Annual Meeting 2024
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Wednesday, September 25, 2024
Village Hall on the Common
2 Oak Street
Framingham, MA
Annual Meeting Program
5:30 to 6:30 p.m. - Visit the Framingham History Center (Optional)
- Enjoy a self-guided tour of the special exhibit, "Framingham’s Collective Journeys: Stories of Immigration, 1960 – Present." This multilingual exhibition of oral histories, interactives, and artifacts explores the collective journeys of those who immigrated here and of the city that grew and transformed with their movement.
- The Framingham History Center is located across Oak Street from the Village Hall.
- The Framingham History Center has graciously offered free admission for Annual Meeting Attendees.
6:00 to 7:00 p.m. - Social Hour
- Sandwiches, salads, and soft drinks
7:00 to 8:30 p.m. - Annual Meeting
- Election of SVT Board Members (Read about the nominees)
- Presentation of Annual Conservation Awards
- SVT Highlights from the Past Year
- Guest Speaker Presentation:
- "Weaving Connections between Climate Change, Conservation, and Environmental Justice"
Lawrence McKenna, Associate Professor, Framingham State University (see bio, below)
- "Weaving Connections between Climate Change, Conservation, and Environmental Justice"
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Lawrence McKenna, Guest Speaker
Larry McKenna is Associate Professor of Earth and Environmental Science at Framingham State University, where he is currently Chair of the Department of Environment, Society & Sustainability.
Professor McKenna trained as a geologist and geochemist at MIT, earning his Ph.D. in 1990 (when average surface temperatures were a full 1.2° Fahrenheit cooler than today!), and has been at FSU since 2008. He is currently finishing his climate change textbook, Conversations with the Earth, as an Open Educational Resource, part of FSUs NSF-funded ROTEL program.
His current research interests center on the intersection between climate change, policy, and “agency,” the ability to affect one’s future. He notes, to his surprise, that when he first started working on climate change, the primary challenge was convincing people it was caused by human actions; now the primary challenge is convincing people it’s a problem that can be solved.
When asked if there is one thing he wishes he could impart to everyone about climate change, he said, “Yes-there’s positive news here. We still have the power to stop the worst consequences of climate change. We have agency. And we can do it-we must do it-in our lifetimes.”
McKenna and his wife live in Jamaica Plain, MA, and have two smart, wonderful, and mathematically inclined daughters.