Brooklyn Marine Terminal Alternative Visions: Resilient and Climate Adaptive Ports
Event description
VIRTUAL EVENT: ZOOM REGISTRATION REQUIRED!
Join Pratt Institute’s MS in Sustainable Environmental Systems program and the Delta Cities Coastal Resilience advanced interdisciplinary studio during Climate Week NYC as we host the panel discussion, “BMT Alternative Visions: Resilient and Climate Adaptive Ports.”
In this virtual panel discussion, practitioners, planners, and community advocates will share their experiences, strategies, and best practices for building sustainable, climate-adaptive ports and advancing a blue/green maritime industry. Together, the speakers will highlight how port infrastructure, freight logistics, and community voices can intersect to shape more resilient and equitable waterfronts — from Red Hook to San Francisco and beyond.
Faculty Coordinators:
Gita Nandan, Adjunct Associate Professor, Pratt Institute GCPE
Lida Aljabar, Visiting Assistant Professor, Pratt Institute GCPE
Panelists:
Simon Betsalel
Capital Projects Manager
The Port of San Francisco
Simon Betaslel is an experienced Capital Projects Manager who has worked with various organizations such as Port of San Francisco and New York City Economic Development Corporation. With a background in Civil Engineering and a Master's degree in Urban Placemaking and Management, Simon has successfully led interdisciplinary teams in the execution of capital projects, managed disaster preparedness and response projects, and provided project management services for architectural and interior design firms. Simon's expertise and experience in project management make him a valuable asset in the construction and design industry.
Sandra Rothbard
Founder and Principal
Freight Matters
Sandra is an urban planning expert with over 15 years of experience in freight transportation. Having spent a decade working for government agencies on urban goods movement, emergency logistics and solid waste management policies and project implementation, she launched Freight Matters to support public, private and non-profit organizations as an independent consultant. Sandra works to build safe streets, healthy communities, and efficient supply chains around the world.
Sandra earned a Master’s Degree in Urban Planning, reinforcing her passion for urban sustainability, resilience, and community involvement. She teaches urban Transportation Planning at Georgia Tech and is a member of the American Institute of City Planners and the TRB Freight Transportation Planning and Logistics Committee. Sandra is a founding and current board member of the Urban Assembly School of Global Commerce public high school, and served three terms as secretary of the Land Use Committee for Brooklyn Community Board 2.
Adam Armstrong
A View from the Hook
Adam Armstrong is a Red Hook resident, dad, musician and sometimes finds time to write the local blog, “A View From The Hook“. After immigrating from Australia with his young family in 2000, falling in love with and buying into Red Hook in 2001, Adam quickly became involved in local issues, including port pollution, waterfront development, quality of life and issues of environmental justice. His activism – through his blog and elsewhere – has helped to bring the first shore-power berth for ocean going ships on the U.S. East Coast to Red Hook. Cruise ships that visit the Brooklyn Cruise terminal at the edge of Red Hook’s residential streets will soon be “plugging in” to the city’s electric grid instead of idling their extra-dirty diesel engines while in port, thereby removing tons of carcinogenic and asthma causing fumes from Red Hook’s air and out of its vulnerable residents’ lungs. In 2012, because of this work, Adam was named one of Friends of the Earth’s “Faces of Change”.
This event is co-sponsored by:
Click on logos to learn more!
The Master of Science in Sustainable Environmental Systems (SES) is one of the nation’s most innovative, interdisciplinary, systems-based sustainability programs. This STEM certified degree program is designed to meet today’s increasing demand for environmental professionals, uniquely combining environmental science, sustainable design, and climate policy. Students learn the interdisciplinary skills and systems-thinking approach needed to assess contemporary environmental issues; catalyze innovative environmental problem-solving; uphold environmental and social justice; and engage diverse stakeholders in designing and developing sustainable communities.
We also offer an Advanced Certificate (9 credits)!
Connect with us: ses@pratt.edu
Register for information sessions (2025-2026)
Sign up for informational meetings with the SES Academic Director
Faced with climate change, systemic racism, and growing inequity, communities need forward-thinking approaches to urbanism now more than ever. Practice-based and rooted deeply in the network of communities we serve, our alliance of four graduate-level programs works to address these evolving threats, working in partnership to build asset-based solutions at the intersection of environment, equity, culture, and economy.
We see the design, planning, and management of the built environment as tools for addressing the critical issues of our time—from social justice to the climate crisis. As a student at the School of Architecture, you’ll build the skills and knowledge you need to respond to these complex and evolving challenges in a uniquely versatile, innovative, and ethical way. As you do, our goal is to prepare you to lead a life of consequence within each discipline, both today and beyond.
Cover image by Kasturi Salvi & Leonel L. Ponce, with original photograph by:
Tickets for good, not greed Humanitix dedicates 100% of profits from booking fees to charity
