Fred Elser First Sunday Science: Climate Change in CT

As the world warms, we will see changes in Connecticut, some mild, some more severe. The addition of heat to the atmosphere and oceans will make our weather more chaotic. Sea levels will gradually rise and hurricanes and nor’easters will grow stronger quicker. Chances of extreme heat events will grow, becoming a particular concern for seniors. As the planet warms, disease vectors such as ticks and mosquitoes will expand their ranges bringing new diseases with them. A warming planet will force more people from their homes. We can best deal with these changes with ethics and humanity.

This program is free of charge. No beach pass is required if you are attending the Fred Elser First Sunday Science. Please let them know at the gate you are attending the Bruce museum seaside center lecture. First Sunday Science programs take place at the Floren Family Environmental Center at Innis Arden Cottage, Greenwich Point Park, Old Greenwich, CT.

Biographical info for Mitch Wagener

Dr. Mitch Wagener has been teaching ecology and climate change courses, and related courses at Western Connecticut State University in Danbury since 1996. In 2019, he received the Aquarion Environmental Champion Award, Individual Communication category. That same year Dr. Wagener received an official citation from the Connecticut General Assembly for his efforts in climate change education and community service. His research interests include the impact of historical events—such as the Industrial Revolution—on the environment.

Mitch began life in the Ozarks and attending high school in Branson, Missouri. After spending a year as an exchange student in Chiang Mai, Thailand, he attended the University of Missouri, where he completed an undergrad degree in Fisheries and Wildlife. After college he moved to Fairbanks, Alaska to attend graduate school. Mitch received a masters degree in Stream Ecology and a doctorate in Soil Ecology during his 13 years in Alaska. There too, he met the lovely Rita Kabali, a native of Uganda, East Africa, to whom he has now been married 40 years. They have two lively daughters, Rohanna (a history teacher in New Haven) and Danika (a operate theater nurse in Boston). They also have a grandson, Leon, who is six years old, and Soraya, a granddaughter five months old.

Mitch enjoys—among other things—watching his grandkids grow up and explaining climate change to the public.

Ph.D. Soil Ecology. August 1995. University of Alaska Fairbanks.
M.S. Stream Ecology. December, 1984. University of Alaska Fairbanks.
B.S. cum laude. Fisheries and Wildlife. May, 1981. University of Missouri, Columbia.