James Tufts Pener Environmental Stewardship Conference

Monday, April 14, 2025 | 8:30 a.m. - 3:00 p.m.
Thayer Academy | Center for the Arts

Created to honor the legacy of James Tufts Pener '23, this day of scholarship brings together students from high schools across Greater Boston and regional environmental science scholars to share expertise, ideas, and inspiration in support of environmental conservation and sustainability.

PARTICIPATING SCHOOLS & ORGANIZATIONS

Belmont Hill School • Brooks School • Chatham Harvesters • Cohasset Center for Student Coastal Research • Dana Hall School • Mass Oyster Project
Milton Academy • The Roxbury Latin School • St. Mark's School • St. George's School • Thayer Academy

KEYNOTE PRESENTATION

The Future of Nature:
Building a Path Towards Resilience and Abundance

DR. MARK ANDERSON

DIRECTOR OF CONSERVATION SCIENCE
CENTER FOR RESILIENT CONSERVATION SCIENCE
THE NATURE CONSERVANCY, NORTH AMERICA REGION

About our speaker

About our speaker

Anderson directs The Nature Conservancy’s Center for Resilient Conservation Science; the center provides science leadership, ecological analysis, and landscape assessments for conservation efforts across 50 states. He holds a PhD in ecology from the University of New Hampshire and has worked as a conservation scientist for more than 35 years (30 of those years with the Conservancy). Over the last decade, Anderson led the effort to identify and map climate-resilient lands and waters across the continental United States and has published widely on climate resilience, landscape dynamics, and biodiversity conservation. One of the original authors of the National Vegetation Classification, his current research focuses on identifying and mapping resilient freshwater networks as well as the intersection between biodiversity, ecological services, and climate change in terrestrial and aquatic systems. Anderson manages a team of seven spatial ecologists and tries (mostly unsuccessfully) to keep up with all their amazing work. In 2017 he received The Nature Conservancy’s Conservation Achievement Award, and in 2021 he received the Land Trust Alliance’s Kingsbury Browne Conservation Leadership Award.

Outside of the Conservancy, Anderson serves as board chair for Northeast Wilderness Trust, a regional land trust dedicated to conserving forever-wild places where nature can thrive.

Born in Colorado and addicted to the outdoors at an early age, the conservation scientist has worked as a naturalist in the Okefenokee Swamp, developed a multicultural ethnobotany program in San Francisco, directed National Wildlife Federation’s EarthTrek program in the Smoky Mountains, and run a small mountaineering program in the Southern Rockies. He now lives in Massachusetts with his wife, two kids (when they’re around), three cats, two goats, one dog, occasional chickens, and a wild patch of native plants.

Conference participants:
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2025 PHOTO BOOTH

SCHEDULE

8:30 a.m. | Registration | CFA
9:15 a.m. | Welcome | CFA
9:30 a.m. | Student Presentations | CFA
- Tackling Recycling With AI
  - Eliot Park | The Roxbury Latin School
- Impact Investing: What Is It?
  - Giacomo Turco & Alex Zhang | Belmont Hill School
- Local Shark Research
  - Reilly Fraga, Ellie Louvar, Alexandra Mignosa & Abigail Shannon | Thayer Academy
10:15 a.m. | Break
10:30 a.m. Keynote Presentation | CFA
- The Future of Nature: Building a Path Towards Resilience and Abundance
  - Dr. Mark Anderson | The Nature Conservancy
11:15 a.m. | Lunch | CFA Lobby
11:30 a.m. | Workshops & Think Tanks | Various Locations
- Policy Advocacy 101: Using Your Right to Petition for Environmental Goals
  - Olivia Negro | Thayer Academy
- Communicating Environmental Topics through Photography
  - Nikki Pardo | Thayer Academy
- Oysters: Conserving a Foundational Species and How You Can Help
  - John Cigliano & Liv Woods | Mass Oyster Project
- From Ocean to Community: Redefining Sustainability Through Fishing Co-ops
  - Chatham Harvesters
- Advocating for Biking/Walking More Often to Places Instead of Driving
  - Brendan Brosnan & Charlie Foley | Thayer Academy
- Sustainability Clubs Forum
  - Theo Dowd, Ellie Louvar, Brooke McHugh & Steven Silvers | Thayer Academy

12:50 p.m. | Student Presentations | CFA
- Exploring the Nuances of Sustainable Consumerism: A Society Overflown With Media Displaying Greenwashing and Overconsumption
  - Navya Swarna & Serena Zhao | St. Mark’s School
- The Creation and Protections of Green Legislation in Massachusetts State Government
  - Austin Archabal | Thayer Academy
1:20 p.m. | Break
1:35 p.m. | Workshops & Think Tanks | Various Locations
- Policy Advocacy 101: Using Your Right to Petition for Environmental Goals
  - Olivia Negro | Thayer Academy
- Turning Plastic into Art and Ocean Conservation
  - Sadie Borushko, Giavanna Christiano & Alex Kaye | Thayer Academy
- Communicating Environmental Topics through Photography
  - Nikki Pardo | Thayer Academy
- Oysters: Conserving a Foundational Species and How You Can Help
  - John Cigliano & Liv Woods | Mass Oyster Project
- From Ocean to Community: Redefining Sustainability Through Fishing Co-ops
  - Chatham Harvesters
- Advocating for Biking/Walking More Often to Places Instead of Driving
  - Brendan Brosnan & Charlie Foley | Thayer Academy
- Net Positives: Crafting Homemade Fishing Traps to Learn About The Benefits of Aquarium Fishing on the Amazon
  - Theo Dowd & Steven Silvers | Thayer Academy
2:30 p.m. | Concluding Remarks | CFA

