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Norwich University Hosts Panel Discussion on Environmental Security with U.S. Army General Gordon R. Sullivan (Ret.)

Norwich University’s Center for Global Resilience and Security (CGRS) and the Peace & War Center (PAWC) present “Environment, Climate, and National Security: Turning the Tide for a More Secure Planet,” a panel discussion on from 4:30 to 6 p.m. March 5 in Mack Hall Auditorium.

Did you miss this free, public event? Watch it here:

Panelists include retired Army Chief of Staff General Gordon R. Sullivan ’59, Sherri Goodman, Bill Lyons ’90, Casey Bertram and Paul Kostecki.

Casey Bartrem is executive director and environmental scientist at TerraGraphics International Foundation (TIFO), a nonprofit, international organization that assists communities in low-income countries in addressing environmental health crises associated with resource extraction. Bartrem has collaborated with Médecins Sans Frontières, the United Nations, Centers for Disease Control, World Health Organization, and governments on environmental health projects in mining/recycling communities in Kyrgyzstan, Bangladesh, Nigeria and the United States. She is a visiting lecturer at the American University of Armenia’s School of Public Health and a fellow of the Collegium Ramazzini, an international academy of occupational and environmental health experts.

Sherri Goodman, senior fellow at the Wilson Center’s Environmental Change and Security Program and Polar Institute, is credited with educating a generation of U.S. military and government officials about the nexus between climate change and national security, using her famous coinage, “threat multiplier,” to fundamentally reshape the national discourse on the topic. A former first deputy undersecretary of defense (environmental security) and staff member on the Senate Armed Services Committee, Goodman has founded, led or advised nearly a dozen research organizations on environmental and energy matters, national security and public policy.

Paul Kostecki co-created the Association for Environmental Health and Sciences (AEHS) in 1989 and served as its executive director until 2009. In 2009, he established the AEHS Foundation and serves as the president. At the association, Kostecki developed and conducted over 60 conferences, helped found Amherst Scientific Publishers and co-created seven peer-reviewed journals. Kostecki served as vice provost for research and vice chancellor for research and engagement at the University of Massachusetts Amherst from 2003 to 2009. He served as special adviser for the Clean Energy China Initiative, Office of the President, University of Massachusetts from 2009 to 2011. He is now professor emeritus, environmental health in the School of Public Health and Health Sciences, University of Massachusetts, Amherst.       

Col. William Lyons Jr. ’90 is the president and founder of the Fort Hill Cos. He is recognized as a thought leader and innovator in the delivery of architectural and engineering services. His areas of specialty include advanced mobility, military facilities, and international development. Lyons has executed projects in 16 countries on five continents. He maintains a broad client base, including clients in the federal, state, and local government market sectors, as well as private sector clients. He is widely published in journals and in periodicals. Lyons is also a U.S. Army Reserve officer, currently serving in the rank of colonel. 

Gen. Gordon R. Sullivan ’59 currently serves as the chairman of the board of the Army Historical Foundation in Arlington, Virginia. He also serves as the chairman of the board at the Marshall Legacy Institute, is a member of the Mitre Army Advisory Board and the MIT Lincoln Labs Advisory Board, and is a Life Trustee of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute. From 1998 until this year, Sullivan was the president and chief executive officer of the Association of the U.S. Army, also headquartered in Arlington. Sullivan retired from the Army on July 31, 1995, after more than 36 years of active service. He culminated his uniformed service as the 32nd chief of staff and a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Sullivan also recently completed an appointment as the chairman of the Board of Trustees of Norwich University and has served as Norwich’s Distinguished Leader in Residence for the past two years. Besides his numerous military awards and decorations, he is also the recipient of the AUSA 2016 Marshall Award and West Point Association of Graduates’ Sylvanus Thayer Award, and is a member of the Sergeants Major Academy’s Hall of Honor.

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The Center for Global Resilience and Security is a Norwich University center of academic excellence dedicated to the advancement of the interrelationships between human resilience and challenges in the areas of climate change, water, energy, and infrastructure. 

The Peace and War Center is a Norwich University center of academic excellence for students, scholars, and practitioners seeking to advance interdisciplinary knowledge on the relationship between peace and warfare at local, national, and global levels.