Welcome by Rodney Ellis, Harris County Precinct One Commissioner – Commissioner Ellis was born and raised in Houston’s Sunnyside neighborhood and attended the Texas public school system from grade school through law school. Although he is an attorney, his passion is public service. On Nov. 8, 2016, he was elected Harris County Commissioner for Precinct One, which serves approximately 1.1 million people. Previously, he represented a Houston district in the Texas Senate for more than 25 years, earning widespread praise as a leader on economic development, education, civil rights, budget issues, responsible environmental policy, tax cuts for the middle class, criminal justice, and workforce development.See more.

Excellent Featured Speakers — See the full descriptions.

• Staying Resilient – Recovery of Attwater’s Prairie Chickens post-Harvey,
  Jennifer Romero, Asst. Refuge Manager, Attwater Prairie Chicken NWR &
  Hannah Bailey, Curator of Birds, Houston Zoo
• How Unusual Was Harvey, and Will It Stay That Way?
  John W Nielsen-Gammon, PhD, Texas A&M & Texas State Climatologist
• 
  A Green Shield: Using Nature to Rebuild a More Resilient Houston for People and Wildlife,
  Jaime González, Houston Urban Conservation Programs Manager, The Nature Conservancy
• Soil – We Treat It Like Dirt,
  Glen Miracle, Local Farmer & Practitioner of Regenerative Agriculture, Laughing Frog Farm
• The “Whys” of Water Conservation After Harvey,
  Scott Jones, Director of Advocacy, Galveston Bay Foundation,
• Resiliency Planning in Houston: Understanding Chronic Health Issues from Harvey, Elena Craft, PhD, Sr Health Scientist, Environmental Defense Fund
• Rebuilding a Resilient Houston
  April Ward, AIA Assoc., LEED GCP, Executive Director, Living Paradigm CDC
• How to Push Back on the Cumulative Impacts of Environmental Hazards Faced by Vulnerable Communities in Houston, Amy Dinn, Managing Attorney, Lone Star Legal Aid
• Summarizing Hurricane Harvey’s Environmental Impacts – the Harvey Map, Stephanie Glenn, PhD, Program Director, Hydrology & Watersheds, HARC

Table Talks: Small group discussions with experts on a variety of topics related to our post-Harvey theme, including impacts on our air and water quality, environmental justice initiatives, wildlife and landscape conservation, and efforts to build resiliency for our future. A cross between a breakout session and speed networking. See full descriptions of table talk hosts.

• Disaster Recovery & Reuse: Lessons from Recent Storms to Help Lessen Impacts on Landfills
  Keith Koski, Manager, City of Houston Building Materials Reuse Warehouse
• What Grade Would You Give Galveston Bay’s Health?
  T’Noya Thompson, Report Card Coordinator, Galveston Bay Foundation
• Sea Turtles, Dune Restoration, and Plastic Bags…
  Joanie Steinhaus, Campaign Director, Gulf of Mexico, Turtle Island Restoration Network
• From Crisis Comes Opportunity
  Anton Edwards, Acquisition Specialist, Avenue C.D.C.
• Media matters
  Matthew Tresaugue, Manager, Houston Air Quality Media Initiative, Environmental Defense Fund & One Breath Partnership
• Harvey the Hurricane Hawk and Others…
  Anja Machado, Executive Director, TWRC Wildlife Center
• How to Push Back on the Cumulative Impacts of Environmental Hazards Faced by Vulnerable Communities in Houston: 1) Confronting Nuisances; 2) Permit Challenges; 3) Zoning When there is no Zoning
  Amy Dinn, Managing Attorney, Environmental Justice Team, Lone Star Legal Aid
• Citizen Science: Microplastics in the Galveston Bay Area
  Theresa Morris, Gulf Program Coordinator, Turtle Island Restoration Network
• The Harvey Map – More on Environmental Impacts
  Erin Kinney, PhD, Research Scientist, Coastal Ecology, HARC

Exhibit tables from CEC member groups and local businesses. (See the registration page to reserve your exhibit table.)

• The Powis Firm
• Coastal Environments, Inc. & Moore Archaeological Consulting
• TRUEGRID
• HARC
• Lower Brazos Riverwatch
• The Nature Conservancy
• Laughing Frog Farm
• TWRC
• Lone Star Legal Aid
• Galveston Bay Estuary Program
• EDF
• One Breath Partnership

Delicious, locally-grown food from Pat Greer’s Kitchen.

SPONSORSHIP

We are grateful to the following sponsors:

The Powis Firm PLLC is a full service law firm that provides general counsel services, including litigation, for non-profits and small businesses. It specializes in advocacy services in the conservation and environmental space and provides strategic direction for campaigns or programs for a variety of Gulf Coast non-profits. Jen Powis with The Powis Firm was recently named by Houstonia Magazine as a Top Lawyer for Non-profits.

HARC is a nonprofit research hub providing independent analysis on energy, air, and water issues to people seeking scientific answers. HARC is focused on building a sustainable future that helps people thrive and nature flourish. Be sure to learn more about the next event in their HARC People & Nature Speaker Series: Innovative Resilience Financing on September 12, 2018.

Lower Brazos Riverwatch: Defending the Brazos, Waco to the Gulf. Lower Brazos Riverwatch is a 501 (c)(3) nonprofit organization that advocates for water quality, riparian habitat protection, and river access on the Brazos River in Texas. We protect 425 river miles on the Brazos, from Waco to the Gulf, as well as tributary streams. Our land trust affiliate, the Columbia Bottomlands Conservancy also protects riparian habitats on the lower San Bernard and Colorado Rivers.

Interested in sponsoring the event?  Several opportunities are available – Click HERE for details.