Hi, I’m Carl!
I’m a political operative with a unique background in music, science and finance. I aim to bring about legislation around sustainability, racial justice and equity, environmental conservation, and democracy.
Headshots by Ken Kalbach
Lobbying and Political Strategy
This summer, I lobbied Congress (two Senate and five House offices) and the US Department of Treasury on…
Preventing rollbacks of the Biden-Harris administration’s Affordable Clean Energy Plan.
Strongly opposing anti-environmental Congressional Review Acts (CRAs).
Protecting environmental conservation and climate-smart investments in the upcoming Farm Bill.
Extending the pause on liquid natural gas (LNG) exports.
As a Field Organizer with Climate Action PA, I recruited and mentored three amazing interns. Together, we…
Produced first-of-its-kind policy analysis around addressing critical vulnerabilities in federal climate risk management.
Generated political strategy for passing policy expanding federal agency science funding through appropriations.
Presented our findings to League of Conservation Voters’ Campaigns and Government Affairs teams.
Our report to LCV. Click to read through!
Our presentation to LCV. Click to read through!
Research
I studied physical climate risk at Penn State.
Produced projections of sea-level rise from melting ice sheets under various climate change scenarios.
Quantified and characterized hydroclimatic variables for Great Lakes coastal hazard assessment.
Applied advanced statistical tools with technical expertise in R, Python, MATLAB, Julia, and Excel.
I collaborated with Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) on their Coastal Observations, Mechanisms, and Predictions Across Systems and Scales (COMPASS) and Integrated Coastal Modeling (ICoM) projects.
Video abstract for my master’s thesis: Greenland Ice Sheet drives sea-level differences between model and expert projections.
Leadership in grad school: Sustainability and Social Impact
As the first-ever Chair of Sustainability Finance for Penn State’s Student Sustainability Advisory Council, I…
Spearheaded a task force to advise top leadership on integrating sustainability funding into Central Development.
Personally presented findings to Penn State’s President, Chief Sustainability Officer and the President’s Council.
Produced a proposal for state funding of $200K/year towards food recovery and sustainability.
Advisory
My infographic for the Advisory Council’s Spring 2023 discussion. Click for a larger view!
“EMS graduate student on a mission through research, sustainability.” Written by Kaitlyn Toth for Penn State Today, published 04 May 2023.
Click here to read the full article!
As the Founder and President of the Penn State Sustainability Ambassadors, I…
Founded the organization to enhance community stakeholder engagement, outreach, and community service.
Steered the vision for six grad students and ten undergrads to create impact in sustainability and DEI&B.
Educated 106 low-income and first-generation-college high schoolers about sustainability and environmental justice.
Outreach
Low-income and first-generation-college high schoolers visit the Penn State Student Farm to learn about sustainable food systems.
Interests
Film music composer/orchestrator. Notable works include Hallmark Channel Christmas movie Just in Time for Christmas (2015) and buddy-cop-meets-exorcism horror flick Deliver Us From Evil (2014) ('Carl Fredrick' on IMDB).
Songwriter/producer. Notable works include “I want ME” and “I Believe” by Cindy Yen (JVR Music, Sony BMG).
Portrait photographer. Photographed 3 weddings. I also enjoy fashion editorial and environmental portraiture.
“我要我 I want ME” written by Cindy袁詠琳 and Carl Fredrick G. Aquino
“One of the best talks I have seen.”
—Dr. Richard Alley (National Academy of Sciences member and co-recipient of the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize) describing my master’s thesis presentation.
Message me to connect!
geosci.carl@gmail.com