ON THE JOB IN THE U.S. OF A.

ON THE PiA BOOKSHELF: BINA VENKATARAMAN’S THE OPTIMIST’S TELESCOPE

Power (Kazakhstan ’17), Drew Tweedy (Vietnam ’17, Kazakhstan ’18), Cody Rump (Kazakhstan ’18) and second-year PiA Fellow Yongjian Si. Cheers to 25 more years of fruitful partnership!

[5] Brent Scharschmidt (Thailand ’05) and his wife Terra welcomed their first child, Rory to the world in late June. Upon receiving the customary PiA onesie, Brent recounts “I looked down and realized I was wearing an old PiA t-shirt, and then Terra realized she was wearing one too (clearly we like these), so thanks for letting Rory join the party!” Welcome to the PiA family, Rory!

[6] Matt Losch (Thailand ‘05) and his first born sporting a PiA onesie. Matt reports, “7 weeks old and the 6M size fits surprisingly well!”

“How might we mitigate losses caused by shortsightedness? Bina Venkataraman, a former climate adviser to the Obama administration, brings a storyteller’s eye to this question.” —The New York Times Book Review

Bina Venkataraman sees the way forward. A former journalist and adviser in the Obama administration, she helped communities and businesses prepare for climate change, and she learned firsthand why people don’t think ahead—and what can be done to change that. In The Optimist’s Telescope, she draws from stories she has reported around the world and new research in biology, psychology, and economics to explain how we can make decisions that benefit us over time. With examples from ancient Pompeii to modern-day Fukushima, she dispels the myth that human nature is impossibly reckless and highlights the surprising practices each of us can adopt in our own lives—and the ones we must fight for as a society.

After completing her PhD in Geography at the University of California Santa Barbara, Kate Voss (Nepal ’11) has moved across the country to serve as a science advisor for the U.S. Congress and serve as adjunct faculty at her alma mater, Georgetown University.

[7] Will Fulwider (China ’14) joined the Sustainable Food Group in Madison, WI as a Program Manager after graduating with a M.S. in Sustainable Development in Agriculture from the Agris Mundus program.

Kristin Lynch (Cambodia ‘11) is currently serving as the communications director for Senator Cory Booker. She previously served as a communications director for Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign, after working on communications for Representative Jared Polis, Senator Mark Udall, and Senator Michael Bennet.

After graduating with Master’s of Public Policy from the University of Chicago, Nancy Tan (China ’10) has returned to New York to serve as the Strategy and Operations Director for General Government, Technology and Innovation in the Office of New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo.