(LEE, Mass.) – Frank Lowenstein, director of global climate adaptation for The Nature Conservancy, will give a talk on the latest international climate change negotiations and impact on the Berkshires at the Spectrum Playhouse (former St. George’s Church), at 20 Franklin St. in Lee on Sunday, January 15 at 2 pm. This event, presented by Project Native,  is free and open to the public.

Lowenstein recently returned from the 18th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in Durban, South Africa, where participating nations agreed to reduce their carbon emissions. The convention underscored the tension between industrialized nations whose economies generated most pollution in the past and developing nations whose growth will generate most pollution in the future.

Lowenstein will put global climate change policy and politics into local perspective and share strategies for coping with disruptions in water cycles and extreme weather events.

The Nature Conservancy is the leading conservation organization working around the world to protect ecologically important lands and waters. Frank Lowenstein is Climate Adaptation Strategy Leader for The Nature Conservancy’s Global Climate Change Team.

In this role he heads up the organization’s work on how natural systems can contribute to helping people adapt to climate change. Previously he was Director of Forest Health for the Conservancy’s North America Conservation Region. In this role he heads the organization’s collaborative work with many partners to protect America’s forests from non-native insects and diseases.

Lowenstein has worked for The Nature Conservancy for 19 years, concentrating first on Berkshire preservation, and then expanding his scope to the international scene. He serves on the board of directors of Project Native, the horticultural farm and wildlife sanctuary in Housatonic, Mass., which provides landscape restoration services using native plants.

A Harvard graduate, Lowenstein received his master’s in botany from the University of Vermont. He lives in Sheffield with his wife, Sheryl Lechner, and their three sons.

The talk is co-sponsored by Berkshire Environmental Action Team(BEAT), Berkshire Grown, Berkshire Natural Resources Council, GreenBerkshires, and The Nature Conservancy.

For more information contact Karen Lyness LeBlanc at Project Native 413.274.3433