Our skies have been particularly hazy with this year's wildfire season, but urbanites and suburbanites experience plenty of other air quality issues, both from mobile and stationary sources. APA-IL Chicago Metro Section and American Society of Landscape Architects - Illinois (ILASLA) are partnering again for our third look at adapting to climate change:
2021 – Stormwater & Flooding
2022 – Extreme Heat
2023 – AIR QUALITY
We are bringing together scientists, urban planners, and landscape architects to discuss the issue and its implications—with a particular emphasis on practical applications. So grab your notebook and something to nosh, and join us for this lunchtime panel discussion!
DATE: Thursday, August 24, 2023
TIME: 12 - 1:30pm CDT
LOCATION: Online (Zoom)
COST: Member ($15), Non-member ($20), ASLA Member ($15), Student ($5)
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT: CM | 1.5, 1.0 Sustainability
Presenters
Ashish Sharma, Climate and Urban Sustainability Lead, Discovery Partners Institute (University of Illinois System)
>> Dropping science knowledge on the issue.
Dr. Ashish Sharma is the Climate and Urban Sustainability Lead at the Discovery Partners Institute, University of Illinois System. He is a faculty in the Department of Atmospheric Sciences at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. He holds a joint appointment as a Climate Scientist at Argonne National Laboratory. In addition to a Bachelor's degree in Electronics and Communication Engineering from Jaypee University of Information Technology, he holds a Masters and Ph.D. in Aerospace Engineering from Arizona State University. Dr. Sharma has expertise in atmospheric sciences, focusing on regional climate, air quality, and assessing adaptation and mitigation strategies. Through collaborative research across science, engineering, social sciences, and policy, he studies environmental justice issues including heat, fog, air quality, and high-impact weather. He has published more than 30 journal articles and 40 conference papers. Dr. Sharma has received funding from the U.S. DOE, NSF, NASA, Walder Foundation, and IBM. Dr. Sharma is a fellow of the Royal Meteorological Society. He serves on the Trust for Public Land's Natural Solutions Tool advisory committee (2022). He has co-authored an assessment of climate change impacts on the Great Lakes region (2019), a special climate assessment for Illinois (2021), and a NOAA report on aligning research priorities to enhance resilience to extreme heat (2019). As a co-author of the first climate action plan for the Chicago metro region (2021), he has received numerous awards, including the American Planning Association Merit in Sustainability Award (2022) and the Center for Climate and Energy Solutions Climate Leadership Award (2021). The Illinois State Museum exhibits his work on climate change, injustice, and heat in Chicago. He has contributed as a reviewer for the IPCC report and many international scientific journals. Dr. Sharma is a member of the US EPA Science Advisory Board for the EJ Screen review panel. He is the Associate Editor of the Frontiers in Environmental Science: Atmosphere and Climate journal. He has testified on a subject matter hearing on urban heat island effect and solutions to the City of Chicago Committee on Environmental Protection and Energy (2021). He has briefed the U.S. Senate Climate Taskforce, U.S. House of Representatives, and congressional staff on Capitol Hill on the impacts of climate change in the Great Lakes Region (2019).
José Acosta-Córdova, Senior Transportation Policy Analyst, Little Village Environmental Justice Organization
>> Translating the science into real public health impacts.
José Miguel Acosta-Córdova is the Senior Transportation Policy Analyst at LVEJO. He leads the local and state transportation policy work with a focus on freight and warehousing issues in EJ communities. He also serves as one of the Co-Chairs of the Transportation Equity Network (TEN), which is made up of 60 organizations throughout the Chicago metropolitan area that work on issues related to Mobility Justice. He is also currently a PhD student in Geography and GIS at the University of Illinois. He completed his Master’s degree in Urban Planning and Policy, at the College of Urban Planning and Public Affairs, at UIC. He also holds a Bachelor of Arts in Urban and Public Affairs from UIC. He is the former President and Co-Founder of the Latino Planning Organization for Development, Education, and Regeneration (LPODER) at UIC. LPODER was nationally recognized by the Latinos and Planning Division of the American Planning Association (APA) for its work with high school youth of color, as well as the numerous events they hosted regarding issues facing Latino/a/x people in urban environments throughout the western hemisphere. He is the author of the Latino Neighborhoods Report: Issues and Prospects for Chicago, which he authored during his second year of graduate school while working as a Research Assistant at the Institute for Research on Race and Public Policy (IRRPP). The report received widespread media and was produced for Metropolitan Family Services. It contains demographic information on twelve neighborhoods in Chicago where Latinos are the largest racial/ethnic group, along with an overview of Latinos in Chicago. José is the son of activists, and was raised in the environmental justice movement. He was part of the youth group of the SouthWest Organizing Project (SWOP), an organization based in Albuquerque, NM, which fights for racial and gender equality, and social, environmental and economic justice.
Allison Harvey, Principal, OJB (Philadelphia office)
>> Showcasing implementable solutions.
As Principal in OJB’s Philadelphia office, Allison is skilled at working with cultural institutions, universities, developers, public agencies, and community groups, resulting in a diverse portfolio that champions wellness, meaningful narrative, and enduring beauty. In addition to design work, she is presently leading an 18-month interdisciplinary field study funded by the Landscape Architecture Foundation that concentrates on landscapes adjacent to air pollution point sources to develop industry best practices. Allison is committed to creating landscapes that honor the health and wellness of authentic communities, the environment, and humankind as a whole. Her approach draws on a foundation of material science and studio art and centers on thoughtful beauty rooted in evidence-based design.
Moderator
Justin Keller, AICP, Strategist, Water Programs at Elevate)
>> Bringing all voices together like the conductor of a chorus!
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Image credit: Blue and White Smoke Illustration courtesy Dan Cristian Pădureț (CC)