The third annual Nantucket Climate Change Summit is being held at the Great Harbor Yacht Club this Wednesday, headlined by a talk by Climate Central Chief Meteorologist Bernadette Woods Placky.

After two years focused entirely on the intersection of climate change and Nantucket, the Nantucket Conservation Foundation and the Linda Loring Nature Foundation are expanding the focus of their summit slightly by bringing in Placky, a meteorologist for the nonprofit climate change news outlet Climate Central.

“We don’t want to keep doing the same thing every year,” Nantucket Conservation Foundation Coastal Ecology Project Manager Jen Karberg told the Current. “We want to bring in new and elevated information.”

Bernadette Woods Placky

Running from 4:30-7:00, the event will also feature updates from Karberg and Linda Loring Nature Foundation Director of Research and Conservation Sarah Bois.

After, there will be an opportunity for attendees to mingle and ask questions of the speakers and each other. Karberg thinks this is one of the most important parts of the summit.

“We have space for the community to be there, to ask questions, to interact with each other. We want the community to start talking about what’s going on,” Karberg said. “If we’re getting together and talking, our chances of having positive adaptation go up.”

Karberg said the event is important in part because Nantucket is uniquely exposed to the effects of climate change. She hopes the event will help bring islanders together on the issue.

“How do we get our community, our local community, on the same page with really similar definitions and a really good understanding of ‘what does this change mean?’” She said. “Because we’re an island, we’re at the crux of seeing all these impacts.”

The summit has already reached capacity, as it has every year, but anyone interested in attending can join the waitlist or wait for the recording of the summit to be released on YouTube.

The event is presented in partnership with the Community Foundation for Nantucket Remain Nantucket Fund, the Great Harbor Yacht Club and the Great Harbor Yacht Club Foundation.