Project Scope

The Network for Emerging Leaders in Sustainability (NELS) is a seminar series for early-career professionals (and professionals who are new to the topic of sustainability) who are interested in building bridges with peers in DC-area agencies and organizations. The Network includes leaders with diverse backgrounds and expertise, from natural resource management to energy policy to public health. NELS members share a common interest in taking a multidisciplinary approach to sustainability challenges -considering the economic, environmental, social, and cultural dimensions of these problems. Through NELS, these emerging leaders will foster relationships that enable them to more effectively bring about a sustainable future. 

Past Keynote Speakers

• Paul Anastas, Assistant Administrator, Office of Research and Development (ORD), U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
• Matt Arnold, Partner, PricewaterhouseCoopers
• Ann Bartuska, Acting Deputy Under Secretary for Natural Resources and Environment, U.S. Department of Agriculture
• Raphael Bostic, Assistant Secretary for Policy Development and Research, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development
• John Carberry, Carberry Envirotech, Former Director of Environmental Technology, DuPont
• Leslie Carothers, President, Environmental Law Institute
• Michael Crow, President, Arizona State University
• Brian Czech, President, Center for the Advancement of the Steady State Economy (CASSE)
• Brian Gregory Mitchell, Research Biologist and Senior Lecturer, University of California, San Diego
• Henry Hatch, retired Chief of Engineers, U.S. Army
• Alan Hecht, Director for Sustainable Development, Office of Research and Development, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
• Steven Koonin, Science and Technology Policy Institute
• Simon Levin, Moffett Professor of Biology, Princeton University
• Donna Perla, Senior Advisor, Office of Research and Development, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
• Per Pinstrup-Andersen, H.E. Babcock Professor of Food, Nutrition and Public Policy, Cornell University
• Emmy Simmons, Former Assistant Administrator, Economic Growth, Agriculture, and Trade, United States Agency for International Development (USAID)
• Adam C. Powell, IV, CTO and Co-founder, Metal Oxygen Separation Technologies, Inc.
• Harriet Tregoning, Director, District of Columbia Office of Planning
• Vaughan Turekian, Chief International Officer, American Association for the Advancement of Science
• Cathie Woteki, Under Secretary for Research, Education, and Economics, U.S. Department of Agriculture

Sponsors

NELS is supported by the National Academies' George and Cynthia Mitchell Endowment for Sustainability Science.