Science on Screen Film Series: Compelling films paired with lively talks by experts in science, technology and medicine.

Introduction by The Rev. Margaret Bullitt-Jonas and Prof. Scott Jackson, Dept. of Environmental Conservation, UMass Amherst.

If you could know the truth about the threat of climate change — would you want to know?

BEFORE THE FLOOD features Leonardo DiCaprio on a journey as a United Nations Messenger of Peace, traveling to five continents and the Arctic to witness climate change firsthand.

He goes on expeditions with scientists uncovering the reality of climate change and meets with political leaders fighting against inaction.

He also discovers a calculated disinformation campaign orchestrated by powerful special interests working to confuse the public about the urgency of the growing climate crisis.

With unprecedented access to thought leaders around the world, DiCaprio searches for hope in a rising tide of catastrophic news.

Presented in collaboration with the Kestrel Land Trust.

Topic: The powerful - yet often overlooked - roles that land conservation, faith communities and individual action can play in fighting climate change.

Speaker: The Rev. Margaret Bullitt-Jonas, Ph.D., is an Episcopal priest, author, retreat leader, and climate activist. As Missioner for Creation Care in the Episcopal Diocese of Western Mass. and the Mass. Conference, United Church of Christ, she seeks to inspire a wave of religious activism to address the climate crisis. Margaret is a founding member of Massachusetts Interfaith Coalition for Climate Action (MAICCA), and a leader in New England Regional Environmental Ministries (NEREM). She holds a B.A. from Stanford, an MA and Ph.D. from Harvard, and a M.Div. from Episcopal Divinity School. She received the 2016 Steward of God’s Creation award from The National Religious Coalition on Creation Care and she won the 2016 EcoPreacher Contest for the sermon, “Sacred Earth, Sacred Trust.” She was arrested last May with 15 other religious leaders in an act of prayerful resistance to construction of Spectra Energy’s West Roxbury pipeline. Last December she was at Standing Rock when the US Army Corp announced its decision not to move forward with the Dakota Access pipeline (a decision that has since been revoked). She lives in Northampton with her husband, Robert A. Jonas, Chair of the Board of Kestrel Land Trust.

Speaker: Scott Jackson is an Associate Professor in the Department of Environmental Conservation at the University of Massachusetts, and is Vice-Chair of Kestrel Land Trust's Board of Trustees. He has been involved in conservation work for over 25 years at the local, state and national levels engaged in research, policy development and projects designed to protect and enhance natural resources. As a resident of Whately, he has served on the Conservation Commission since 1995 and the MA Association of Conservation Commissions Board of Directors since 2001 and previously served as an associate member of the Massachusetts Natural Heritage and Endangered Species Advisory Committee.

Additional Information:

This film is available with hearing assist

 This film is available with T-Coil
 

Audio Description, Closed Captioning and T-Coil are not available in the Studio Theater.  For more information check our accessibility page.