Opening Keynote Speaker
We are pleased to announce our BECC 2025 keynote speaker: Dr. Lisa Patel, Executive Director of the Medical Society Consortium on Climate and Health (MSCCH), will explain how to use health-based messaging to catalyze critical climate action. Join us for her talk, “Building Powerful Alliances for Climate Action through the Health Frame.” As a pediatrician and Science Mom, Dr. Patel leverages social media to communicate to parents and caretakers about the health harms of climate change. While the health impacts of climate change is currently poorly understood, health professionals are often trusted figures who can help engage discussions on climate action to mitigate the impact on health.
In addition to directing MSCCH, Lisa Patel is a Clinical Associate Professor of Pediatrics at Stanford School of Medicine. She is also a member of the Executive Committee for the American Academy of Pediatrics Council on Environmental Health and Climate Change. Lisa received her medical degree from the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, and completed her training in pediatrics at UCSF. She is a former Presidential Management Fellow for the Environmental Protection Agency.
Closing Plenary
Music as a Catalyst for Climate Action
Music has always been at the heart of social movements—from protest anthems to community choirs, from folk ballads to viral TikTok songs. As we face the challenges of climate change, music continues to serve as one of our most powerful tools for connection, resilience, and action.
We’ll close BECC this year by discussing the role of music in climate awareness and action. Lindsay Fleming from Daniel Levitin’s lab will share insights on how music impacts behavior and belonging and the producers of ClimateMusic will showcase their innovative work that uses sound to translate climate data into immersive experiences. We’ll also hear from musician and Groupmuse founder Heavy Meadow, who writes and performs songs about climate justice and social movements. Together as scientists and artists, we will open a conversation about how music can inspire, mobilize, and transform.
Moderated by Dr. Beth Karlin, founder of See Change Institute and Los Angeles Research Director of UC Irvine’s newly minted Glasser Center for the Power of Music and Social Change, this panel will explore how music can move hearts and minds—and how we can all amplify our work through sound.
Speakers
Beth Karlin, See Change Institute
Dr. Karlin is the founder and CEO of See Change Institute, an applied research firm devoted to studying and shaping behavior for the greater good. She is currently working on projects to train energy managers on behavior, understand and influence electrification, and support community energy programs. Beth also serves on the editorial boards of Energy Efficiency and Frontiers in Social Psychology, teaches in the Sustainability & Behavior Change Program at UC San Diego, and is launching the Los Angeles office of the newly minted UC Irvine Glasser Center for the Power of Music.
Lindsay Fleming – Levitin Lab for Cognitive Neuroscience, McGill University
Lindsay first joined the Levitin Lab for Cognitive Neuroscience at McGill University as an undergraduate student, then stayed on as the coordinator. She left the lab to pursue graduate studies at the University of Calgary and Mount Saint Vincent University. Lindsay rejoined the lab in 2015 as Levitin’s research associate, data analyst, and laboratory manager. Her research interests lie in understanding the potential of music and the arts to influence human behaviour, health, and wellbeing, particularly in the context of the climate emergency.
Heavy Meadow, Artist/Performer and Groupmuse Founder
Social entrepreneur, community builder, and mountain bard Heavy Meadow has devoted his years to restoring music to its rightful place at the center of all spiritual, community and cultural life. As the founder of Groupmuse, he’s organized more than 10,000 live classical, jazz, and roots music gatherings in living rooms all over the world, building beloved community through wholesome, intergenerational musical ritual. As a song maker, he’s performed across the country, and has released two full length albums, “The Fool” and “The Magician” as well as two EPs. He describes his musical genre “freak-folk eco-spiritual” — love songs to the Earth, and believes with all his heart that music is key to cultivating and remembering our ecological inter-being.
Stephan Crawford, Executive Producer, The ClimateMusic Project
Stephan Crawford is an interdisciplinary artist based in San Francisco. He founded and co-leads The ClimateMusic Project, a cross-cutting collaborative that connects people to climate science and action through ‘science-informed’ music and visual experiences. Since launching in 2015, ClimateMusic has reached thousands of people globally, partnering on programs with leading institutions, such as The National Academy of Sciences and the European Union. It has also garnered broad media coverage, including profiles by The New York Times and the BBC. Stephan holds a Master of Science degree in environmental management with a focus on environmental science from the University of San Francisco and a Master or Arts in Law and Diplomacy from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy. In 2024, he was selected for the Explorer Club’s annual EC50 class of global changemakers. Please visit www.sc2arts.com
Special Sessions
Solutions Session
Monday, Nov. 3
4:00 – 5:15 PM
We need your help! This year at BECC, we want to gather thought leaders from across our industries to brainstorm potential solutions to a real-world climate issue: discouraging single-occupancy vehicle (SOV) travel in the suburban North Vineyard region of Sacramento.
