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LANSING, Mich. (WILX) – State lawmakers and University of Michigan alumni gathered Wednesday to discuss the current state of climate change in Michigan.

The meeting, led by the Wolverine Caucus, focused on ways people can prepare for climate change and its impact on the communities. They want to provide state lawmakers with strong policies to protect Michigan and the Great Lakes from the dangerous consequences of climate change.

The group believes that Michigan currently has an opportunity to combat the negative effects of climate change and become a leader in this space.

“We’re hoping to give lawmakers and citizens the tools to actually combat some of the worst impacts of climate change and to help create strong water policies for the Great Lakes,” said University of Michigan professor Mike Shriberg. “We are here in the Great Lakes State. We need to be a leader on both of these issues, and we have an opportunity to restore Michigan’s leadership in that space.”

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Wednesday, April 26, 2023

12:00pm – 1:00pm

Christman/MML Building
208 N. Capitol Ave.,1st Floor
Lansing, MI 48933

Michigan is uniquely situated as climate change makes significant changes to our way of life, identified by international experts as a climate refuge. Michigan’s Great Lakes help serve as an insulator for many of the climate impacts that will face the rest of the nation. That doesn’t mean Michigan won’t still need to make significant adaptations to address climate change impacts, it means that the state will face a unique challenge of both adaptation and preparing for an influx of climate refugees from places around the country. Our presenters today will discuss where we are at in addressing climate impacts on the Great Lakes, and how we need to prepare our water systems and available resources for an influx of population.

Panel Speakers:

Mike Shriberg
Visiting Professor of Practice and Engagement; Interim Director, Michigan Sea Grant


Mike Shriberg’s work focuses on water issues in the Great Lakes, local and state energy policy, campus sustainability/carbon neutrality and environmental leadership. Prior to coming to SEAS, he was the Great Lakes regional executive director at the National Wildlife Federation. Major initiatives included leading federal Great Lakes restoration efforts; building resilience of the Great Lakes from climate change; combating environmental injustice in the region; and engaging urban youth in nature-based education and activities.

Shriberg’s academic expertise focuses on organizational change and leadership for sustainability. Prior to his time at the National Wildlife Federation, he served as the education director at the Graham Sustainability Institute and as a lecturer in the Program in the Environment and Earth & Environmental Sciences at U-M.

Richard Norton
Professor of Urban & Regional Planning
Professor of Program in the Environment


Richard K. Norton is a professor of urban and regional planning at the University of Michigan’s Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning. He also holds a joint appointment as a professor in the Program in the Environment through U-M’s College of Literature, Science, and the Arts and School for Environment and Sustainability. Norton teaches and conducts research in the areas of planning law, sustainable development, land use and environmental planning, and coastal area management. Most of his research has focused on the challenges of managing coastal shorelands along the Laurentian Great Lakes. He also contributes actively to public service through community-engaged research and teaching, and by serving on the planning law committee of the Michigan Association of Planning (MAP).

Jennifer Read
Water Center Director
Office of the Provost, Graham Sustainability Institute


As Director of the Water Center, Jen provides intellectual and programmatic leadership to our mission to foster collaborative research that informs the policy and management decisions affecting our nation’s Great Lakes and coastal estuarine waters. She networks with regional partners from the public, private, and non-governmental sectors helping identify and elevate their water-related priorities. Then she works with faculty and students to develop multi-sector, multidisciplinary teams that address the cross-sector water resource priorities our partners have identified.

Jen has more than 20 years’ experience developing and implementing user-focused programs in the bi-national Great Lakes region. She has held positions at the Great Lakes Commission, the Great Lakes Institute for Environmental Research at the University of Windsor (GLIER), and as Assistant Director and Research Coordinator of Michigan Sea Grant.

Cory Connolly
Climate and energy advisor
Office of Climate and Energy (OCE)


Cory Connolly is climate and energy advisor, leading the Office of Climate and Energy (OCE) within the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE). The office coordinates Michigan’s response to climate change across state departments and agencies and provides guidance on climate change mitigation, adaptation, and resiliency strategies.

As advisor, Cory is key in formulating and overseeing implementation of Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s MI Healthy Climate plan, a road map to achieving economy-wide carbon neutrality by 2050.

Cory previously served as vice president for the Institute for Energy Innovation and the Michigan Energy Innovation Business Council. He also founded the Michigan Clean Energy Leaders Project, was chief operating officer at Levin Energy Partners/Lean & Green Michigan, and worked as a senior research associate at the Environmental Law Institute.

