Sustainability in Travel, Tourism, and Hospitality – Day One Roundtables

Monday, 9/22 | 9:30 a.m. – 4 p.m.
Cornell Tech – Verizon Executive Education Center, Roosevelt Island
By invitation only

This session will include roundtables on the following topics: Sips of Sustainability: Tackling Climate Costs from Farm to Bottle; A Knotty Opportunity: Mass Timber Construction in Travel & Tourism; and Turning the Tide: Hospitality and Tourism for Sustainable Development in Small Islands.

Hosts: Cornell SC Johnson College of Business: Center for Hospitality Research, Center for Sustainable Global Enterprise
Cornell speakers: Aaron Adalja, O’Shannon Burns, Douglass Miller, Mark Milstein, Cheryl Stanley, Bruce Tracey, Jeanne Varney

Campus Climate Tech Launchpad Competition

Monday, 9/22 | 6 – 9 p.m.
Civic Hall near Union Square
Registration CLOSED

Academic teams will compete for a chance to win the cash prize and gain unmatched exposure in front of VCs, family offices, angels, corporate innovation scouts, government stakeholders, and fellow founders. The event is co-hosted by NY Tech Alliance, bringing a strong track record for hosting tech community convening events.

Host: NY Tech Alliance
Cornell contact: Shardul Dinesh Prabhu

Tuesday, September 23

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The Power of Stories

Tuesday, 9/23 | 12:30 – 1:45 p.m.
Regen House, 38 W 39th Street
Registration CLOSED

Through the eyes of award-winning filmmaker Josh Tickell (Kiss the Ground & Common Ground), young climate storytellers and leading scientists, this session will spotlight the power of narrative to inspire action and reimagine our relationship with the land.​ Nespresso is proud to convene this intergenerational dialogue exploring the future of regeneration through creative media that shifts culture and builds momentum around regenerative agriculture.

Hosts: Nespresso, Cornell Atkinson Center for Sustainability
Cornell speaker: Viviana Ruiz-Gutierrez

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A Conversation on Catalyzing Climate Impact with Cornell Faculty and Alumni

Tuesday, 9/23 | 6 – 8 p.m.
The Cornell Club New York, 6 East 44th Street
Registration CLOSED

Join us for an engaging discussion with Cornell’s brightest minds working at the intersection of climate, energy, food, and One Health. As part of Climate Week NYC, we’ll showcase how Cornell Atkinson—celebrating 15 years of catalyzing change—is driving real-world impact through groundbreaking faculty and projects.

Hosts: Cornell Atkinson Center for Sustainability, The 2030 Project: A Cornell Climate Initiative
Cornell speakers: Lindsay Anderson, Arnab Ghosh, David Lodge, Amanda Rodewald

Wednesday, September 24

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Lab Tour: Hydroponics, Aquaponics, Aquaculture Science, and Technology Education Program (HAASTEP)

Wednesday, 9/24 | 10:30 – 11:30 a.m.
Food and Finance High School, Park West Campus
525 West 50th Street

High school student interns from three Park West high schools receive hands-on lab experience that enriches their STEM coursework. The focus on food, nutrition, and environment teaches students about advocacy in their daily lives.

During your tour of the Cornell Learning Labs, you will visit a state-of-the-art rooftop greenhouse and an entirely indoor hydroponics lab. Between these two labs, there are demos of six hydroponic systems commonly found in schools. We will discuss how they work, their benefits, and how they connect to student learning.

Please meet us at the entrance halfway down the block between 10th and 11th avenues. You’re in the right place if you see the security desk.

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Empowering Regional Climate Education: The National Extension Climate Initiative in Action
(Day 2 – Session 6 of the 9th NYC Green School Conference 2025)

Wednesday, 9/24 | 12:30 – 1:00 p.m.
570 Lexington Ave., 12th floor
Registration CLOSED

This session will spotlight the powerful role of land-grant universities, cooperative extension systems, and
regional networks in driving localized climate education and resilience-building. Showcasing the work of the National Extension Climate Initiative (NECI), panelists will share practical approaches to community engagement, climate literacy, and academic partnerships that empower local decision-makers and future leaders. The session will also explore how these regionally grounded efforts scale up to support national climate goals.

Hosts: Green Mentors
Cornell speaker: David Kay

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Beyond Fragmented Metrics: Unifying Nature Measurement for Global Impact

Wednesday, 9/24 | 2 – 4:30 p.m.
By invitation only

Nearly two-thirds of terrestrial ecosystems and over half the ocean are degraded, exacerbating climate, biodiversity, and health crises. While UN frameworks recognize restoring ecological integrity as essential for addressing all these crises, fragmented scientific approaches for measuring ecosystem health create confusion for decision-makers.

This convening addresses the urgent need to translate complex science into actionable guidance for high-level decision-makers approaching UNFCCC COP30. We’ll share updates on scientific products like the Nature Health Index, Amazon.ia, Global Pasture Watch, and the Global Ecosystem Atlas, which provide critical ecosystem information to decision-makers. Our goal is reducing confusion and providing actionable information to policymakers heading into COP30.

Host: Wildlife Conservation Society, Planet
Cornell speaker: Amanda Rodewald, Larissa Sugai

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The Business Case for Nature Positive: Success Stories of Regenerative Agriculture

Wednesday, 9/24 | 1:30 – 2:30 p.m.
Greenhouse at Bryant Park
Registration CLOSED

This panel will feature experts from Nespresso, Technoserve, PUR, and the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, and highlight how regenerative coffee programs are already delivering measurable returns—for farmers, for nature, and for long-term business value. Companies are increasingly turning to regenerative approaches not only to meet climate and sustainability goals, but also to secure resilient supply chains, strengthen producer partnerships, and protect product quality.

Host: Nature4Climate
Cornell speaker: Viviana Ruiz-Gutierrez

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Resilient Infrastructure at Every Scale: Systems, Strategies, and Solutions

Wednesday, 9/24 | 3 – 4:30 p.m.
Weill Cornell Medicine – Uris Auditorium
Registration required

As new technologies, climate shifts, and societal pressures converge, the challenges facing our infrastructure have never been more complex or urgent to address. But innovation is rising to meet the moment. Join us for a panel discussion on cross-sector partnerships and how they can accelerate climate resilience. From campus testbeds to megaregional corridors, panelists will share how they are leveraging digital tools, new financing models, and integrated strategies to design, govern, and scale future-ready infrastructure. Industry panelists include two Cornell University alumni: Jeff Weiss, Executive Chairman of Distributed Sun and truCurrent, and Jean Shia, Director of Impact Strategy and Investment at Autodesk.

Host: Cornell Program in Infrastructure Policy, Autodesk, WSP, NVIDIA, Regional Plan Association
Cornell speaker: Rick Geddes

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Science-Policy Networking Happy Hour

Wednesday, 9/24 | 5 – 7:00 p.m.
Bartley Dunnes, 160 W 54th St, New York, NY 10019
Registration required

During Climate Week NYC, the Science Policy Alliance’s (SPA) academic institutes are providing an opportunity for alumni and partners of our universities to connect and engage in meaningful conversations about energy and environmental policy priorities. SPA is an informal alliance among academic institutes focused on linking science with policy to align research expertise from across universities with policy opportunities to achieve impact.

Hosts: Science Policy Alliance, with the Cornell Atkinson Center for Sustainability at Cornell University, the Center for Policy Research on Energy and the Environment at Princeton University, the Gund Institute at the University of Vermont, and the Woods Institute for the Environment at Stanford University

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