Plenary I – Tuesday, May 20, 4:00 PM
Keynote Address: Reimagining the Business of Environmental Protection to Meet Modern Challenges
Moderated by Prof. Jacqueline MacDonald Gibson, NC State University
In an era of accelerating environmental challenges, we must reimagine the business of environmental protection to ensure our strategies, technologies, and partnerships are equipped to meet modern demands. This session will explore how data modernization is transforming North Carolina’s approach to bolstering water and wastewater infrastructure, safeguarding drinking water from PFAS, and building the first-of-its-kind Flood Resiliency Blueprint to create actionable data to enable better resilience to future storm events. This session will also explore the need for strong partnerships between public agencies and universities in order to translate research into real-world action. New approaches are needed due to the complexity of today’s environmental challenges.
Plenary II – Wednesday, May 21, 11:00 AM
Keynote Address: Leveraging Energy Data and Analysis to Navigate a Rapidly Changing Energy Landscape
Moderated by Prof. Mark Wiesner, Duke University
Informed decision-making in the public sector depends on rigorous, data-driven analysis—an increasingly complex challenge as the energy sector undergoes rapid change. Demand growth, accelerating technology innovation, and volatile energy markets are reshaping the energy landscape. The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) plays a vital role by collecting and disseminating comprehensive U.S. energy data under a unique congressional mandate. At a time of heightened uncertainty in the U.S. federal government, academics can play a pivotal role by leveraging EIA products to develop innovative, data-driven dashboards and building upon recent open-source releases of EIA’s long-term energy models. This talk will explore these emerging opportunities and discuss how the academic community can contribute to a more robust, transparent, and insight-driven energy research ecosystem.
Plenary III – Thursday, May 22, 11:00 AM
Keynote Address: Developing and Translating Science to Inform Decisions to Protect Public Health and the Environment
Moderated by Prof. Joe Brown, University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill
Decisions regarding many societal grand challenges, such as protection of human health and the environment in a changing climate, benefit from credible and relevant scientific information. To be policy and decision relevant, scientific and engineering research needs to address decision-maker and stakeholder needs in a timely manner, while also being credible and of high quality. In this presentation, I will draw upon recent experience in research planning, implementation, and translation of scientific and engineering research as Assistant Administrator for Research and Development at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Framing of the federal and academic roles in scientific research will also be addressed.
