The first ever 'U.S. Presidential Envoy for Climate', John Kerry, will take part in the UM Max Baucus Institute presentation via ZOOM on Thursday, April 21.

KGVO News spoke to UM Director of Strategic Communications Dave Kuntz about the upcoming presentation.

“Senator Baucus served for a lot of years alongside Senator Kerry,” said Kuntz. “And then after he was done in the Senate, Mr. Kerry served as Secretary of State, and he was a key player on the negotiations for the Paris Climate Accord. And he's also been appointed to a cabinet level position in the current administration.”

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Kerry’s position is described as the ‘Presidential Envoy for Climate’.

Kuntz said UM is grateful to the Baucus Institute for bringing such high-profile speakers to Missoula.

“So really, bringing this level of speakers to campus to both engage with the Western Montana community as well as our students is something that we really find valuable and we're grateful for the Baucus Institute to be able to make these opportunities available free and open to the public,” he said. “As for Senator Kerry, his climate advocacy goes way back, especially here in recent years at the Paris Climate Accords. Not only is it going to be a great opportunity to hear from Senator Kerry about his career and his work as Secretary of State, but also learn more about his current role and what the Biden administration is doing to tackle this big concern.”

Kuntz said 2022 has been a banner year for special presentations at the University of Montana.

“We're just excited that this spring has been really impactful in bringing speakers to the University of Montana. You know, just here in April alone, we've had Governor Gianforte to host a session for the Mansfield Center We also have Senator Kerry who will be hosted by the Baucus Institute.”

Kuntz previewed yet another prestigious event still to come.

“Later this month, we have former Russian Ambassador Michael McFaul and another former administration official and Condoleezza Rice, hosting a discussion about some of the current events and things that are happening over in Ukraine. So it just proves the value of having a flagship university in a town like Missoula and we're really proud to bring these level of speakers to town so folks can access them.”

The next event is Monday, April 18 with the ZOOM presentation featuring Secretary Rice and Ambassador McFaul from 11:30 to 12:30 p.m. Click here for access.

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