Friday, April 28th, 2023 - 12pm
Arlene Blum not only led the first American and all-woman ascent of Annapurna I – one of the world's most difficult and dangerous mountains – in 1978, she is now leading environmental health policy work to eliminate "forever chemicals," thousands of harmful PFAS that can contaminate our water, food, and everyday products.
A Reed College alum (that's where we met), with a Ph.D. in biophysical chemistry from UC Berkeley, Arlene leads the Green Science Policy Institute in Berkeley, where her team created an innovative approach to manage the thousands of PFAS as one class to enable governments and business to reduce their use. Come hear the story of her life, mountaineering adventures, and her work, and if you'd like to buy her books – one on Annapurna and the other, Breaking Trail, her memoir of mountains and molecules -- or "A Woman's Place Is on Top" Annapurna" t-shirt – bring $20 in cash for each item. Also, please RSVP to whoisylvia@aol.com and bring $10 for lunch: pizza (vegetarian and pescatarian) from North Beach Pizza in Berkeley.