Members of the newly appointed Climate Action for Alaska Leadership Team will hold their first meeting in Anchorage on Dec. 18, with a focus on developing policies to help the state adapt to climate change.
Gov. Bill Walker said that the team members, picked from nearly 100 applicants, represent a breadth of experience across Alaska, with strong networks and resources spanning from Alaska to the rest of the world “giving us a voice in the global dialogue on climate change.”
Lt. Gov. Byron Mallott, who will chair the team, said their collective advice and recommendations for climate priorities, actions and goals would provide invaluable guidance to the governor and Alaskans as they work to address challenges and opportunities associated with climate change.
“Bringing together a diverse group of Alaskans to identify actions the state can take to address pressing problems related to climate change is an important step,” said Michael LeVine senior Arctic fellow at Ocean Conservancy in Juneau. “For all the differences people have in this state, we are all Alaskans and bringing us all together to talk about ways to address an issue we all recognize is laudable and all important.”
Also serving on the committee are Ralph Andersen, Dillingham, president and chief executive officer, Bristol Bay Native Association; Linda Behnken, Sitka, executive director, Alaska Longline Fishermen’s Association; Lisa Busch, Sitka, executive director, Sitka Sound Science Center; former Fairbanks North Star Borough Mayor Luke Hopkins; Wainwright Mayor John Hopson Jr., president of the North Slope Borough Assembly; Nicole Kanayurak, Utqiagvik, a 2017 Knauss Marine Policy Fellow working in the NOAA office of International Affairs and Seafood Inspection; Mara Kimmel, Anchorage, First Lady of Anchorage and adjunct faculty at the Institute of Social and Economic Research at the University of Alaska Anchorage; Meera Kohler, Anchorage, president and chief executive officer, Alaska Village Electric Cooperative; Mark Masteller, Palmer, an assistant professor of energy efficiency and renewable energy at the University of Alaska; Molly McCammon, Anchorage, executive director Alaska Ocean Observing System; former Nome Mayor Denis Michels, Nome, a senior project manager with DOWL; Chris Rose, Anchorage, executive director, Renewable Energy Alaska Project; Isaac Vanderburg, Anchorage, executive director, Launch Alaska; and Janet Weiss president, Anchorage, BP Alaska Region.
Ex officio members are Duncan Fields, Kodiak, technical advisor to the Gulf of Alaska Coastal Communities Coalition; University of Alaska President Jim Johnson, Fairbanks; Reggie Joule, Kotzebur, former legislator and former mayor of the Northwest Arctic Borough; Sa Schikel, Kenai, student and alumni of the Center for Native American Youth Champions for Anchorage program and Fran Ulmer, Anchorage, chair, U.S. Arctic Research Commission and former lieutenant governor for Alaska.