The North Vineyard region of Sacramento is a car-dependent suburban area with a substantial low-income population. To reduce congestion, improve air quality, and help mitigate climate change, the Sacramento Department of Transportation (SacDOT) is trying to reduce the number of SOV trips residents take in this region. What can they do without significant changes to their transportation infrastructure?
During this Solutions Session, participants and panelists will work together to help the SacDOT brainstorm behavior change interventions that can affect real impact. The goal will be to develop ideas for methods to encourage SOV drivers to choose alternative modes for some trips. The session will be led by Dr. Reuven Sussman (American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy), alongside expert panelists with behavioral science and applied experience in the field. The problem will be presented by Mikki McDaniel and Makinzie Clark at SacDOT, and participants will have a chance to ask questions and work together to brainstorm behaviorally-informed solutions. The session is presented by the Arthur Vining-Davis Foundations. Join us and help turn research into action
Presented by
Spotlight Session: Supporting the Clean Energy Transition: The Role of Workforce Development in Decarbonizing Buildings
Tuesday, Nov. 4
8:45 – 9:45 AM
Featured Speakers:
- Keith O’Hara, President/CEO of Eco Performance Builders
- Tegan Knifton, Regional Workforce Development Manager at Sacramento Municipal Utility District
- Therese Peffer (moderator), Associate Director for California Institute for Energy and Environment (CIEE)
How do we identify key workforce training gaps? What are the key barriers to implementing effective workforce development programs and how might we address them in both commercial and residential settings? This spotlight highlights the changes necessary for advancing the clean energy transition for buildings: training, empowerment, organizational goal setting, and adoption of best practices.
Spotlight Session: Conservatives’ Solutions to Climate Change
Tuesday, Nov. 4
8:45 – 9:45 AM
Featured Speakers
- Jim Sweeney, Professor of Management Science and Engineering, Emeritus, Stanford University
- Sarah Rosa, Policy Director at the American Conservation Coalition
- Kirk Wilbur, Professor of Management Science and Engineering, Emeritus, Stanford University
Despite affecting everyone, climate change has been viewed as a left-of-center issue. Although some denial exists, the main reason for this perception is that proposed solutions are at odds with conservative views. Join us for a candid discussion of what works and what doesn’t work, from a conservative perspective.
Spotlight Session: Increasing Energy Efficiency and Circular Economies Across the Atlantic
Tuesday, Nov. 4
4:00 – 5:15 PM
Featuring: Javier Sancho Velazquez, Head of Global Issues and Innovation at the Delegation of the European Union to the USA
Hear about the EU’s Transatlantic Sustainable Transition Initiative and how social science is informing its approaches. Saving energy in buildings and promoting a circular economy are among the top priorities. Javier Sancho Velazquez, Head of Global Issues and Innovation at the Delegation of the European Union to the USA, will be interviewed on this topic by Laura Klivans, Emmy Award-Winning Reporter and Host at KQED.
Spotlight Session: Resourceful Cities: Local Climate Leadership in an Era of Federal Uncertainty
Tuesday, Nov. 4
4:00 – 5:15 PM
Featured Speakers
- Brittany Sellers, Assistant Director of Sustainability, Resilience, & Future-Ready at City of Orlando
- Christopher Jones, Director of the CoolClimate Network at UC Berkeley
- Aleka Seville (moderator), Advisor to Bay Area Regional Energy Network & Sonoma Regional Climate Protection Authority
As federal climate action faces unprecedented challenges, cities across the nation are demonstrating remarkable innovation and determination in advancing clean energy and climate action initiatives. This spotlight session brings together examples from diverse political contexts to share how grounding climate action in real-world community benefits and cross-sector and regional collaborative approaches are keeping local climate action moving forward.
Skills Workshops
Monday, Nov. 3
4:00 – 5:15 PM
Choose from…
Optimizing the Sequencing of Sustainability Behaviors: Insights from Green Spillovers
Presented by: Michael Hallsworth, Behavioral Insights Team
Once Upon a Kilowatt: Using Pixar Storytelling to Make Energy Efficiency Irresistible
Presented by: Erin Fagnant, KSV
Informal Sessions
Monday, Nov. 3
4:00 – 5:15 PM
Informal sessions transform a standard conference breakout room into a dynamic space for dialogue and collaborative learning. Basically, it’s a curated conversation with other attendees in an unstructured environment. Choose from…
Measuring, Tracking, and Growing Your Organization’s Energy Equity Impacts
Presented by: Britney Blankenship, Energy Solutions
Engaging Volunteers to Spark Behavior Change
Presented by: Kristen Law and Erik Zepeda-Flores, San Francisco Environment Department