About
Duke community members, register now to join Victoria Salinas, one of Duke’s newest Climate Leaders in Residence, for a seminar and conversation on how to unlock private investment and innovation for climate resilience.
Salinas—who most recently served as Deputy Administrator for Resilience at FEMA and now advises global organizations on scaling impact —is leading efforts this year at Duke to bridge research, communities, and capital to accelerate solutions. Her residency is based at the Nicholas School of the Environment and the Nicholas Institute for Energy, Environment & Sustainability, and her collaborators will span the university.
During the session, Salinas will share her own journey and frame the interlocking challenges of:
• Increasing private sector investment in community-scale resilience, and
• Bringing more and better adaptation and resilience technologies to market.
The event will also feature two dynamic fireside chats:
• Shalini Vajjhala (PRE Collective) and Emilie Mazzacurati (Tailwind Futures) on the state of the field—what’s working, what’s hard, and what’s needed to “crack the code.”
• Jesko von Windheim (Nicholas School) and Lydia Olander (Nicholas Institute) on Duke’s role in commercialization, community engagement, and pathways for student and faculty collaboration.
The program will conclude with audience Q&A and will be followed by an informal meetup at the Devil’s Krafthouse.