Meet OUR ADVISORY BOARD
Drum Roll, please
Pattrn is honored to have the support of the following members of our Advisory Board -- a team of positive disruptors and thought leaders working to solve the planet's greatest climate challenges. These renowned subject matter experts are donating their time and expertise to help our editorial teams continue to develop relevant content on the topics of climate, sustainability, and our environment.
BERNADETTE WOODS PLACKY
Chief Meteorologist, Climate Matters Director
Climatecentral.org
Woods Placky graduated from Penn State University in 1999 with a B.S. in Meteorology and a minor in French, including a semester studying abroad. She began her career at AccuWeather before making the switch to broadcast television. Her first TV station was in Fayetteville, AR, then moved to Lexington, KY and eventually Baltimore, MD where she was the first female meteorologist in the station’s history. This is also where she won an Emmy for Best Weathercaster and helped launch Weather Day at Camden Yards for area students. Woods Placky earned both the AMS Seal of Approval and the Certified Broadcast Meteorologist distinction.
In 2013, Woods Placky made the transition to Climate Central in Princeton, NJ. During her time there, she has given numerous presentations and hosted many workshops around the world, including at COP 21 in Paris.
Woods Placky has served on several AMS committees, task forces, and hosted several Short Courses. In addition to her work with the AMS, she is deeply engaged in her alma mater. She helped launch the Meteorology Alumni of Penn State group, served on the Graduates of Earth and Mineral Sciences Board, has been active in the Mentoring Program, and is the chair of the Meteorology and Atmospheric Science Department Advisory Board. Woods Placky is also very active in her local community, serving on the Board of Trustees for the Watershed Institute and a science advisor for C-Change Conversations.
BERNADETTE WOODS PLACKY
Dr. Mustafa
Santiago Ali
The National Wildlife Federation
A renowned thought leader, international speaker, policy maker, community liaison, trainer, and facilitator, Dr. Mustafa Santiago Ali serves as the Vice President of Environmental Justice, Climate, and Community Revitalization for the National Wildlife Federation. He is also the founder of Revitalization Strategies, a business focused on moving our most vulnerable communities from “surviving to thriving.”
Before joining the National Wildlife Federation, Mustafa was the senior vice president for the Hip Hop Caucus, a national non-profit and non-partisan organization that connects the hip-hop community to the civic process to build power and create positive change. In his role, he led the strategic direction, expansion, and operation of the Hip Hop Caucus’ portfolio on climate, environmental justice, and community revitalization.
Prior to joining the Hip Hop Caucus, Mustafa worked for 24 years at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). He began working on social justice issues at the age of 16 and joined the EPA as a student, becoming a founding member of the EPA’s Office of Environmental Justice (OEJ). He most recently served as senior advisor for environmental justice and community revitalization and assistant associate administrator, working to elevate environmental justice issues and strengthening environmental justice policies, programs, and initiatives. Mustafa worked for EPA administrators beginning with William Riley and ending with Scott Pruitt.
Mustafa uses a holistic approach to revitalizing vulnerable communities, and has worked with more than 500 domestic and international communities to secure environmental, health, and economic justice. Throughout his career, Mustafa has conducted more than 1,000 presentations across the country, including speeches, training, and guest lectures at over 100 colleges and universities. He is a former instructor at West Virginia University and Stanford University.
Mustafa currently serves as a board member for Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Union of Concerned Scientists, Rodenberry Foundation, TREE, and Climate Hawks Vote. He is frequently seen on television, including appearances on MSNBC, CNN, VICE, BET, Full Frontal with Samantha Bee, and Democracy NOW! Mustafa is also a regular guest on WURD radio, Roland Martin Unfiltered, The Dean Obeidallah Show, and many others, and is the former co-host of the live radio show and podcast Think 100%: The Coolest Show on Climate Change with Grammy-nominated singer and actress Antonique Smith and civil rights icon Rev Lennox Yearwood.
DR. Mustafa Santiago Ali
Pam
Knox
UGA Agricultural Climatologist
Pam Knox is the Director of the University of Georgia Weather Network, a group of 88 automated weather stations across the state which provide weather and climate data to farmers, utilities, Extension agents and private citizens. The network also helps support the National Weather Service by providing real-time weather information in hazardous weather outbreaks. She is an Extension Climatologist specializing in agriculture and climate change and a past Assistant State Climatologist for Georgia and has also served as the Wisconsin State Climatologist. Pam is a Certified Consulting Meteorologist (CCM) and is a past Chair of the Board of CCMs for the American Meteorological Society. She is currently serving as a co-author for the Southeast Chapter of the 5th National Climate Assessment.
Pam Knox
Deke
Arndt
Chief, Climatic Science And Services Division
National Centers for Environmental Information
Deke Arndt is the Director of the Climatic Science and Services Division, taking the role in 2020 after serving as the Chief of CWC’s Monitoring Section since 2009. Deke’s career began in 1996 at the Oklahoma Climatological Survey, and he has worked closely with public safety, agriculture, climate monitoring, and the energy generation and transmission sectors. In recent years, he has served on the Council of the American Meteorological Society, been a co-lead editor of the AMS’s annual State of the Climate report, and co-chaired the US Global Change Research Program’s Interagency Indicators Working Group.
Deke Arndt
Gaurab Basu
Affiliate, Department of Global Health & Social Medicine Harvard Medical School
Gaurab Basu, MD, MPH is a physician and founding co-director of the CHA Center for Health Equity Education and Advocacy (CHEEA). He is an Instructor at Harvard Medical School and Faculty Affiliate in the Department of Global Health and Social Medicine. Dr. Basu is a Health Equity Fellow at the Center for Climate, Health, and the Global Environment and Faculty Affiliate at the FXB Center for Health and Human Rights at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.
Gaurab Basu
Heather McTeer Toney
Activist, Speaker, Author.
Heather McTeer Toney was appointed by President Barack Obama as Regional Administrator for Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Southeast Region, headquartered in Atlanta, GA. Prior to coming to the Region, she served as the first African-American, first female and at age 27; the youngest Mayor of Greenville, Mississippi from 2004-2012. Known for her energetic and genuine commitment to people, her work has made her a national figure in the area of public service, diversity and community engagement.
Heather McTeer Toney