A native of the northern Michigan town of Northport, Cory now lives in Detroit, where he enjoys playing basketball and tries to travel to Latin America as often as possible.

Tuesday, March 31, 2023

12:00pm – 1:00pm

Christman/MML Building
208 N. Capitol Ave.,1st Floor
Lansing, MI 48933

A trip to the dentist has long been considered as something completely separate from your general healthcare, but research from Dr. Nalliah shows how poor oral health can impact general health outcomes. Often access to care is a major barrier to good oral health in underserved populations. How do we bridge this gap and increase equity in oral health and better get care to underserved populations – which will drive better overall health and save costs with preventative care.

Panelists:

Dr. Romesh Nalliah
Associate Dean for Patient Services
UM School of Dentistry

Dr. Romesh P. Nalliah is a Clinical Professor and serves as the Associate Dean for Patient Services at the University of Michigan School of Dentistry. When he graduated from the University of Adelaide School of Dentistry (2000) he wanted to serve in Australia’s public health system that had served his family and began his career in rural Australia using a mobile dental van. Since then, he has delivered care in small private practices, large group practices, hospitals, community health centers, and faculty practices. While his practice setting has changed, there has been a continuous commitment to public health, efficiency and quality throughout his career. In 2008, Dr. Nalliah began serving as the Senior Tutor for Castle Society at Harvard School of Dental Medicine (HSDM). While at Harvard, Dr. Nalliah also completed a Certificate in Medical Education (Harvard Medical School) and a Masters in Healthcare Management (Harvard School of Public Health). Dr. Nalliah has held many leadership roles in the Massachusetts Dental Society including Board Member, Delegate and Chair of Continuing Education. He has taught more than 100 continuing education programs for dentists, physicians and nurse practitioners and also served as Dental Director of Special Olympics for Massachusetts. In 2015, Dr. Nalliah began as the Director for Clinical Education in the DDS program at the University of Michigan. For more than a decade, Dr. Nalliah has maintained a national and international reputation as an expert in health services research and public health. He has published well over 100 articles in peer-reviewed journals, won several research awards and serves on the Editorial Boards of several journals. He also serves as the Associate Editor for the Journal of Dental Education. He brings expertise in data science into the clinical environment and has published studies related to efficiency and quality in hospitals, community health centers, and dental schools clinics

Renée Smiddy
Senior Director of Finance Policy
Community Engagement
Michigan Health and Hospital Association

Renée Smiddy is Senior Director of Finance Policy at the Michigan Health and Hospital Association. Previously, she served as the association’s director of research and performance measurement, and before that as the association’s data science manager. She has over ten years of experience working with health care data to help improve hospital operations and patient quality of care. Some of her previous projects include promoting healthcare data transparency across Michigan hospitals and serving as the data lead for the Great Lakes Partners for Patients Hospital Improvement Innovation Network. Her interests are to leverage data to impact policy and operational changes to better support patients and their families.

Smiddy’s past positions consist of being a public health researcher for the U.S. Army Public Health Command, where she interpreted data to help implement health policies at Fort Campbell, Kentucky; and an analyst at the Henry Ford Health System, where she supported redesigning the system’s policy platform and approval process. She holds a master’s degree in business analytics from the University of Michigan-Dearborn and bachelor’s degrees in business management and international relations from Michigan State University.

Dr. Holli Seabury
Executive Director
Delta Dental Foundation

Holli Seabury, EdD, is the Executive Director of the Delta Dental Foundation, which is dedicated to oral health equity and advancing dental science through education and research. From 2009 to 2019 Dr. Seabury was the CEO of McMillen Health, a non-profit health education center serving over 90,000 annually. She was the lead curriculum developer for the Brush Oral Health Program, which serves over 1.85 million children nationwide through Early Head Start/Head Start and WIC. Her work has focused on health literacy and developing educational materials for the Medicaid population, especially young families. Dr Seabury holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Defiance College. In 2015 she earned a doctorate in curriculum and instruction with a specialty in educational technology from the University of Florida.

Wolverine Caucus members are University of Michigan alumni including legislators, lobbyists, staff, and advisors working in and around the State of Michigan government. They meet with U-M experts on timely, relevant public policy subjects during the legislative session. Our mission is to provide diverse forums at which U-M friends can meet one another, enjoy fellowship, exchange views and learn from the world-class talents of U-M faculty and administrators.

The Wolverine Caucus is a partnership between the University of Michigan Office of Government Relations and the Alumni Association.