Kansas is facing the question of how to create a livable state in the face of climate change. How can rural and urban areas adapt to become more resilient? As the environmental and ecological effects of a changing climate rapidly progress, local communities and nations alike are finding new solutions to this crisis. Karen Willey will lead this semester’s four-part Discussion Group Series.

Jasmin Moore has 20 years of experience in local government, strategic planning, policy development, coalition building, and integrating sustainability and equity into decision-making. Moore is the inaugural Senior Director of Sustainability + Impact for Earthjustice, the largest environmental nonprofit law firm in the world. She holds a Master of Science Degree in Community & Regional Planning from the University of Texas at Austin School of Architecture, and a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Applied Behavioral Science from the University of Kansas.

Tom Buller is the Executive Director of the Kansas Rural Center. He studied geography and rural development at the University of Kansas as an undergraduate and the University of Minnesota as a graduate student. Tom and his family own and operate Buller Family Farm, which produces certified organic vegetables and fruit in the Lawrence area. Along the way he has coordinated the Lawrence Farmers’ Market, co-founding the KC Food Hub and worked as a horticulture extension agent for K-State Research and Extension- Douglas County.

Ward Lyle’s research and teaching interests center on the intersection of people, the built environment, and the natural environment. He holds a Ph.D. from the Department of City and Regional Planning at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Prior to obtaining his Ph.D., he lived in Madison, Wisconsin, where he worked at 1000 Friends of Wisconsin, a planning-oriented non-profit organization, co-founded Madison Magnet, a social capital-oriented non-profit organization, and was very engaged in the civic and political life of the city.

Karen Willey serves as the Douglas County, Kansas Commissioner for District 3. Dr. Willey holds a BA in Environmental Studies and a PhD in Geography, both from KU. She works as a nonprofit consultant through Futureful, a local company providing organizational health and fundraising support to health, housing, and human services organizations in urban Kansas City. She leverages this social impact work along with her science and entrepreneurship experience in crafting grounded local policy.

This program is presented in partnership with the Kansas Rural Center and the KU School of Public Affairs and Administration.

Submit your questions to dolequestions@ku.edu for the question-and-answer portion of the program.

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The Robert J. Dole Institute of Politics is dedicated to promoting political and civic participation as well as civil discourse in a bipartisan, philosophically balanced manner. It is located on KU’s West Campus and houses the Dole Archive and Special Collections. Through its robust public programming, congressional archive, and museum, the Dole Institute strives to celebrate public service and the legacies of US Senators Bob Dole and Elizabeth Dole.