Jeanne Braha is Executive Director of the Rock Creek Conservancy, based in Bethesda. Jeanne holds a Masters of Environmental Management from Yale University and a Bachelor of Arts in Anthropology with a concentration in Environmental Studies from Bryn Mawr College. She joined the Conservancy in 2018 after several years serving as Director of Foundation Relations for the Student Conservation Association. She spoke to our club in 2019 and appeared several times on Carla Satinsky’s cable television show, “Montgomery Week in Review.” The Conservancy sponsors the annual Rock Creek Extreme Cleanup, which our club has participated in for more than a decade.  She will be giving us an update on issues affecting Rock Creek and the park, including proposals to widen the Beltway and expanding recreational access.

North Bethesda Rotary’s own Paul Arveson will talk to us about the new images from the James Webb Space Telescope.  He will go into detail to explain what we are seeing in these few images and what is new in them.  

Paul is currently a Director at Solar Household Energy, a nonprofit focused on providing solar cookers for low-income people in sunny countries.   He served as a research physicist at the Carderock Navy lab in Bethesda for 36 years.  He has a BS in physics and an MS in computer systems management.  

Walter Weiss will discuss the global warming crisis and the leading role Montgomery County is playing in reducing greenhouse gas emissions, with special attention to the important contributions that community groups here are playing.

Walter is a member of the River Road Unitarian Universalist Congregation, where he is co-chair of the Environmental Task Force and organizes the vegetable garden.  In 2017 he helped found the Montgomery County Faith Alliance for Climate Solutions, to bring together congregations committed to work against climate change.  He lives in Bethesda, and is a retired doctor and medical researcher.