Penn Climate Invites the University Community to its Launch Party on April 20 – University of Pennsylvania Almanac

Penn has established the Vice Provost for Climate Science, Policy, and Action to lead the University forward in its mission to address a defining challenge of our time—climate change. Next Monday, April 20, Penn Climate will formally launch with an event open to the entire Penn community. According to Penn’s Vice Provost for Climate Sanya Carley (Almanac October 21, 2025), this gathering will be the first chance for a wide audience to hear about the research support, student fellowships, and programming that Penn Climate is rolling out.
The Penn Climate launch party will be held in the Kleinman Energy Forum on the fourth floor of Fisher Fine Arts Library. The presentation will begin at 4 p.m., followed by a reception from 5-7 p.m.
Those in attendance will hear remarks from:
Ellery Spikes, C’29, undergraduate student in environmental studies
Brief remarks will outline Penn Climate’s recently launched initiatives, such as research grants available to those working on big multidisciplinary climate solutions projects, postdoc opportunities, student fellowships, the upcoming fall 2026 Climate Week, and a demo of Penn Climate’s new website with tools for finding climate-focused faculty and a sustainable course inventory.
The 5 p.m. reception includes Climate Quizzo, a fun photo booth, and printing opportunities with the Penn Common Press. Sustainable menu selections and climate-themed mocktails will fuel the socializing. 
Dr. Carley offered further information about Penn Climate and the upcoming launch party in a recent interview:
Q: For anyone who is just hearing about Penn Climate, why should they attend the launch party?
A: Our launch party is such a great opportunity to not only learn about Penn Climate and our initiatives, but also to engage with the broader community here at Penn on the subject. So we hope so many people will come out and learn about all that we’re doing and engage with our community members.
Q: Who’s building Penn Climate alongside you, and who will be there at the launch?
A: We have a phenomenal team at Penn Climate and every one of them will be there to answer your questions and brainstorm about how you can become a part of this important community of people working on climate and environment.
Q: For someone who’s already doing climate work, but has yet to engage with Penn Climate, what should they expect to learn or discover at the launch event?
A: We will describe our “Keystones”—basically our key areas of focus, which include student programming and curricular development, faculty integration, and communications. 
Q: What do you want someone to walk away from the launch knowing?
A: How awesome we are! I hope people walk away from the event knowing how much climate activity is already happening here at Penn and how much we’re poised to grow going forward.
Q: What happens after April 20? What’s next for someone who gets excited at the launch?
A: We will release in the fall a call for student fellowships and a call for Innovation Seed Grants for teams working on big climate solutions projects that are multidisciplinary. We will have a faculty mixer coming up in May to bring those from different academic areas together. And, we will be organizing Climate Week in October. All of this will be posted on our new website, climate.upenn.edu. 

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