Veteran journalist Miles O’Brien has been documenting the impacts of climate change for decades as a producer/correspondent for NOVA, FRONTLINE, PBS NewsHour, and CNN. Recently, his attention has turned to reporting on solutions – with his latest NOVA film Chasing Carbon Zero.

Kerry Emanuel is the Cecil and Ida Green Professor of Atmospheric Science at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he joined the faculty in 1981 after spending three years on the faculty of UCLA. Kerry’s research interests focus on tropical meteorology and climate, with a specialty in hurricane physics. His interests also include cumulus convection and advanced methods of sampling the atmosphere in aid of numerical weather prediction. He is the author or co-author of more than 200 peer-reviewed scientific papers and two books, Divine Wind: The History and Science of Hurricanes (Oxford University Press), aimed at a general audience, and What We Know about Climate Change (MIT Press). He is a co-director of MIT’s Lorenz Center, a climate think tank devoted to basic, curiosity-driven climate research.

Heidi Cullen serves as chief scientist for Climate Central and leads the World Weather Attribution program. Before joining Climate Central, she served as The Weather Channel’s first on-air climate expert and helped create Forecast Earth, a weekly television series focused on issues related to climate change and the environment. Prior to that Heidi worked as a research scientist at the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) in Boulder, CO. Heidi received a Bachelor of Science degree in industrial engineering from Columbia University and a PhD in climatology and ocean-atmosphere dynamics at the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory of Columbia University. Heidi also serves as chief science advisor for the Years of Living Dangerously project and is the author of The Weather of the Future published by Harper Collins in 2010.

Waleed Abdalati is the director of the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRES) at the University of Colorado and a professor in the university’s Department of Geography. CIRES, established through a cooperative agreement with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), is a diverse institute that focuses on understanding the Earth system and its components, as well as the human relationship with our environment. His research interests are in the use of satellite and airborne remote sensing techniques, integrated with in situ observations and modeling, to understand how and why the Earth's glaciers and ice sheets are changing and the implications for sea level rise. In addition to his academic experience, he has a wide range of experience in various positions at NASA that includes research scientist (1997–2000), program manager (2000–2005), manager of a 50-person research group (2004–2008), and most recently NASA Chief Scientist (2011–2012). From 1986–1990, he worked as an engineer in the aerospace and defense fields. Waleed received a BS in mechanical engineering from Syracuse University in 1986, an MS in aerospace engineering from the University of Colorado in 1991, and a PhD in geography from the University of Colorado in 1996.