Eliot Wessler is a retired economist.  For the past ten years he has been working with a number of grassroots environmental groups that focus on modernizing and rationalizing New Hampshire's solid waste policies.  He worked in Washington DC for 35 years at a number of consulting firms, trade associations and Federal agencies.  Most of his work focused on electric and natural gas utilities, including environmental policy-making but primarily on anti-trust matters.  He is a graduate of Northern Arizona University and Clark University.

He and his wife Ellen are very lucky--they live in Whitefield New Hampshire, a beautiful part of our state, and spend winters in St. Petersburg Florida.  They have two grown children who continue to live in Washington DC.

Cynthia Walter, Ph.D. will be introducing the speaker and moderating the Q&A session. Dr. Walter is a scientist with 35 years of experience teaching and research on the sources and solutions for environmental problems. In relation to tonight’s program, she and her students documented contamination in private wells near a landfill in Ohio and she recently joined a citizen appeal regarding permits for the Turnkey landfill near her home in Dover.  She volunteers with several grassroots groups including the NH Network for Environment, Energy and Climate.

This event will be co-sponsored by the NH Network for Environment, Energy and Climate, and the Connecticut Health Professionals for Climate Action.

Dr. Ziska is currently an Associate Professor in the Environmental Health Sciences at the Mailman School of Public Health at Columbia University.  After graduating from the University of California, Davis, he began his career as a Smithsonian fellow, then was the Project Leader for global climate change at the International Rice Research Institute in the Philippines prior to a 25-year career at the USDA’s Agricultural Research Service. He has worked extensively on documenting the impact of climate change and rising carbon dioxide levels on human health through a botanical lens, including allergies, nutrition, plant-based medicine and pesticide exposure. Dr. Ziska was a contributor to the 1995, 2001, 2007, 2014, 2022 International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) reports.  He was also a contributor to the 2014 and 2018 National Climate Assessment (NCA) (Public Health Chapter and Air quality chapter respectively); and helped lead the 2016 special NCA report on climate and health; The Impacts of Climate Change on Human Health in the United States: A Scientific Assessment.  His most recent book is: Greenhouse Planet: How Rising CO2 changes Plants-and Life as we know it. Through Columbia University Press. (November 2022).

Cassie Papaleo, DO will be introducing the speaker and moderating the Q&A session. Cassie is a family medicine resident physician at Dartmouth Health in Keene, NH where she focuses on caring for a rural, underserved community, providing full spectrum care from birth through end of life. She is passionate about the intersection between medicine and social justice as a means of building healthier communities. She is a lover of the outdoors and strongly believes in the power of human connection.

Mikey Pasciuto currently serves as the Chief Sustainability Officer at Scrapp, a start-up dedicated to creating data-driven sustainable waste programs. Through Scrapp, Mikey specializes in product and packaging recyclability globally, zero-waste programs, and all things sustainable packaging. He recently had the privilege to present to his Majesty the King at COP28, as part of Scotland's delegation, about sustainable materials management. Mikey also serves as the President of Collaborative Solid Waste Strategies (CSWS), a local non-profit dedicated to promoting sustainable waste management in New Hampshire. Mikey was born and raised in Massachusetts and graduated from the University of New Hampshire in 2021 with a dual degree in Mechanical Engineering and Sustainability. His professional interests include renewable energy, recycling, and sustainable systems. Whenever Mikey isn't working, you can catch him gardening, composting, or spending time with his animals.

What happens to our bodies after death can have environmental and social benefits for those left behind in the form of land conservation and carbon sequestration, spiritual and emotional reintegration, and strengthening of community. Natural burial is a climate strategy that everyone can plan for and act on in the here and now by creating burial spaces free from toxic materials and that protect land for new modes of public use for the future. These spaces are designed for the living, changing our relationship with death in fundamental, healing ways. We’ll take a look at what green burial is (and isn’t) and how our lives, in the end, can contribute to the wellbeing of others and the planet.

Lee Webster is a public speaker, author, and educator on funeral reform, former nonprofit leader of the Green Burial Council, Conservation Burial Alliance, National Home Funeral Alliance, National End-of-Life Doula Alliance, and director of NH and VT Funeral Resources & Education.

Jenna Tipaldo is a PhD candidate in Environmental and Planetary Health Sciences at the CUNY School of Public Health, with an advanced certificate in Demography from the CUNY Graduate Center. She is a fellow with the CUNY Institute of Demographic Research and has also served as a Fellow with the NYC Panel on Climate Change's (NPCC4) Health Working Group. 

Jennifer Rasmussen, RN, MPH, is a registered nurse with over 12 years of experience in community health and home care. Since 2020, she has dedicated her professional work to the field of planetary health, focusing on education, advocacy, and global engagement. In 2022, she was selected as an Environmental Health Nurse Fellow with the Alliance of Nurses for Healthy Environments, where she worked alongside Boston-based organizations on climate change, health equity, and environmental justice. Currently, as an Education Fellow with the Planetary Health Alliance, Jennifer develops educational resources on planetary health and contributes to the Education Action Plan Group for the Planetary Health Roadmap, advancing planetary health principles across curricula, communities, and governance. Passionate about public health and protecting natural ecosystems, Jennifer has lobbied for improved air quality standards on Capitol Hill, written about eco-anxiety and environmental justice for respected publications, and has given presentations at national and international conferences. Jennifer holds a BA in Psychology with a minor in Anthropology from Bates College, a BS in Nursing from Simmons University, an MPH from UMass Amherst, and a certificate in Climate Change and Health from Yale University.