NCSE's Executive Director Amanda L. Townley was a keynote speaker at Climate of HOPE, a climate change education conference held in Downers Grove, Illinois, on March 1, 2024. The slides from her presentation, "Every Classroom is a Climate Classroom," are available online.
NCSE Teacher Ambassador Jeff Grant, who coordinated the event, told ABC7 Chicago (March 6, 2024), that the goal of the conference was to "empower these teachers so that they feel confident and collected and ready to tackle the next day and climate change at the same time."
Grant and NCSE's Blake Touchet conducted a breakout session on "All in the Family: The Story of Human Evolution," while NCSE's Lin Andrews and Teacher Ambassador Tom Foss conducted a breakout session on "Climate Change in Your Own Backyard."
Teachers had the option to attend a second day of professional development led by Andrews, Touchet, Grant, and Foss, where they learned about NCSE’s solutions-forward lesson set, "Climate Super Solutions," and experienced its hands-on activities for themselves.
Also participating in the Climate of HOPE conference were Frank Niepold of NOAA, who gave a keynote address, and Richard Alley of Penn State University. Both Niepold and Alley are recipients of NCSE's Friend of the Planet award.
