Throughout the spring semester, the MIT Climate Change Conversation will sponsor a number of events with one unifying goal in mind: bringing the campus together to figure out how MIT can best take on climate change.

On Wednesday, Jan. 21, the series of events kicks off with a talk titled, “One Man’s Journey to Climate Activism: A Talk with Dr. Larry Linden.” The event will take place from 3:30 to 5 p.m. in Room 32-123 (Kirsch Auditorium), with a reception to follow.

Linden SM ’70, PhD ’76 is a former general partner and managing director of Goldman Sachs. He is currently the head of the Linden Trust for Conservation, an organization that provides both financial and strategic support to conservation projects.

The Linden Trust is noted for its unique funding arrangements: For instance, this past year, it helped create a $215 million fund intended to provide long-term protection for 150 million acres of the Amazon rainforest in Brazil. To achieve this, the fund tapped both private and public sources of funding around the world, including the German government.

At the beginning of his career, Linden served on the White House staff during the Carter administration, helping to develop technology policy for areas such as environmental protection. Following his time at the White House, Linden was a partner at consulting firm McKinsey, where he advised corporations in the technology sector.

Linden is now a member of the board of directors of the World Wildlife Fund; he formerly chaired this board. Additionally, he was a member and chairman of the board of trustees of Resources for the Future.

Roman Stocker, an associate professor of civil and environmental engineering and chair of the Committee on the MIT Climate Change Conversation, says Linden’s talk will be “an inspiring call for engagement for the MIT community, and an ideal starting point for the series of events this semester that are part of the conversation for how MIT can best confront climate change.” Linden will also address policy instruments that can contribute to climate-change mitigation.

Stocker adds: “Dr. Linden’s affiliation with MIT, his broad background and significant experience in both finance and policy, and his current efforts in the climate-change arena through the Linden Trust are elements that make his a uniquely suited talk to inspire the MIT community to think about: ‘What can MIT do about climate change?’”