Conference on Innovations in Climate Resilience to Bring Meaningful Solutions to Life

About 150 years ago, Charles Dudley Warner quipped (later and more famously quoted by Mark Twain during his standup routine), “Everybody complains about the weather, but nobody does anything about it.” The Warner/Twain amusing observation presaged a future need for climate resilience. Today we know we can do something about it—but what will it be?  

Let’s build on the United Nations COP26 climate conference promises and exciting new opportunities to invest in and pioneer science-based solutions today! We believe this requires the public and private sectors to work together to mitigate carbon emissions, restore ecosystems, protect against natural disasters and health threats, and strengthen infrastructure and food systems. That’s why Battelle has dedicated significant resources to convene the first Conference on Innovations in Climate Resilience, which we will host in Columbus, Ohio, on March 29-30, 2022.

Since 1965, Battelle has had the honor of management and operations responsibilities at several United States Department of Energy national laboratories, and they will join us in this endeavor. “We are leaders in climate resilience, and we intend to take the important approach of collaborating on and presenting real, actionable solutions that have impact,” said Mark Peters, Battelle’s Executive Vice President of Lab Management and the person who maintains our relationships with the national labs. “We’ve heard loud and clear from the government and other stakeholders that this is a priority, and we’re going to partner with the public and private sectors and academia to step up.”

The conference will comprise a curated technical program and will include invited keynote presentations, platform and lightning talks and a poster reception. We’re sure that part of the discussion will necessarily focus on the recent U.S. $1 trillion+ Bipartisan Infrastructure Deal that contains numerous provisions for climate resilience. “We are taking an innovative approach as we’re bringing together topics and entities that don’t typically come together such as environment, health, communities, national security, and economic well-being,” said Battelle Technical Fellow and conference co-chair Justin Sanchez. “And it’s the combination of all these connected topics that is a lynchpin to our pioneering approach,” he said.

We expect a sizeable audience of government leaders, entrepreneurs and innovators to explore breakthroughs in technology, policy and infrastructure that will help mitigate the existential threats that our changing climate poses to our environment, health, communities, national security and economic well-being. By coming together to collaborate, we can move the needle on climate resilience solutions that fortify the health of the planet in impactful ways.

“Climate resilience is focused on developing solutions to climate change,” said Battelle Technical Fellow and conference co-chair Amy Heintz. “The technical program in this important new conference will offer scientists and researchers an opportunity to join the community working at the forefront of innovations that reduce the impacts of climate change by restoring our ecosystems.”

Early-Bird Registration is available through Jan. 24, 2022.

Abstract Deadline is Dec. 6, 2021 with The Call for Abstracts is now available >

Additional information about the event will be added to the website as planning continues. Send inquiries to [email protected].