If you're seeking commentary from experts who are media trained, and can speak on the Paris Climate Accord/Agreement, below is a list of Stony Brook University professors who are available today to provide insight. 

If needed, all experts have access to a ReadyCam television studio system that provides remote access to television networks. 

 

Name

Expertise/Title

Availability on 6/2 ET

Statements provided by faculty

Janet Nye

 

Assistant Professor in the School of Atmospheric Sciences at Stony Brook University

 

Janet Nye’s research focuses on the effects of climate variability and climate change on fish, fisheries, and marine ecosystems. Specifically, she studies how climate and fishing interact to cause shifts in spatial distribution and abundance of fish and invertebrates in the Northwest Atlantic, including local fisheries in Long Island Sound and Great South Bay. Her research is used to inform how climate change may affect species that have been petitioned under the Endangered Species Act.

After 2 p.m.

“The name ‘Paris Climate Accord’ makes it sound like climate change is something happening in another place in the distant future, but climate change through sea level rise is already threatening our transportation infrastructure, take the New York rail system for example.  It is already affecting our natural resources like our access to fisheries and the kinds of foods you will see on your table.  The Paris Climate Accord offered many benefits to the United States and we have to act now before it is too late!”

 

 

Bradley Peterson

 

 Associate Professor in the School of Atmospheric Sciences at Stony Brook University

Bradley Peterson’s research is focused on shallow coastal ecosystems (seagrasses, corals reefs, oysters reefs) to understand the role of of how these organisms influence their communities and how these interactions might affect community stability and resilience. Most of his work is with plant-animal interactions along the eastern coast of the U.S. One of his current projects is investigating the consequences of changing climate on Long Island south shore estuaries.

Available after 4 p.m.

“I work in coastal systems on seagrasses, saltmarshes, oyster reefs and coral reefs.Our lab has work on the impact that climate change (warming ocean water and ocean acidification) will have on interactions between organisms.”

 

 

Oleg Smirnov

Associate Professor in the Political Science Department at Stony Brook University

 

 

Oleg Smirnov’s areas of expertise  and research interests include world politics, politics of climate change, cooperation, computational modeling (agent-based modeling, geographic information systems, evolutionary dynamics) and behavioral economics (altruistic punishment, collective risk social dilemmas). He is currently working on a computational model of social consequences of climate change, and recently published a paper that reveals climate change, not population growth, plays the main role in predicting population exposure to extreme droughts.

Available before 5 p.m.

“I just submitted a paper to Nature Climate Change that describes the consequences of the U.S. withdrawal on international climate negotiations. My perspective is twofold: 1) it is not in the national interests of the United States to exit the Agreement, and 2) U.S. withdrawal would lead to significant additional costs for other countries, including especially the developing countries, which will likely lead to the complete collapse of international progress on climate change mitigation.”

 

Heidi Hutner

 

Associate Professor and Director of the Sustainability Studies Program at Stony Brook University 

 

 

Heidi Hutner teaches and writes about environmental literature and film, environmental justice, ecofeminism, ecocriticism, and media. Recently, her work expanded to include a larger range of environmental issues as they are represented in literature, film, and other media, such as global warming and climate change, radioactive nuclear pollution, food/agricultural and animal rights, and general sustainability and energy issues.

Free after noon.

“My interest is on the impact of the climate crisis on women, children, people of color, and the underprivileged worldwide. Already, these groups are most harmed by climate change. They will be the hardest hit by Trump's pulling out of the Paris agreement. I can speak in more general terms about what this means as well.”