In a week centered on “Our Greatest Challenges (That We Can Actually Do Something About),” the Chautauqua Lecture Series and Chautauqua Climate Change Initiative welcome environmentalist and writer Bill McKibben back to the Amphitheater stage, where he’ll be joined by journalist Frank Sesno as they discuss work both men are doing to catalyze climate action across generations.

Bill McKibben is an author, environmentalist and founder of Third Act, which organizes people over the age of 60 for action on climate and justice. His 1989 book The End of Nature is regarded as the first book for a general audience about climate change and has appeared in 24 languages. Currently, he serves as the Schumann Distinguished Scholar in Environmental Studies at Middlebury College and a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

McKibben helped found 350.org, the first global grassroots climate campaign, which has organized protests on every continent, including Antarctica, for climate action. He played a leading role in launching the opposition to big oil pipeline projects like Keystone XL, and the fossil fuel divestment campaign. For his work, he has been awarded the Gandhi Peace Prize and the Right Livelihood Prize (sometimes referred to as the “alternative Nobel”), among others.

McKibben writes frequently for a wide variety of publications, including The New Yorker, the New York Review of Books, National Geographic, and Rolling Stone. In 2014, biologists honored him by naming a new species of woodland gnat — Megophthalmidia mckibbeni — in his honor.

Frank Sesno is an Emmy Award-winning journalist with more than 30 years of experience reporting from around the world. Well known as bureau chief, anchor, White House Correspondent and talk show host on CNN, he is also a nationally renowned moderator who has engaged some of the world’s leading personalities, including five U.S. Presidents and numerous other influential figures.

Currently, he serves as director of strategic initiatives at The George Washington University’s School of Media and Public Affairs, where he also teaches classes on the art of the interview, journalism ethics, documentary and sustainability reporting. He was previously the school’s director for 11 years.

The School of Media and Public Affairs is also headquarters to Planet Foward, a multi-platform project Sesno created to empower new voices and lead a global conversation on the planet’s future. Engaging a diverse audience of college students from across the country, Planet Forward uses storytelling, media, and educational events to tell the stories of invention and innovation that can move our planet forward. Created in 2009, it is now the premier engagement tool for the university’s sustainability initiatives.

This program is made possible by Week Five Presenting Sponsor Erie Insurance, The Edris and David H. Weis Family Fund, and The Miller-Beggerow Fund in honor of Cornelia Chason Miller.