Where Do We Go Now?: The Politics and Policies of Climate Adaptation in Kansas

Kansas is facing the question of how to create a livable state in the face of climate change. How can rural and urban areas adapt to become more resilient? As the environmental and ecological effects of a changing climate rapidly progress, local communities and nations alike are finding new solutions to this crisis. Join Douglas County, Kansas Food Waste Reduction Specialist Jamie Hofling, Kansas Rural Center Executive Director Tom Buller, KU Associate Professor Ward Lyles, and Earthjustice Senior Director Jasmin Moore for this conversation with Dole Fellow Karen Willey.

This program is presented in partnership with the KU School of Public Affairs Administration, and the Department of Environmental Studies.

This series is presented in partnership with the Kansas Rural Center.

Jasmin Moore has 20 years of experience in local government, strategic planning, policy development, coalition building, and integrating sustainability and equity into decision-making. Moore is the inaugural Senior Director of Sustainability + Impact for Earthjustice, the largest environmental nonprofit law firm in the world. She holds a Master of Science Degree in Community & Regional Planning from the University of Texas at Austin School of Architecture, and a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Applied Behavioral Science from the University of Kansas.

Tom Buller is the Executive Director of the Kansas Rural Center. He studied geography and rural development at the University of Kansas as an undergraduate and the University of Minnesota as a graduate student. Tom and his family own and operate Buller Family Farm, which produces certified organic vegetables and fruit in the Lawrence area.  Along the way he has coordinated the Lawrence Farmers’ Market, co-founding the KC Food Hub and worked as a horticulture extension agent for K-State Research and Extension- Douglas County.

Ward Lyle’s research and teaching interests center on the intersection of people, the built environment, and the natural environment. He holds a Ph.D. from the Department of City and Regional Planning at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Prior to obtaining his Ph.D., he lived in Madison, Wisconsin, where he worked at 1000 Friends of Wisconsin, a planning-oriented non-profit organization, co-founded Madison Magnet, a social capital-oriented non-profit organization, and was very engaged in the civic and political life of the city.

Jamie Hofling is a native Kansan with over 10 years of experience in project management and leadership spanning economic development and clean energy. In 2016 she joined the Climate + Energy Project and managed events such as the Day of Advocacy and Education at the statehouse in Topeka. She began working for Douglas County and now works as the Sustainability Impact Analyst, working diligently on a Douglas County climate action and adaptation plan since 2022 and looks forward to seeing it come to fruition.