On
Thursday, April 23, 2009, approximately 600 people attended the American
Museum of Natural History's 19th annual spring Environmental
Lecture and Luncheon—Making the Right Choices: What it Really
Means to Go Green. Suzanne H. Cochran,
Katheryn P. Kempner, Veronique C. Pittman, Catherine Sidamon-Eristoff,
Mary C. Solomon, and Constance Spahn were the lunch chairmen.
The panel, moderated by Lynn Sherr, correspondent for ABC News 20/20 included Sloan
Barnett, contributor to NBC's Today Show and the green
editor for KNTV—NBC affiliate in the San Francisco Bay Area;
Alisa Gravitz, executive director of Green America, the national green
economy organization; and James Gustave Speth, the Carl W. Knobloch,
Jr., Dean of the School of Forestry and Environmental Studies and the
Sara Shallenberger Brown Professor in the Practice of Environmental
Policy at Yale.
Held in the LeFrak IMAX Theater, the panel focused particularly on “green
consumerism”: how what you buy affects your quality of life and
the health of the Earth. Panelists discussed how we can turn our current
situation into an opportunity to implement changes in our lifestyles
and the overall structure of society to become effective conservationists.
Following the panel discussion, attendees sat down to an environmentally
conscious lunch in the Milstein Hall of Ocean Life.
Guests who joined the chairmen were: Claire
Bernard, Peggy Brim Bewkes, Clara Bingham, Derek Blasberg, Melinda
Blinken, Cynthia Brill, Tory Burch, Robin Caiola, Jayni Chase, Patty
Ciseneros, Bob Cochran, Ann Colley, Peggy Condron, Lucy Danzinger,
Roberta Denning, Judy Dimon, Minnie Dubilier, Jodie Eastman, Katama
Eastman, Vanessa Eastman, William Gilbane, Stefani Greenfield, Adriana
Griffin, Angelique Griepp, Valesca Guerrand-Hermes, Nathalie Kaplan,
Kalliope Karella, Mary Richardson Kennedy, Karen Klopp, Margaret Loeb,
Carey Lowell, Susan Mandel, Nicole Miller, Gillian Miniter, Gigi Mortimer,
Caroline Niemczyk, Liz Peek, Valerie Peltier, Bob Pittman, Jill Rappaport,
Renee Rockefeller, Connie Roosevelt, Wendi Rose, Susan Rudin, Alexia
Hamm Ryan, Jacqueline Sackler, KK Kravis Schulhof, Anne Sidamon-Eristoff,
Dani Stahl, Tracey Stewart, Lise Strickler, Maureen White, Jane Williams,
Ann Ziff, and Caryn Zucker.
All proceeds from the Spring Environmental Lecture and Luncheon support
the Museum's scientific research and educational initiatives,
including important work in biodiversity conservation.
