How We’ll Live: Sustainable Lifestyles of the Future

Jennifer Varekamp is a Costume and Apparel Designer committed to sustainability. Jennifer received her ED.M from Harvard University and her BFA from Massachusetts College of Art and Design. She has also studied at Domus Academy in Milan, Italy and at the London College of Fashion. Jennifer has been teaching sustainable fashion for over a decade at MassArt. During her most recent sabbatical, she was a Professional Fellow through Nest and worked in Laos with the social enterprise, Ma Té Sai and a group of TaiLeu women artisans. She has led sustainably focused travel courses to India and Laos with MassArt students and also fashion directed travel courses to Paris and Antwerp. Jennifer has participated in numerous conferences and workshops on sustainable fashion in the US, Europe, India and Sri Lanka.  She was a guest presenter at the Sustainable Fashion Summit at the Mercedes Benz Fashion Week in Sri Lanka, an invited guest lecturer at (NIFT) the National Institute of Fashion Technology in Delhi, India on this topic, and an invited participant at the Educator’s Summit: State of the Art in Sustainable Fashion in Copenhagen, Denmark. She was featured on Chronicle Channel 5 Boston in a segment on sustainable fashion and most recently she was a panelist about Sustainability, Fashion and Social Justice- as part of the Boston Globe’s Sustainability Week and she was a guest speak on Cambridge Associates’ Unseen Upside podcast about Fast Fashion. She is most happy exploring sustainable techniques and new cultures while traveling with her family.

The BMQG is an organization devoted to elevating the art of quilting as well as engaging with the community in various ways, including creating quilts for education as well as charity.  Ms. White helped coordinate The Denim Project, which challenged the BMQG members to create quilts using only upcycled materials, with a focus on denim, to highlight sustainability within this art form.  Outside of her participation in the BMQG, Ms. White has been a mental health counselor for over 27 years and continues to enjoy her work and focus on mental health in addition to environmental issues.

Meera Zassenhaus leads communications and public affairs at the Tufts University Center for Cellular Agriculture (TUCCA), an interdisciplinary center of excellence democratizing the scientific building blocks of cultivated meat, building a pipeline of talent and expertise, and fostering public trust in this novel technology. With 90+ researchers, the world's first undergraduate degree in cellular agriculture, and a brand new commercialization lab, TUCCA is taking cultivated meat from idea to impact. Prior to joining TUCCA, Meera was at New Harvest during the time that the organization coined the term "cellular agriculture." Having worked in cell ag since 2015, Meera has helped grow the field via science communication and developing programs that rapidly respond to the evolving needs of the ecosystem.

The act of listening holds a central role in the work of Cambridge, MA-based artist and sound designer Skooby Laposky. As a film composer and field recordist, Laposky’s contributions have enriched numerous documentary films, bringing depth and resonance to their subjects. His DJing and music production for the club space delivers a visceral experience, igniting communal movement and euphoria on the dancefloor. His uniquely designed sounds for consumer products infuse them with essential character, seamlessly integrating these devices into people’s daily lives. Laposky’s most recent work and research in biodata sonification has helped listeners create a stronger kinship with Nature and aided in their restorative practices of yoga and meditation.