Preservation in a Changing Climate Conference

Lori Ferriss, AIA, PE, LEED AP BD+C, is Co-Founder and Executive Director of Built Buildings Lab and an internationally recognized expert on leveraging existing and historic buildings for equitable climate change mitigation and adaptation. An award-winning architect and structural engineer, she aims to elevate the environmental, cultural and economic value of preservation and reuse to advance the systems of policy and practice that shape the built environment. She is the co-developer of Architecture 2030’s CARE Tool. A past Chair of the AIA Committee on the Environment (COTE) and APT’s Technical Committee on Sustainable Preservation (APT TC-SP), she serves on the Climate Heritage Network Steering Committee and is a Vice President of ICOMOS ISCES.

Stephen Young is a former chair of the Geography and Sustainability Department at Salem State University in Massachusetts, where he uses satellite imaging and drones to analyze climate change, forest conservation and other environmental issues. He has worked in more than 15 different countries and has published more than 60 peer-reviewed articles, including recent work about the rapid warming of New England.

Susan Baker serves as Curator of Collections at The House of the Seven Gables, where she manages the museum’s collections and archives and interpretation in exhibit spaces. The effects of climate change on the buildings and collections are already being felt, and Baker has been a catalyst in The Gables’ efforts to confront the challenges of climate change.

Margaret Back (she/her) is the Preservation Projects Manager at the Newport Restoration Foundation. At NRF, Margaret leads projects connecting climate change and built heritage resiliency. Her current projects include an energy efficiency study for 19th-century Newport buildings, and she is project lead for the Keeping History Above Water conference series. She previously worked as a Preservation Manager for the South Region of Historic New England, where she oversaw preservation projects and facility maintenance for properties in Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island. She holds a M.S. in Historic Preservation from the University of Pennsylvania.

Christina Truwit, CFM is the Resilience Assistant for the City of Newport, as well as a Project Coordinator for the Rhode Island Flood Mitigation Association. As a Certified Floodplain Manager, much of her work centralizes around guidance for flood mitigation techniques for built structures and land.  Before entering into resilience planning, she taught sustainable architecture courses at RISD, and also worked as an architect in Costa Rica designing sustainable housing in a coastal town.

Neal Duffy is Director of the Sustainability and Resiliency Department (SRD) for the City of Salem. SRD oversees the implementation of Resilient Together, Salem’s shared climate action and resiliency plan with the City of Beverly.  This work includes creating, managing and supporting sustainability, clean energy and resiliency projects, programs and policies within the government and community.  Prior to working in Salem, he was the Northeast regional coordinator for the Green Communities Division at the Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources, where he worked with 84 municipalities, including Salem, on clean energy and energy efficiency projects.

Rev. Nathan Ives is an Episcopal priest, climate activist and social justice advocate who serves as the rector of the bilingual and multicultural community of St. Peter's–San Pedro Episcopal Church. He has served in Salem since 2018 and focuses much of his energies on immigration rights, historic preservation of the nearly 300-year-old church property, developing renewable energy systems in historic properties and truth telling and reparations work about the church’s complicity in the Transatlantic Slave Trade.

Abigail Despres specializes in microgrid development, community engagement and environmental justice at Working Power, a clean energy developer with a focus on community-based ownership and benefits. She’s passionate about creating a more equitable world through implementing technologies and systems that challenge climate threats against marginalized communities. Prior to joining Working Power, Abigail served as a project manager at Clean Energy Solutions Inc. (CESI) and has held multiple internship positions within the clean energy and equitable transition space as well as on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC.

Barbara Warren is a founding member of Salem’s Preservation in a Changing Climate Partners. She recently started an environmental consulting business after 20 years as Salem Sound Coastwatch’s Executive Director. Warren continues to work on expanding the public’s climate awareness and assisting municipalities and organizations to undertake coastal resilience and adaptation projects. Projects in Salem include rain gardens, salt marsh living shorelines and coastal bank stabilization at Winter Island Park. 

Vijay Joyce holds a degree in Historic Preservation and Architectural History from the Boston Architectural College and has been active in preservation circles throughout New England, with a focus on Salem, where he serves as Chair of the City's Historical Commission, Executive Director of the Pickering House nonprofit and Steward of the oldest home in the city. His passion for old homes led to a recurring historian role on HGTV's Farmhouse Fixer. Joyce is also managing historic projects at Cummings Architecture + Interiors in Ipswich. 

Sarah Kostecki is on the Board of Directors at Historic Salem, one of America’s oldest civic historic preservation groups with the mission to preserve Salem’s historic architecture. She is also Senior Director of Data and Business Intelligence at MassCEC, a state economic development agency dedicated to accelerating the growth of the clean energy sector and delivering statewide environmental benefits to the citizens of Massachusetts.  

Peter McPhee is Senior Director for Building Decarbonization at the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center (MassCEC), an agency focused on fostering the growth of a clean energy economy in pursuit of the state’s 2050 net zero emissions obligation. Since 2013, his focus has been on establishing low-carbon pathways for the Commonwealth’s buildings. McPhee established MassCEC’s electrification programs and is currently facilitating the technology, policy and market solutions necessary to support millions of buildings transitioning from fossil fuels to zero emissions technologies in the coming decades. 

Liz Stetson is  Mass Audubon’s Senior Director for Capital Assets and Planning. In this role, she leads a team that manages the organization’s long-term physical infrastructure, aligning financial resources with the organization’s strategic goals. One such goal is “Leading by Example,” an effort to reduce the organization’s carbon emissions from fossil fuel consumption. Prior to joining Mass Audubon, Stetson worked as a landscape architect leading projects of varied scale and scope for clients such as the Chicago Botanic Garden and Tippet Rise Art Center, as well as for architects, developers and homeowners across the country. 

Paul Wright joined The House of the Seven Gables as Director of Preservation and Maintenance in 2022. Since then, he has led the organization in studying the effects of climate change on the historic site through a grant from Massachusetts Office of Coastal Zone Management. He has worked and volunteered at numerous historic sites in Salem, including Old Town Hall, Pioneer Village, The Phillips House and Gedney House, and has served as the Bowditch House Building Committee Chair for Historic Salem Inc since 2019.

Kristen Sykes is the Northeast Regional Director for National Parks Conservation Association (NPCA), where she oversees NPCA's work to protect over 50 park sites in 8 states from New Jersey to Maine. She has spent the last 25 years working to advance historical/cultural resource protection, land conservation and outdoor recreation throughout the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic.

Jennifer Hardin is the Superintendent of Salem Maritime National Historical Park and Saugus Iron Works National Historic Site. She has held leadership roles across the National Park Service and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, including work in resource management, tribal consultation, subsistence policy, external affairs and climate resilience planning. Hardin currently oversees a range of preservation and climate adaptation initiatives, including waterfront resilience efforts and the ongoing restoration and rigging of the tall ship Friendship of Salem in advance of America’s 250th commemorations.