ABOUT PEOPLE | WV Center on Climate Change

WHO WE ARE

WV3C: A People-Powered Program

In 2014 150 climate-concerned people attended a program at Blackwater Falls State Park in Tucker County, West Virginia. A dozen experts spoke about the impacts of the climate crisis on West Virginia’s economy and ecology, and how we can respond to this crisis.

That program began the work of the West Virginia Center on Climate Change. Since 2014, more than 100 experts and thousands of climate-concerned people have participated in WV3C’s educational programs, in communities around the Mountain State. Thousands more follow WV3C’s science-based outreach updates online.

“People power” is necessary to solve the climate crisis. This page shows information about some of the wonderful people who have made the WV3C an important part of civic life in West Virginia. Join us!

WV3C Advisory Board

James Van Nostrand has been the Director of the Center for Energy and Sustainable Development at the WVU School of Law since 2011. Prior to that, he was the Executive Director of the Pace Law School Energy and Climate Center. He has a law degree from University of Iowa and two decades of private practice law experience in the energy field prior to entering academia.

Emily Calandrelli. a proud native West Virginian, is a TV personality and Emmy-nominated science educator, known for her work on “Xploration Station” and “Bill Nye Saves the World., and the author of the “Ada Lace Adventure” children’s book series. Emily has an undergraduate degree in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering from WVUster’s degree in Aeronautics and Astronautics from MIT.

Rafe Pomerance has been a leading advocate on climate change issues for over 40 years. He has worked at Friends of the Earth, the World Research Institute, and was a founder of the Climate Policy Center and chairman of Arctic 21. He served as Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Environment and Development.

Patrick McGinley has been a law professor at West Virginia University since 1975. He has written in numerous legal texts, including “Coal Law & Regulation,” and his article and “Climate Change and Coal: Exploring the Dark Side.” He is a founder of the Eastern Mineral Law Foundation.

Evan Hansen is the President of Downstream Strategies, a West Virginia environmental and development consulting firm. He earned an M.S. in Energy and Resources from UC Berkeley in 1997, and a B.S. in Computer Science and Engineering from MIT in 1988. He has been a member of the West Virginia House of Delegates since 2018.

Tom Rodd is a member of the Board of Friends of Blackwater and the Supervisor of the WV3C. He attended Berea College, Fairmont State University, and the WVU College of Law. His legal career included service as a Senior WV Deputy Attorney General and Senior Law Clerk at the WV Supreme Court.

He trained in “Climate-Smart Conservation Strategies” (U.S. Fish and Wildlife) and “Turning Climate Impacts into Action” (Union of Concerned Scientists). Tom is the banjo-picking creator of “Kitchen Klimate Science,” a unique “edutainment” program that explains how climate change works to audiences of all ages.

Growing up in West Virginia, Ash has seen the local impacts of climate change in the Mountain State firsthand — including changes in growing seasons, and increases in severe precipitation and high temperature events.

Ash graduate in 2021 from Western Governors University with a degree in Data Analysis and Fundamentals. They are the current President of Morgantown Pride, Student Representative for the American Meteorology Society’s Board of Early Career Professionals, and serves as a Commissioner on the Morgantown Humans Rights Commission.

Experts

WV3C programs feature speakers with extensive experience and expertise on issues relating to global warming and the climate crisis. We are proud of these speakers and we thank them for their participation in our WV3C programs.