Jul 3, 2013
Dr. Cara Augustenborg, a 2007 graduate from UCLA’s Environmental Science and Engineering program, is the first person in Ireland to become part of former U.S. Vice President Al Gore’s Climate Reality Project.

Cara completed her D.Env. in Environmental Science and Engineering in 2007. She moved to Ireland on a Fulbright Scholarship in 2003 to complete her dissertation research in agri-environmental science under the supervision of Dr. Mel Suffet (IoES). In 2008, Cara was the Irish Ambassador for Ben and Jerry‘s™ Climate Change College, in which she conducted highly publicized work in the Arctic. She is now Managing Director of Impact Research Management, which provides project management services for environmental research in Ireland and Europe. 

The Climate Reality Project, founded and chaired by former U.S. Vice President and Nobel Laureate Al Gore, is dedicated to unleashing a global cultural movement demanding action on the climate crisis. It employs cutting-edge communications and grassroots engagement tools to break the dam of inaction and raise the profile of the climate crisis to its proper state of urgency. With a global movement more than 5 million strong and a grassroots network of Climate Leaders trained by Chairman Al Gore, the Climate Reality team stands up to denial, presses for solutions, and spreads the truth about climate change to empower leaders to solve the climate crisis.

Dr. Augustenborg recently attended training by Al Gore in Istanbul, Turkey and now joins over 5,000 other Climate Leaders from around the world in presenting new information on climate change to the public. Cara was accompanied by over 400 delegates from 94 countries in Taksim, Istanbul from June 14-16, 2013 to receive training from Mr. Gore and the Climate Reality team and develop the necessary skills to bring an understanding of the climate crisis to the world. Cara was awe-struck at the opportunity to meet Mr. Gore, stating, “The audience could not get enough of Mr. Gore’s enthusiasm and motivational words, and at times, I was moved to tears as he inspired me to do more to win the conversation on climate change.”

The training was held near the Turkish Occupy Gezi protests, and Cara and her colleagues were caught in the middle of the worst of police clashes in the area during their time in Istanbul, enduring tear gas in order to travel to and from the training venue.

The synchronicity of learning about climate change while Turkish people fought their own environmental battle was particularly poignant for Cara. After returning from Istanbul, she explained “If I take one positive thing away from my time in Istanbul, it is the image of standing man and fellow protesters silently contemplating their future and country, simply standing for something that matters. I now have a greater conviction to stand up for what I value as a result of their influence.” Cara and fellow Climate Leaders across the globe are available to present Al Gore’s Climate Reality message in their local communities by requesting a presentation through the Climate Reality website (http://presenters.climaterealityproject.org/).

Source: ucla.edu