Don’t Fuel the Refugee Crisis, 3/31, 7pm

What are the connections between climate and conflict? How is climate change exacerbating existing tensions in the Middle East, Latin America, South Asia and elsewhere? What are the connections between our domestic energy policy at home and the refugee crisis that is currently unfolding on the nightly news? Please join us to hear presentations from three incredible speakers followed by action-oriented discussion.

Speaker bios:

Neil Bhatiya is a Fellow at The Century Foundation where he researches U.S. foreign policy and international climate change policy, with a specific focus on environmental peacebuilding and climate change in South Asia. He is also the Climate and Diplomacy Fellow at the Center for Climate and Security. He is the author, most recently, of A Post-Paris Agenda for Climate Security at the UN. His analysis on energy and climate change topics has appeared in Grist, Foreign Policy, World Politics Review, and The Week. Previously, he was a Research Fellow for the Streit Council, where he studied the expansion of NATO. He has earned History degrees from The George Washington University (M.A.) and Marist College (B.A.).

Nina Macapinlac,is the Coordinator of Alumni Organizing for the Responsible Endowments Coalition. She works and builds with alumni from around the country, getting them involved with divestment efforts at their alma maters and in the larger movement for responsible endowments. Born in the Philippines, she is a Rutgers University graduate and longtime New Jersey resident who has fought alongside many others for immigrant and labor rights. She is currently the Vice Chairperson for Anakbayan-NJ, a progressive Filipino youth and student organization that serves working-class Filipino communities across the state. With Anakbayan and the rest of the New Jersey Tuition Equity for Dreamers Coalition, Nina was involved in the youth-led campaign that passed the New Jersey DREAM Act in December 2013. Nina continues to support efforts to organize immigrant youth and migrant workers in New Jersey. She hopes to link and raise the connections between endowment justice and community-led grassroots movements for economic, political, and social justice. You can follow Nina on Twitter @REC_Nina

Sophie Robinson is a producer of The Age of Consequences, a documentary that’s been described as “The Hurt Locker” meets “An Inconvenient Truth,” http://www.documentary.org/film/age-consequences Sophie writes: “After the realization that I could no longer pursue my intended career of becoming an environmental science teacher due to the urgency of climate change, I decided to dedicate my time to building the climate change grassroots movement for two years. Currently, that passion has taken me to filmmaking, where I can create beautiful and change-inspiring documentaries about climate change.”