Jenna Outcalt
Staff Writer
“From the White House to the playground,” Gretchen Goldman wants to make the world a better place.
As president and CEO of the Union of Concerned Scientists, she said one of her big motivations for addressing climate change is leaving her kids with the best climate and environment they can have.
Goldman will deliver a lecture at 12:30 p.m. today in Smith Wilkes Hall for the Bird, Tree & Garden Club, during which she will discuss what is happening in the world of science, how she sees it through the lens of her own experiences and how the scientific community can meet this moment.
Goldman said she plans to explore how both her personal and professional experiences affect her perspectives.
“I think it’s really important that we look at everything together and recognize the past and what’s happened, and that informs where we go from here,” she said.
Goldman was the assistant director for environmental science, engineering, policy and justice in the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy from 2021 to 2023. She also served as the climate change research and technology director in the U.S. Department of Transportation in 2023 and 2024. She said our present moment is a “really important time for this conversation.”
“This is a moment where the science community is reckoning with a lot of changes. There’s a lot of things happening at the federal level that are disrupting…where federal science has been,” Goldman said.
After coming to Chautauqua Institution with her husband in 2025, Goldman said she is looking forward to the dialogue with Chautauquans.
“I just experienced it as this very thoughtful group of people that are very well-read and thoughtful about issues,” she said.
Goldman also said she wanted to leave a hopeful note for those attending the lecture.
“Part of my job and focus is around reacting to bad things happening, things I consider to be bad moves,” Goldman said. “But I think in that job, I really get to see a lot of positives, because I get to see all the bad things we stopped from happening before they made headlines, and I see areas of progress that maybe don’t get the same attention. I really want to instill on the audience a point of inspiration, so they see that bravery in the places where good things are happening in the world.”
