has been with the Center since 2009. He lives in Eastham with his family.

  • Executive Director of MASSPIRG

    Janet has been the executive director of MASSPIRG since 1990 and directs programs on consumer protection, zero waste, health and safety, public transportation, and voter participation. Janet has co-founded or led coalitions, including Earth Day Greater Boston, Campaign to Update the Bottle Bill and the Election Modernization Coalition. Janet serves as Chair of the Board of Directors for the Consumer Federation of America and serves on the Common Cause Massachusetts executive committee, Alliance for a Healthy Tomorrow board of directors, and Department of Environmental Protection Solid Waste Advisory Committee. For her work, Janet has received Common Cause’s John Gardner Award and Salem State University’s Friend of the Earth Award. Janet lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts, with her husband and two sons, and every Wednesday morning she slow-runs the steps at Harvard Stadium with the November Project.

  • MASSPIRG Students’ Beyond Plastics Campaign Coordinator, UMass Amherst Chapter

    Nicholas Vasconcellos is the Campaign Coordinator for the MASSPIRG Students’ Beyond Plastics Campaign. During his time with PIRG, he spearheaded student-led events that promoted the advocacy of An Act to Expand the Bottle Bill throughout the University of Massachusetts Amherst and the Pioneer Valley. Nicholas earned a B.A in Political Science and completing his M.P.A. (Master of Public Affairs) program from the University of Massachusetts Amherst. His coursework focuses on sustainability and infrastructure policies.

  • New England Zero Waste Organizer, Rethink Disposable

    Amber has been working in the environmental and public health non-profit sector for 10 years. Her passion is environmental issues and justice. She grew up living on the Connecticut coast of Long Island Sound watching my father fish in those waters. As she grew to understand environmental degradation from pollution, the health impacts, and the effects of climate change, she knew that her life's work would be protecting our environment.

Panel: Deep Sea Mining

Deep sea mining would spell disaster for the long-lived, amazing ecosystems found on the seafloor. We should stop this dirty, dangerous industry before it damages our oceans.

  • Sustainable Ocean Alliance, Boston University

    Hallie Cordingley is a student at Boston University studying Environmental Analysis and Policy and Economics. She is the president of Boston University’s Sustainable Ocean Alliance.

    SOA BU is a student-led chapter of the global nonprofit SOA that seeks to lead community involvement in ocean conservation through local educational events, cleanups, and partnerships.

  • Sustainable Ocean Alliance

    Mark Haver is the CEO and Founder of the sole-member consulting firm, Blue Green Generation, LLC, which delivers strategic impact for ocean and climate action. He has been working with Sustainable Ocean Alliance (SOA) for almost seven years. He created and led SOA's inaugural youth policy program, and now he works with SOA as a Policy Advisor and Regional Representative for North America. He is also the Partnership Manager for the impact campaign for Deep Rising, the New York Times Critic's Choice documentary about deep-sea mining with Jason Momoa.

  • Senior Director, Campaign for the Right to Repair, PIRG

    Nathan leads U.S. PIRG’s Right to Repair campaign, working to pass legislation that will prevent companies from blocking consumers’ ability to fix their own electronics. Nathan lives in Arlington, Massachusetts, with his wife and two children.

Workshop: How to Build a Campaign

  • National Organizing Director, Student PIRGS

    Andy manages our staff who work on 38 campuses in nine states, as well as training, staff development, volunteer programs, campaign strategy and canvassing. Andy has maintained a funding base for the student chapters, built a pipeline for students and staff to become lifelong activists, and been a part of a variety of social change campaigns. He has held numerous positions within the network, including regional director and assistant national summer canvass director for Fund for the Public Interest. Andy lives in Amherst, Massachusetts, with his family, and enjoys all outdoor sports, especially running.

Find out how to turn passion into action. During this workshop, you’ll learn how to develop a strategic campaign plan, build a team of volunteers, create fun events, build student leaders and protect our oceans.