The White House has recognized Kim Morrow, climate change resource specialist in the University of Nebraska-Lincoln’s School of Natural Resources, and 11 others as “Champions of Change” for their efforts in protecting the environment and communities from the effects of climate change.
The Champions of Change program was created as an opportunity for the White House to feature individuals doing extraordinary things to empower and inspire members of their communities.
“I am very humbled to receive this recognition,” said Morrow, who was formally honored at the White House and participated in a panel discussion on July 20.
“I became convinced of the urgency of climate change nine years ago, and at that time asked myself why I wasn’t devoting every minute of my professional energy to working on this crisis,” Morrow said.
She has since become a religious environmental leader, serving as executive director of Nebraska Interfaith Power and Light, a non-profit whose mission is to facilitate the faith community’s response to climate change. She has also been minister of sustainability at First-Plymouth Church in Lincoln and is ordained in the United Church of Christ.
“As a minister, I recognized that faith communities had tremendous resources for responding to this crisis with community-based solutions, moral visions for the care of creation and hope in the face of seemingly overwhelming circumstances,” Morrow said.
At UNL, Morrow is assisting in the organization of a series of sector-based roundtable discussions on adaptation and mitigation actions in response to a changing climate, to take place in September and October.
Along with Don Wilhite, climatologist and professor, and Martha Shulski, assistant professor and director of the High Plains Regional Climate Center, Morrow is organizing an Arctic workshop scheduled for November at Nebraska Innovation Campus.
“(Morrow’s) expertise, passion for addressing the issue of climate change and experience working with various stakeholder groups in this endeavor is a tremendous asset as these initiatives move forward,” Wilhite said.
Morrow said that the work at SNR is “at the nexus” of climate change work in the state.
“With the combination of cutting-edge climate information, relationships with key stakeholder groups and policy work, we have the opportunity to make a real difference in preparing Nebraska for the changes that lie ahead,” she said. “With great people, excellent research and a wonderful institution, I remain hopeful that we can transform and thrive in the face of a changing world.”
