Across the United States public lands are facing unprecedented challenges ranging from the loosening regulations and carving up of protected landscapes for resource extraction, to the cutting of operating budgets necessary for the stewardship of some of the United States most cherished landscapes. At a time when participation in outdoor recreation and visitation to public lands are on the rise what is being done and what more can be done to ensure that our conserved natural landscapes remain intact and accessible?
Join the two Outdoors Clubs at Harvard Business School and Harvard Kennedy School for a panel discussion on the intersection of public policy, business, and grass-roots advocacy in the modern U.S. conservation movement. Panelists for the evening include Tommy Caldwell, American climber and adventurer; Erik Murdock, Access Fund Policy Director; Bethany Lebowitz, Founder of Brown Girls Climb; Katie Wallace, Director of Social & Environmental Impact at New Belgium Brewing; Estee Rivera Murdock, Rocky Mountain Conservancy Executive Director; with Rand Wentworth, Louis Bacon Senior Fellow in Environmental Leadership and HKS Adjunct Lecturer in Public Policy serving as moderator for the evening.
6:30 PM - Doors open
7:00 PM - Panel discussion begins
8:45 PM - Q&A wraps up
9:00 PM - After party sponsored by Fat Tire at Catalyst - registration required
Access Fund
MIT Outing Club
Outdoors Club at Harvard Kennedy School
Outdoors Club at Harvard Business School
Bethany Lebewitz has been climbing over eight years. With experience in bouldering, sport, and traditional climbing, she strives to foster community where women are encouraged to be on ‘lead’. As the CEO of Brown Girls Climb, LLC, she hopes to build a company that elevates women of color and underrepresented voices in the climbing community by providing accessible and affordable climbing education and gear. Bethany is also the cofounder of the Color the Crag Climbing Festival that celebrates diversity and culture in climbing and is part-time youth climbing instructor with Beast Fingers Climbing Team in Denver, Colorado. Her interest in rock climbing and neuroscience has driven her to create outdoor and climbing opportunities as a way to share tools that encourage growth and adapting our responses to challenging circumstances.
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Erik Murdock is the Policy Director at the Access Fund, a national climbing advocacy organization. An avid, well-traveled climber, cyclist and skier, Erik has a MS in Geology and a PhD in Natural Resource Studies and Environmental Psychology. He has worked for the University of Arizona, the Bureau of Land Management, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the USDA Forest Service and the National Park Service. Erik founded the Outdoor Alliance GIS Laboratory to conduct spatial analyses on human-powered recreation. His work focuses on public lands legislation, wilderness management, climbing and recreation policy, and Geographic Information Systems.
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Estee Rivera Murdock is the executive director at the Rocky Mountain Conservancy, which produces educational publications, offers seminars, supports research, and provides philanthropic support to Rocky Mountain National Park and other public lands partners in Colorado and Wyoming. Born and raised in southern Arizona, Estee previously worked for the National Park Service for nearly a decade. She has an MA in geography with a focus on Hispanic community engagement and public lands and geographic information science. She also holds a B.A. in anthropology and Spanish literature, all from the University of Arizona. She currently serves as a board member of the High Country News and on the editorial board of The Public Historian.
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Katie Wallace is the Director of Social & Environmental Impact at New Belgium Brewing where she has been for 15 years. In her role, she develops an organizational understanding of environmental and social issues that are impacted by and pose risk to business and brewing. She develops and implements New Belgium’s strategy to address these pressing issues, including climate change, land and water protections, and social equity. Her team works toward these goals through operational sustainability initiatives, philanthropy, policy, company culture, and brand-based advocacy. Based out of Colorado, Katie sits on the senior leadership team at New Belgium, co-chairs the Brewers Association Sustainability Committee, and co-founded the Glass Recycling Coalition. Before joining the sustainability team at New Belgium, Katie’s experience includes water quality, finance, sales & marketing, and supply chain. She holds degrees in Finance and Economics as well as a Masters in Applied Positive Psychology where she studied approaches to advancing a culture of sustainability in organizations.
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Rand Wentworth teaches leadership, negotiation and environmental policy at the Harvard Kennedy School. He was president of the Land Trust Alliance from 2002-2016 and now serves as president emeritus. Wentworth was the founding director of the Atlanta office of the Trust for Public Land and, in his first career, was president of a commercial real estate development company. He is a graduate of Yale University and has an MBA from Cornell University.
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Tommy Caldwell is one of the world's most accomplished professional climbers and also works as a Global Sports Ambassador for Patagonia. Tommy’s dad taught him to embrace fear and doubt and turn them into inspiration. Given this attitude, Tommy has established some of the hardest routes in the U.S. and free climbed 12 routes on El Capitan in Yosemite. Tommy also holds the speed record for the Nose route on El Capitan. He believes difficult journeys, with little chance for success, teach him the most. This attitude is no better exemplified than by his by his first free ascent of Dawn Wall in January of 2015, and his first ascent of the Fitz Traverse in Patagonia in February of 2014.
