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Kim Knowlton, DrPH, is senior scientist with the Health and Environment Program at the Natural Resources Defense Council, where she leads the Global Warming and Health Project. She is Assistant Clinical Professor in the Department of Environmental Health Sciences at the Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, and chair of the Global Climate Change and Health Committee of the Environment Section at the American Public Health Association. She was among the scientists who participated in the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Fourth Assessment Report.

Thomas Mallon is the author of seven novels, including *Henry and Clara*, *Dewey Defeats Truman* and *Fellow Travelers*. He is a frequent contributor to *The New Yorker*, *The New York Times Book Review*, and *The Atlantic Monthly*. His most recent book is *Yours Ever: People and Their Letters*. Mallon lives in Washington, D.C.

Elinor Ostrom is an American political scientist. She was awarded the 2009 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences, which she shared with Oliver E. Williamson, for "her analysis of economic governance, especially the commons". She is the first woman to win the prize in this category. She is also the Arthur F. Bentley Professor of Political Science, and Co-Director of the Workshop in Political Theory and Policy Analysis at Indiana University Bloomington. In addition, she is the Founding Director of the Center for the Study of Institutional Diversity at Arizona State University.

Ken Ward is an environmental activist, writer and graphic designer. Former Deputy Director of Greenpeace USA, he also served as Executive Director of the Rhode Island and New Jersey Public Interest Research Groups. Ken and his partner Andree Zaleska are rehabbing the JP Green House, a 100-year-old building in Jamaica Plain, as a zero-carbon dwelling. JP Green House serves as the Boston hub for 350.org.

Andrée Zaleska is community organizer for the Institute for Policy Studies, where her work addresses climate-change and the economic crisis.

Dr. James Hansen first brought global warming to the world’s attention in the 1980s when he first testified before Congress. Since then he has pursued a distinguished career in research, measuring current climate trends and projecting humankind’s potential impacts on climate in a series of robust models. He is an adjunct professor at the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences at Columbia University and at Columbia’s Earth Institute, and director of the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies. Dr. Hansen has continued to bring the problem of global climate change to a broad public audience, appearing on 60 Minutes, ABC News Tonight, Anderson Cooper, Charlie Rose, and NPR; he has been interviewed in the New York Times and profiled in the New Yorker; and has written for the Boston Globe, the Nation, the New York Review of Books, and Scientific American. After writing literally hundreds of professional and popular articles, Hansen has just published his first book, Storms of My Grandchildren, and urgent call for real solutions to the problem of climate change..

Deborah Tannen is a professor of linguistics at Georgetown University and author of many books and articles about how the language of everyday conversation affects relationships. She is best known as the author of *You Just Don't Understand: Women and Men in Conversation*, which was on the New York Times Best Seller list for nearly four years. Her newest book *You Were Always Mom's Favorite!: Sisters in Conversation Throughout Their Lives*, which was released in September, became a New York Times best seller and has been nominated for a Books for a Better Life Award. Deborah Tannen has appeared on many television and radio news and information shows, including *The Colbert Report*, *20/20*, *Good Morning America*, *Charlie Rose*, *Oprah*, *All Things Considered*, *The Diane Rehm Show*, and *Fresh Air*. She has been featured in and written for *The New York Times*, *Newsweek*, *Time*, *USA Today*, *People*, the *Washington Post*, and *The Harvard Business Review*. The recipient of five honorary doctorates, Tannen is a member of the PEN/Faulkner Foundation Board of Directors.

Eric Blehm is a journalist and the author of several books, including *The Last Season*, winner of the Barnes & Noble Discover Award (2006). Blehm’s latest book, *The Only Thing Worth Dying For* (HarperCollins, January 2010), explores the current war in Afghanistan. Blehm is also known for his participatory coverage of outdoor sports and topics in the realm of adventure travel. He has contributed to *GQ*, *Outside*,* Men’s Journal*, *Backpacker*, *Climbing*, *Couloir*,* Hemispheres*, and the *Los Angeles Times*. He lives in Southern California with his wife and two children

David Finkel is a staff writer for *The Washington Post*, and is also the leader of *the Post’s* national reporting team. He won the Pulitzer Prize for explanatory reporting in 2006 for a series of stories about U.S.-funded democracy efforts in Yemen.

Kaylie Jones is the author of *Lies My Mother Never Told Me* and *A Soldier’s Daughter Never Cries* and she worked at Poets & Writers, Inc. in the Readings/Workshops Program and as the assistant to the Director of Development. Kaylie became a Writer in Residence in the NYC public schools through Teachers & Writers Collaborative. Kaylie also writes short stories and screenplays, one of which, *Anor of Aquatain*, written with her husband, Kevin Heisler, won the gold medal at the Houston Film Festival, while her screenplay *Limbo*, won a New York Women In Film Screenwriting Award.

In 1966 on the Gemini 12 orbital mission, Buzz performed the world’s first successful spacewalk. He founded Starcraft Boosters, Inc., a rocket design company, and the ShareSpace Foundation, a nonprofit devoted to advancing space education, exploration and affordable space flight experiences for all. Buzz also promotes his Rocket Hero brand launched in 2008 through his newest entity, StarBuzz LLC. Dr. Aldrin is author of his autobiography,* Magnificent Desolation*,*The Return and Encounter with Tiber, Men from Earth, Return to Earth* and children’s books: *Reaching for the Moon* and *Look to the Stars* both New York Times bestsellers.

Crawford blogs at CQPolitics.com and is a news analyst for MSNBC. Craig also presents weekly video commentaries on the web. He is the author of *Attack the Messenger, The Politics of Life, *and co-author of *Listen Up, President: Everything You Always Wanted Your President to Know and Do*.