WORKSHOP LOCATIONS

Policy Advocacy 101: Using Your Right to Petition for Environmental Goals
Olivia Negro | Thayer Academy
Bakker Reading Room (Library)

Turning Plastic into Art and Ocean Conservation
Sadie Borushko, Giavanna Christiano & Alex Kaye | Thayer Academy
Art Room (Frothingham)

Communicating Environmental Topics through Photography
Nikki Pardo | Thayer Academy
Photography Room (Frothingham)

Oysters: Conserving a Foundational Species and How You Can Help
John Cigliano & Liv Woods | Mass Oyster Project
Tiger’s Den (Cahall Campus Center)

Advocating for Biking/Walking More Often to Places Instead of Driving
Brendan Brosnan & Charlie Foley | Thayer Academy
Hanflig Technology Center (Cahall Campus Center)

From Ocean to Community: Redefining Sustainability Through
Fishing Co-ops
Chatham Harvesters
Tiger’s Den (Cahall Campus Center)

Net Positives: Crafting Homemade Fishing Traps to Learn About
The Benefits of Aquarium Fishing on the Amazon
Theo Dowd & Steven Silvers | Thayer Academy
Robotics Lab (Glover)

Sustainability Clubs Forum
Theo Dowd, Ellie Louvar, Brooke McHugh & Steven Silvers | Thayer Academy
Robotics Lab (Glover)

Previous Conferences

May 3, 2024

Keynote Presentation

Dr. Lucy Hutyra
Distinguished Professor of Earth and Environment Boston University

Keynote Speaker

Keynote Speaker

Dr. Lucy Hutyra is an environmental ecologist investigating the impacts of urbanization on environmental carbon cycle dynamics. In 2023 she received a MacArthur Genius Grant for her work on efforts to mitigate extreme heat and other consequences of climate change in urban environments. She has also received a National Science Foundation CAREER Award and was named a 2016 National Academy of Science Kavli Fellow. Hutyra earned a Bachelor of Science from the University of Washington as well as both a Master of Arts and a PhD from Harvard University. In addition to her professorship at Boston University, Hutyra is an associate of the Arnold Arboretum and the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences at Harvard University. She has published in a variety of scientific journals, including Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Nature, Journal of Geophysical Research, Global Change Biology, and Science of the Total Environment.

Participating schools and organizations

Archbishop Williams High School • Belmont Hill School • Braintree High School • Brooks School • Cohasset Center for Student Coastal Research • Middlesex School • Milton Academy • Noble and Greenough School • The Roxbury Latin School • St. Mark's School • Tabor Academy • Thayer Academy • Weston High School

Air Pollution's Effects
on Asthma Genes

**Saraellen Mathewson**
Archbishop Williams High School

Biomimicry for
Sustainable Systems Design

**Jonathan Lan**
Weston High School

Blackout Braintree:
The Effects of Light Pollution and How to Combat It

**Calvin O'Brien & Kelsey DePaolo** Braintree High School

Tech Innovations:
The Future of Healthcare

**Jacinta Wangari & Rhea Shah**
Noble and Greenough

*The Importance and Impact of Fisheries in the Amazon Rainforest for Places all over the World*

**Steven Silvers & Theo Dowd**
Thayer Academy

*The Sources, Toxicity, and Longevity of Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances*

**Elsie Vijjeswarapu**
Archbishop Williams High School

*Going Green in a Green-Washed World*

**Eli Lukens & Julia Fiorello**
Thayer Academy

*Eco-Hope: The Essential Role of Emotions in Environmental Advocacy*

**Camryn Hartigan**
Tabor Academy

The Full Story: 2024 Pener Conference — Click or tap to read the full story

2024 PHOTO BOOTH PHOTOS

May 19, 2023

Keynote Presentation

Dr. Austin Gallagher '04
Founder and CEO of
Beneath the Waves

Keynote Speaker

Keynote Speaker

A conservation biologist, Gallagher earned a BS in biology from Loyola University, an MS in marine science from Northeastern University, and a PhD in ecosystem science and policy from the University of Miami.

Under his leadership, Beneath the Waves has conducted 20 expeditions worldwide, collaborated with over 100 researchers from various institutions, and published over 70 peer-reviewed scientific papers in journals. Many of those papers have advanced scientific discovery and catalyzed policy for threatened species.

Gallagher is a regular contributor to Discovery Channel’s Shark Week and National Geographic.

Participating schools and organizations

Beneath the Waves • Brookline High School • Thayer Academy

*Food Justice*

**Ezra Kleinbaum**
Brookline High School

*Environmental Modeling*

**Emma Eisenhauer**
Brookline High School

*Ecotourism*

Katelyn Senator '24
& Charlotte Murphy '24
Thayer Academy

*Eelgrass Loss in New England*

Rebecca Rudolph '24,
Charles Denomme '23
& Samuel Taylor '23
Thayer Academy

*The Revival of Sustainability at Thayer Academy*

Diego Teixeira '23,
Eli Kream '23
& Ty Mainini '23
Thayer Academy

The Full Story: 2023 Pener Conference — Click or tap to read the full story

News

Calendar

News & Calendar

About our speaker

May 3, 2024

Keynote Speaker

May 19, 2023

Keynote Speaker