Climate Resilience Panel

Jennifer Skene

Natural Climate Solutions Policy Manager, Canada Project, NRDC

https://www.linkedin.com/in/jennifer-skene-91a05174

Jennifer Skene works with Indigenous Peoples and Canadian partners to protect the boreal forest, an ecological and cultural treasure, from logging and other threats. Skene first joined NRDC as a Ford Fellow in 2014. After a judicial clerkship with the Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces, she rejoined the Canada Project as a consultant for two years until returning as a fellow through a joint program between NRDC and Yale Law School. Skene holds a JD from Yale Law School and a bachelor’s of science from Northwestern University School of Communication. She is based in the Santa Monica office. 

Christina Theodoridi

Policy Advocate, Climate & Clean Energy Program, NRDC

https://www.linkedin.com/in/ctheodoridi

Christina Theodoridi advocates for climate policies that reduce emissions from air-conditioning and refrigeration, fluorinated chemicals (HFCs, CFCs), and industrial processes. She contributes to federal legislative and regulatory efforts to phase down climate super-polluting refrigerants (HFCs), as well as policies to decarbonize heavy industry. Theodoridi led NRDC's 2-year campaign that helped establish climate policies on refrigeration and air-conditioning in ten states across the U.S. At the international level, she served as a Montreal Protocol task force member, where her modeling analysis helped determine the source and size of a potential breach of the treaty's requirements. Before joining NRDC in 2018, Theodoridi completed her master's thesis on advanced catalytic materials at the French Center of Scientific Research (CNRS) in Lyon, France, and briefly roamed around the international airport in Athens, Greece as part of their environmental services department. Theodoridi holds a master's in chemical engineering from her home country of Greece and an M.P.A. in environmental science and policy from Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs. She is based in Washington, D.C. 

Johanna Lovecchio

Associate Director

Associate Director, Center for Resilient Cities, Columbia University

https://www.linkedin.com/in/johanna-lovecchio-161b1626

Johanna Lovecchio is the Associate Director of the Center for Resilient Cities and Landscapes at Columbia University. She specializes in urban climate adaptation planning and public infrastructure project design that is forward-looking and conscious of community-based and ecosystem resilience. At CRCL, she manages the Resilience Accelerator, which delivers strategic support, technical design and climate systems research, and intensive local workshops to advance resilience project design and implementation in partnership with local governments around the world. As part of the Accelerator, Johanna led a year-long with Tel Aviv-Yafo – “Urban Heat, Equity, Resilience, and the Future of the Public Realm” – which assessed city-wide vulnerability to heat impacts and climate projections, and generated community-based urban design concepts now being piloted by the municipality. Today, she is leading CRCL's partnership with the Great Barrier Reef Foundation's Resilient Reefs Initiative, an effort to advance resilience strategies and projects in five UNESCO World Heritage Reef Sites. Through this partnership, she is leading the delivery of a Resilient Reef Restoration Trialing Framework in Ningaloo Coast in Queensland, Australia and planning for a future Accelerator with Belize focusing on resilience projects in the Mesoamerican Reef context. Prior to joining CRCL, Johanna worked as a Senior Analyst and Program Manager at HR&A Advisors, where she scaled resilience capacity-building models, including the National Disaster Resilience Competition and Global Resilience Academy programs, developed city- and district-wide climate adaptation plans, such as the Lower Manhattan Climate Resilience Study, and supported the design and evaluation of transformative urban resilience infrastructure investments. As City Planner at the New York City Department of City Planning, she researched planning opportunities in post-industrial, waterfront communities impacted by Hurricane Sandy. Johanna holds a Masters of Urban Planning from the Robert F. Wagner School of Public Service and dual Bachelor of Arts degrees in Environmental Studies and Metropolitan Studies from the New York University College of Arts and Sciences.

Jeff Schlegelmilch

MPH, MBA

https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeff-schlegelmilch-480576b

Jeff Schlegelmilch is a Research Scholar and the Director of the National Center for Disaster Preparedness at Columbia University’s Earth Institute. In this role he oversees the operations and strategic planning for the center. Before becoming director, he served as the center's deputy director for more than five years. He also oversees projects related to the practice and policy of disaster preparedness, including the multi-award winning Resilient Children / Resilient Communities Initiative. His areas of expertise include public health preparedness, community resilience and the integration of private and public sector capabilities. Prior his work at Columbia, he was the Manager for the International and Non-Healthcare Business Sector for the Yale New Haven Health System Center for Emergency Preparedness and Disaster Response. He was also previously an epidemiologist and emergency planner for the Boston Public Health Commission. He has advised leaders on preparedness systems and policy at all levels of government. He is an Opinion Contributor with The Hill and is frequently utilized as a subject matter expert for numerous media outlets. He is also the author Rethinking Readiness: A brief guide to twenty-first-century megadisasters published by Columbia University Press. He holds a Master’s degree in Public Health from UMASS Amherst in Health Policy and Management, and a Master’s degree in Business Administration from Quinnipiac University.