Global warming, energy conservation, pollution, organic foods, and deforestation are just some of the critical issues that come to mind when we begin to discuss environmentalism. Every country in the world is struggling with the answers to the above environmental questions. Policy decisions and how nations choose to balance their GDP are all influenced by the importance of the protection of the environment. Whether we realize it or not we are constantly affected by the decisions (or lack there of) regarding our environment. The costs of certain foods, gas, and recycling are very practical applications within environmentalism.

At this Yom Iyun we will discuss:
1. A scientific background on what is happening to the climate, why it happened, and what can be done from here on out.
2. A practical perspective giving both the larger political/social/economic factors that play into climate change, and also allowing the students to think within the context of their schools what they can do to help.
3. A Torah perspective on Environmentalism as a whole, and possibly climate change in specific. There would be a focus of Jewish Law and Ideology.

Student participants will have the pleasure of hearing from the following leading experts in their respective fields:

Rabbi Kenneth Brander
Rabbi Kenneth Brander is the Dean of the Center for the Jewish Future (CJF). Its mission is to convene the vast intellectual resources of Yeshiva University, enabling the university to shape, enrich, and inspire the contemporary Jewish community.

In addition Rabbi Brander is also Rabbi Emeritus of the Boca Raton Synagogue, founding dean of the Boca Raton Community Kollel, and founder of Weinbaum Yeshiva High School. Rabbi Brander has received numerous awards for his community service, including: South Palm Beach County Federation Award for Rabbinic Leadership, Hurowitz UJA Federation Award for Rabbinic Leadership, and the key to the City of Boca Raton. In addition, Rabbi Brander was the first recipient of the Yeshiva University Wexner Rabbinic Leadership Award in 1999, and was honored with the State of Israel Medal of Honor for Rabbinic Leadership in supporting Gush Etztion.

Rabbi Brander studied at Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary and was awarded ordination in 1986. In 1999, he received an advanced level of ordination from Machon Puah and Rav Mordechai Eliyahu acknowledging the Rabbi's particular expertise in the areas of Taharat hamispacha (Family Purity), infertility, gynecological procedures, and their interface with halacha. Rabbi Brander has authored many articles in various scholarly journals and also co edited The Yeshiva University Haggaddah.

Dr. Leonard Druyan
Dr. Druyan is a Senior Research Scientist and the Director of the Center for Climate Systems Research, a unit of the Earth Institute at Columbia University. Alternatively referred to as "GISS at Columbia", CCSR is the administrative umbrella for many Columbia University research scientists based at the NASA lab in NYC, the Goddard Institute for Space Studies.

Dr. Druyan's research interests focus on climate variability in tropical regions. His published work relates to a range of themes, including the Indian and West African summer monsoons, Sahel drought, African wave disturbances, climate change impacts on tropical cyclones, El Ni�o and other sea-surface temperature anomaly impacts on regional climates and seasonal climate prediction for Brazil. Before coming to Columbia University, he was a professor at Bar Ilan University in Israel, where he involved his students in research projects about Israel's climate. His most recent research uses a regional climate model that focuses on the spatial details of climate variability.

Dr. Druyan was a contributor to the Encyclopedia of Climate and Weather (Oxford University Press) and has published many research papers in leading international journals of weather and climate over a period spanning more than 30 years. He has also served as a referee for submissions to many journals and government agencies.

Kyle Meng
As a research fellow in Environmental Defense's climate and air program, Kyle Meng works on assisting China in strengthening its capacity to implement effective climate change policies, with a particular focus on establishing the institutional building blocks for a Chinese carbon market.

His research and advocacy also touch on the international climate process where he is actively involved in analyses of global emissions pathways, mandatory carbon markets, and the architectural elements of a Post-Kyoto framework.

Prior to joining Environmental Defense, Kyle worked on carbon capture and storage opportunities in China and was a foreign scholar at Tsinghua University's School of Public Policy and Management in Beijing. He is proficient in Mandarin and Cantonese.

Kyle received his B.S.E. in Civil and Environmental Engineering from Princeton University.

Ilan Glazer
Ilan Glazer is a student in the Aleph Rabbinic Ordination Program, and was ordained as a Maggid, an Inspirational Speaker and Storyteller, in January. Ilan has studied Public Speaking and Communication with the world's top speakers, including T. Harv Eker, Les Brown, and Mark Victor Hansen.

Ilan is the Program Coordinator for Costa Rican Adventures' Outdoor Adventure for Jewish Teens and Adventures for Jewish Singles. Ilan is a rising star in the public speaking industry, an environmental educator with the Teva Learning Center, and the founder of DrumDaven!