Event Schedule
Monday, Sept. 15, 2025
Location: Institute of the Arts and Sciences
Time: 5:00 – 8:00 pm
Evening Welcome Reception:
5:00 pm: Join us for a delicious evening of heavy appetizers, beer and wine, and community building! Come mingle and connect with fellow symposium attendees. At 6:00 choose from one of our two activities.
6:00 pm: Tour of the latest IAS exhibit Weather and the Whale led by Alex Moore, IAS Curator and Head of Academic Programs.
6:00 pm: Screening of short Climate California episode: Unity? Followed by Q&A with director, writer, producer and editor: Charles Loi.
Watch the episode titled: “Unity?” that was screened at the symposium.
7:00 pm: Ample time provided to review the film being shown again or explore the exhibit on your own.
Tuesday, Sept. 16, 2025
Location: Seymour Marine Discovery Center
La Feliz Room
Time: 9:00 am – 7:00 pm
Symposium Schedule:
8:00 am: Registration & Breakfast Provided
9:00 am: Welcome remarks from Chancellor Cynthia Larive; Erika Check Hayden, Director, Science Communication Program; Mike Beck, Director, Center for Coastal Climate Resilience
9:25 am: Opening remarks from Amanda Hansen, Deputy Secretary for Climate Change, California Natural Resources Agency
10:00 am: Keynote Address: Edward Maibach, PhD, Director of the Center for Climate Change Communication, George Mason University
10:45 am: Break
10:55 am: Panel Session 1: Fighting Climate News Fatigue
A panel of experienced journalists and science communicators will discuss how they connect with their audience and keep them interested and engaged. Speakers will also talk about how they effectively communicate climate adaptation and solutions outside of disasters.
Moderator: Danielle Venton, KQED science reporter
11:55 am: Break (10 min.)
12:00 pm: Panel Session 2: Indigenous Perspectives on Climate Communication
A panel of indigenous leaders speaks about communicating indigenous knowledge about climate change.
Moderator: Alexii Sigona, Distinguished Visiting Fellow, Center for Reimagining Leadership, UCSC
1:00 pm: Lunch
1:50 pm: Panel Session 3A: Climate Communications Training
Speakers will share tools, classes, and other resources available to science communicators, journalists, scientists, community leaders, and others who want to learn how to communicate climate solutions.
Moderator: Jonathan Hicken, Executive Director of the Seymour Marine Discovery Center, UC Santa Cruz
Panel Session 3B: Community-based Climate Communications
Local leaders will discuss how they amplify the voices and experiences of historically underrepresented communities. They will discuss diverse community-informed approaches, outside of traditional journalism, to communicate about climate impacts and solutions, as well as the value of community expertise about climate solutions, and how journalists can bring storytelling to climate challenges and solutions and reach a broader audience.nal journalism to share climate solutions.
Moderator: Sikina Jinnah, Professor of Environmental Studies and Associate Director, Center for Reimagining Leadership
2:50 pm: Break
3:00 pm: Panel Session 4: The Future of Climate Communications
This session will examine how we can improve and expand upon climate communications. What avenues or methods of communication need more focus and how can communicators engage people with different viewpoints?
Moderator: Thomas Hayden, Director of the Masters of Arts in Earth Systems, Environmental Communications Program, Stanford University
4:00 pm: Break
4:10 pm: Session 5: Novel Ways to Communicate Climate Solutions
This session will be a series of lightning talks presenting novel and creative means of climate communication, such as Virtual Reality, card games, videos, and more. After the talks, presenters will be available for personal demonstrations during the social hour in the aquarium.
Moderator: Emily Cerf, Engineering Writer and Media Relations Officer, UCSC Baskin School of Engineering
5:10 pm: Summary and Wrap-up (15 min)
5:30 pm – 7:00 pm: Social hour reception and demonstrations. Heavy appetizers and beverages will be provided.
Wednesday, Sept. 17, 2025
Location: Seymour Marine Discovery Center
La Feliz Room
Time: 9:00 – 2:00 pm
8:00 am: Breakfast Provided
9:30 am – 11:00 am: Funders Fireside Chat:
Hear from the folks funding projects and programs dedicated to communicating climate solutions.
Continental breakfast and coffee will be provided.
12:00 pm – 2:00 pm: Student Workshop: Community-Informed Climate Journalism
This interactive workshop explores community-informed and trauma-informed approaches to covering climate narratives, with a focus on storytelling rooted in place, identity, and justice. Open to undergraduate and graduate students; sign up via the meeting registration page. Lunch will be provided.
Led by: Lagipoiva Cherelle Jackson, Journalist and Director of the Pacific Islands and Climate Change New Narratives
Please register if you are attending any of the above referenced events.
*We will continue updating this website as the schedule evolves. Please check back soon for more!