Resilience in Practice: Bringing Global Experience to Climate Solutions

Engineering alum Alec Bernstein '11 will describe his career in international development, water access, and building resilience in the face of change. As an active member of Engineers Without Borders and a Fulbright Fellow living in India, Alec gained first‑hand insight into what makes development efforts sustainable. Since then, he has led multidisciplinary teams on climate and water projects across South Asia, Sub‑Saharan Africa, the Middle East, and Latin America. Throughout his career, Alec has held a variety of roles, but his work consistently centers on assessing how a changing climate affects infrastructure, social, and environmental systems. His clients have included the World Bank, International Finance Corporation (IFC), Millenium Challenge Corporation (MCC), US Agency for International Development (USAID), the Green Climate Fund (GCF), US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) and Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR), and the City of Philadelphia.