Keynote: Capturing Utah joy

The keynote address drew inspiration from images taken by the recent NASA Artemis II lunar flyby mission, which introduced the phrase “moon joy” to the world. One photo showed an illuminated sliver of Earth floating in the blackness of space.

“Moon joy captured in a single thought a feeling of both transcendence and threat, of beauty and breakability, and of reward and risk,” said Natalie Gochnour, associate dean of the U’s David Eccles School of Business and director of the Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute. “This duality of greatness and instability undergirds my remarks today. Utah is both a place of extraordinary opportunity and a place of rising risks.”

Utahns need their own form of moon joy, which she coined as “Utah Joy.” Policy leadership should embody a similar duality: a feeling of awe and an urgency to act. She framed the conversation around the 2034 Winter Olympics.

“If someone circled Utah [in 2034] like they circled the moon, what would they see? Would they see a state of opportunity? Or will they see a state that missed its moment?” Gochnour asked. “We have this opportunity to focus on practical solutions oriented toward climate, energy and environmental resilience.”

Derision and political polarization in public policy disrupt progress on environmental issues, like wildfire or the Great Salt Lake, she said.

“In a world of political division, contempt, misinformation, insatiable energy demand, rising temperature, a dying inland sea, data centers, war and so many other challenges, how do we find not just common ground but higher ground?”

Drawing from decades of experience in public policy, Gochnour suggested that focusing on connection—to people and to place—will be critical for working together for the future of the state. To build a connection, two skills are needed: mutual accommodation by taking the best ideas from the right and the left to achieve progress, and managing a clear, public message.

“When we treat others with contempt, it makes it difficult to prevent and solve problems. When we treat each other with dignity–speaking respectfully, listening carefully, asking for more information, focusing on facts–our differences enrich us, inform us, guide us and exalt us.” Gochnour said. “This is not only true in public policy, but also in our families, workplaces, communities, and country. Utah will be advantaged if we lead with dignity and our Utah Joy will be complete.”

Finalist pitches for the $250K Wilkes Climate Innovation Prize

This year, eight of the nine finalists presented for the international climate solutions prize. At the summit, finalists rapidly pitched their solutions to attendees. Read more about their proposals below.

In addition, the Wilkes Center organized a separate “Innovation Day,” a day ahead of the summit, where finalists made business-oriented pitch presentations and met with potential investors and business leaders for guidance and networking. The day included remarks from University of Utah President Taylor Randall, and a fireside chat with Jefferson Moss, executive director of Utah's Governor's Office of Economic Opportunity, Jared Campbell, general partner at Endurance28, Katie Macc, chief executive officer at Sorenson Impact Institute, moderated by Elaine Hungenberg, senior vice president of partnerships and impact for XPRIZE.

Both sides of the aisle: Live recording

This year, the summit featured a live audience recording of “Both Sides of the Aisle”, a weekly Utah politics podcast/radio show for Utah Public Radio co-hosted by Natalie Gochnour, Shireen Ghorbani and John Dougall. The panel focused its dialogue on contentious local climate topics, including how it gets communicated.

“It’s not what you say, it’s what you hear,” Gochnour pointed out. “A big part of our problem in making progress on climate or environmental issues is our communications. Sometimes we talk past each other."

“You have to meet people where they’re at,” said Dougall, a Republican who was Utah’s State Auditor for 12 years. “Conservation is generally something that saves me money, but you’ve got to find something people care about, instead of fear-mongering, the sky is falling. Otherwise, what’s the point?”

Ghorbani, a Democrat who is president and CEO of Planned Parenthood Association of Utah, and a former Salt Lake County Council member, said, “What feels exciting about this moment, although it feels late, is we do have opportunities at the municipal, county, and state levels to push on our leaders to make better decisions for our future. I would really encourage people to press their leaders to take a comprehensive approach to how we’re addressing water, energy, and climate change [in Utah].”

Policy Prize for Climate Leadership

The Wilkes Center recognized two winners of its inaugural climate policy prize. The Wilkes Distinguished Citation for Climate Policy was awarded to Glade Sowards, senior energy and climate program manager with the Salt Lake City Sustainability Department. The Wilkes Policy Prize for Climate Leadership went to Sarah Wright, the co-founder and recently retired CEO of Utah Clean Energy.

Addressing Utah’s unique climate policy challenges, Wright said, “There is one degree of separation with those making decisions. We all have more in common than you might think. We all care about our families, our communities, our kids. And who doesn’t want clean air and a stable climate? When you can communicate, we can drive those conversations and meet people where they are.”

Sowards, who worked for nearly 25 years as a career service employee for the Utah Division of Air Quality, related the current climate crisis to the situation the Apollo 13 astronauts faced in 1970 during their failed moon landing mission. “All the engineers on Earth told them, ‘You have to make this work.’ I would say we have all the parts. We have affordable clean energy options, and we have storage options. And why are we not using this? It’s just a lack of will to do it.”

Student research lightning talks

Aside from an impressive array of research posters from at least 60 graduate and undergraduates, 10 students competed in a round of "lightning talk" presentations about their research. The undergraduate student projects were all funded through the Wilkes Center.

The format was rapid-fire, with students forced to synthesize their hard-won, scholarly inquiry into only three minutes. In the end, four students were selected as the best presenters and winners of cash prizes.

One of the four winners, Evan Klansnic, an undergrad majoring in sociology, investigated how we can protect residents from extreme heat and PM 2.5. PM 2.5 are particulates, like soot or dust, which are less than 2.5 micrometers and are easily absorbed by the lungs.

“The lightning talk was a great experience for me because it helped me with brevity,” said Klansnic. “I tend to be very passionate and talkative about my research with others, but sometimes it is important to only explain what is necessary.”

Other winners included Baylee Olds, graduate research assistant in the Department of Geology & Geophysics, who studied how forest management strategies could increase the retention of our snowpack, thereby minimizing wildfire risk in the summer.

Harrison LeTourneau, an undergrad majoring in computer engineering, conducted a project tracking methane emissions in real-time using sophisticated sensors attached to a vehicle, which can help determine the point sources of the highly potent greenhouse gas.

Sydney Smith, an undergrad majoring in environmental and sustainability studies, examined how changes in evaporation from the Great Salt Lake could impact the summer monsoon. Understanding these variables is vital to updating our weather forecasting models.

Read more about the winners here.

Missed the summit? Catch up with the Wilkes Climate Summit video below!