Climate change and green technology the focus of June 8 forum at UC Santa Cruz

Lisa Sloan
Steve Westly

Climate change expert Lisa Sloan and green technology proponent Steve Westly will be the keynote speakers during the sixth annual Foundation Forum at the University of California, Santa Cruz, on Friday, June 8, at 4 p.m. in the Music Center Recital Hall.

The event is free and open to the public, but seating is limited and tickets will be required. To order tickets, call the UCSC Ticket Office at (831) 459-2159. Public parking permits will be available at the Performing Arts lot for $2.

Sloan will kick off the forum, Global Warming and California's Future, with a discussion of regional climate change in California. A professor of Earth and planetary sciences and director of the Climate Change and Impacts Laboratory at UCSC, Sloan will describe likely climate conditions across California in the next 50 to 100 years and the impact such changes will have upon residents and the state's ecosystems.

Westly, a former California state controller and Democratic candidate for governor, will discuss the past, present, and future of green technology. As controller, Westly led the effort to commit more than $1 billion to clean technology investments. Now, as a prominent Silicon Valley venture capitalist, he is helping entrepreneurs build the clean technology companies of the future.

In addition, Acting UCSC Chancellor George Blumenthal and student activist Tommaso Boggia will discuss the greening of UCSC. They will showcase the campus's use of green technology and UCSC's emergence as a leader of the sustainability movement.

The annual Foundation Forum provides a venue for prominent faculty members, community and industry leaders, and distinguished alumni to discuss timely topics of the day before an audience of community members, UCSC Foundation trustees, faculty, staff, and students. For questions, contact the UCSC Special Events Office at (831) 459-5003.