Playing for the Planet: How Sports Can Champion Conservation and Climate Action
Every sport is played on nature’s stage. As climate change and habitat destruction threaten biodiversity, the sports industry must step up as a key player in conservation. This panel will bring together experts to explore how sports organizations, teams, leagues, venues, and athletes are working to restore natural habitats, promote sustainable land use, and reduce their ecological impact.
Join us during Climate Week NYC to discover how sports can inspire action and drive lasting change to safeguard the planet’s biodiversity.
Speakers / Presenters
Welcome remarks:
Brendan Buckley, Sustainability Science Program Co-Director. Dr. Brendan Buckley holds the position of Lamont Research Professor, and has been a long-time member of the Tree Ring Lab at the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory of Columbia University (LDEO). While he has worked in locations around the globe, Buckley has been one of the pioneers of tropical dendroclimatology, having produced the longest and best replicated records of absolutely dated tree ring sequences from Southeast Asia. He continues this important work by using new methods to develop discrete seasonal reconstructions of regional hydroclimate, including measures of the strength of summer and winter monsoons, as well as the “shoulder” seasons that lead into and out of them, over the past millennium. He has a long history of research in Asian tropics and the North American boreal forests, having conducted some of the first dendroclimatic forays in northern Canada, and North America’s northernmost trees in the Firth River of Alaska. He was also instrumental in developing the longest temperature reconstructions from the Southern Hemisphere as part of his PhD research in Tasmania and New Zealand.
Buckley received his undergraduate degree in Physical Geography from Plymouth State College in New Hampshire, a Masters degree from Arizona State University in Tempe, and his PhD from the Institute of Antarctic and Southern Ocean Studies (IASOS) at the University of Tasmania, Australia. He held Post-doctoral positions at the University of Auckland, New Zealand and at the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory of Columbia University, before commencing his current LDEO position in 1999.
Moderator:
Chandler Precht, Lecturer, Sustainability Management Program and Director, External Affairs and Communications, Sustainability Management and Sustainability Science Programs. Chandler Precht is the Director of External Affairs and Communications for Columbia University's graduate programs in Sustainability Management and Sustainability Science. She is also an adjunct professor, teaching the Integrative Capstone Workshop course in the Sustainability Management program. With a background in environmental science, her research has focused on water quality, environmental chemistry, and the impact of climate change on marine ecosystems. Before joining Columbia, she worked as a hydrogeologist and environmental consultant. At Columbia, she leads sustainability-focused programming, student recruitment, communications, and strategic partnerships. A former athlete, Ms. Precht is now integrating her scientific expertise with her passion for sports to drive environmental change within the industry. She holds a BA in Environmental Science and Spanish & Latin American Cultures, and a minor in Chemistry, from Columbia University. Ms. Precht also received her MS in Sustainability Science from Columbia University. She is currently pursuing another MS from Columbia University in Sports Management.
Panel:
Lewis Blaustein, CEO/Founder, Eco Athletes. While working in high level roles in sports marketing, communications, and advertising sales, Lew Blaustein became passionate about the environment and climate change as a patriotic reaction to the 9/11 attacks. He turned that passion into a successful career as a sustainability-focused marketing, communications and business development consultant, helping a myriad of businesses and nonprofits build their green brands since 2005.
Blaustein married his passion for sports and the environment with the launch of GreenSportsBlog in 2013, the first media outlet in the nascent Green-Sports world, and later, GreenSportsPod.
Convinced that the sports world needs to do more to fight climate change, Blaustein launched EcoAthletes in April 2020 with the mission to “inspire and coach athletes to take and lead climate action”. The nonprofit does so by providing its growing global roster of 210+ EcoAthletes Champions — pros, Olympians, and NCAA student athletes — with the tools to advance from “climate curious” to “climate leader” so they can spark the #ClimateComeback.
Mackenzie Feldman, founder and co-director of Re:wild Your Campus. Mackenzie Feldman is the founder and co-director of Re:wild Your Campus, a women-led national nonprofit that works to eliminate toxic pesticides from school grounds and trains groundskeepers on organic, biodiverse land management. Mackenzie was a Division I athlete on the Beach Volleyball team at UC Berkeley, and started this work when she was told one day by her coach not to run after the ball because the surrounding areas had been sprayed with a toxic herbicide. Mackenzie was shocked to discover that these chemicals were being used on college campuses around the country, including her own, and thus Re:wild Your Campus was born! Her work has resulted in the ban of herbicides from every public school in the state of Hawai'i, as well as a glyphosate ban across the University of California system. Re:wild Your Campus has worked with over 100 schools, and their work now protects over half a million students from toxic pesticide exposure every year. They have helped convert nearly 5,000 acres to sustainable land management and have trained over 700 students and community members through their advocacy training. Originally from Honolulu, Hawaiʻi, Feldman earned her B.A. in Society and Environment with a minor in Food Systems from the University of California, Berkeley, and an M.S. in Agricultural, Environmental, and Sustainability Sciences from the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley. Mackenzie has received the Brower Youth Award for her work, and was a Rachel Carson Council Fellow, a Walking Softer Young Leader Awardee, and a 2024–2025 Obama Foundation USA Leader. Mackenzies is also co-author, with her mother, of the plant-based cookbook Groundbakers.
Lady Merle Liivand, Modern Life Mermaid and Gold Medalist.
Dame of The Royal Order of Constantine the Great and Saint Helen
100 most IMPACTFUL people 2025
Global Tourism Forum front voice for Sports and Sustainability
5x Guinness World Record Holder
Paris Olympics and UN Wavemaker Ambassador for Water
World Cleanup Day Ambassador
Ocean Ambassador
Earthday.org Ambassador
World Economic Forum Front Voice for Climate
Estonian Sports Hall of Famer
CEO Swimera
Co-Owner Viking Beauty Secrets cosmetics
CEO of MerZonia
Zach Ruiz, Sustainability Manager, Kaseya Center, The Heat Group. In his first season with the Miami HEAT and Kaseya Center, Zachary Ruiz leads the sustainability strategy for the award-winning South Florida venue. In his role, he’s responsible for mapping out and maximizing Kaseya Center’s performance as it relates to environmental and sustainability goals.
Prior to joining the HEAT and Kaseya Center, Zachary worked for the Atlanta Hawks at State Farm Arena, the world’s first “Zero Waste” sports and entertainment venue. He supported the organization with managing day-to-day sustainability operations. Before making the move to Atlanta, Zachary spent time working as a recreation & athletics administrator for Harvard University. Zachary holds an MSL in Sports Leadership from Northeastern University and a BS in Environmental Studies from Bucknell University.
Reception
The event will conclude with a reception featuring light refreshments, passed hors d’oeuvres, and opportunities to connect.
This event is free and open to the public. Registration is recommended and is open until Thursday, September 18th, 2025.
For more information, please contact the Sustainability Graduate Programs sustainabilitygradprograms [[at]] columbia [[dot]] edu.
To obtain additional information about program offerings at Columbia University’s School of Professional Studies, please contact an Admissions Counselor at inquire [[at]] sps [[dot]] columbia [[dot]] edu (inquire[at]sps[dot]columbia[dot]edu).
If you require closed captioning, sign-language interpretation, or any other disability accommodations, please contact Disability Services, disability [[at]] columbia [[dot]] edu, at least 10 days in advance.
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This event is open to individuals irrespective of identity and sex.