Gina McCarthy, former U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator under President Obama, will speak at UVM on Friday, Dec. 1, 2017 at 4:00 pm in the Livak Ballroom of the Davis Center. Her talk is titled Science, Politics and the Future of Environmental Protection.

The event is free and open to the public.

McCarthy joined the EPA in 2009 as Assistant Administrator for the Office of Air and Radiation. She was chosen by President Obama, in 2013, as EPA Administrator to spearhead federal climate efforts. In 2015, she finalized the Clean Power Plan under the Clean Air Act which set national standards for reducing carbon emissions from existing power plants and spurred international efforts that helped secure the Paris Climate Agreement.

Prior to her roles in the EPA, McCarthy worked on environmental issues at both the state and local level and developed policies on economic growth, energy, and transportation. She served as an environmental advisor to five Massachusetts governors and was Commissioner of the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection.

During her thirty-year career as a public servant, McCarthy has championed strategies to protect the environment and public health while fostering economic growth. A professor at Harvard University’s T.H. Chan School of Public Health, she will become Director of Harvard’s Center for Health and the Global Environment on Jan. 1, 2018.

McCarthy is considered a foremost voice on the interconnection of environment and global public health. She has spoken to audiences around the world about the dangers, challenges, and opportunities that face the health of people and the stability of the planet.

The UVM event is sponsored by Vermont Energy and Climate Action Network (VECAN) and the University of Vermont’s Campus Planning - Student Life, Division of Student Affairs, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, College of Arts and Sciences, College of Engineering & Mathematical Sciences, Gund Institute for Environment, Office of the Provost, Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources, and Vermont EPSCoR.

For more information and to RSVP for this event, please contact April Berteau (april.berteau@uvm.edu) in the Rubenstein School.