Climate Changed Season Three Launch Party
Occurred on September 16, 2024
In these days of ecological crises and climate change, we need wisdom from many sources — to inspire, to provoke, to bolster our courage, and to call us to faithful action. If you have been longing for insightful, challenging, and even humorous conversations to help you make sense of your place in this climate-changed world, then you are in luck — Season Three of The BTS Center’s podcast, Climate Changed, is coming on September 17!
In celebration of the launch of Season Three, we invited you to a very special Launch Party! Featuring co-hosts Nicole Diroff and Ben Yosua-Davis along with podcast producer Peterson Toscano, this party gave you early access to the first episode of Season Three and a sneak preview of what’s to come.
Engage with fellow listeners while enjoying exclusive content and even cameo appearances by Season Three guests!
Meet Our Hosts
Nicole Diroff
Rev. Nicole Diroff is ordained in the United Church of Christ and serves as Program Director at The BTS Center, where she coordinates the planning, implementation, and evaluation of the Center’s programmatic offerings. She holds expertise in facilitation, data management, and strategic planning. Nicole is a certified Maine Master Naturalist, serves as Chair of the Spiritual Formation Committee at Williston-Immanuel United Church and Co-Chair of the Diversity, Equity, Inclusion Committee for the Scarborough Public School District. She lives with her family in Scarborough, Maine.
Prior to her work with The BTS Center, Nicole served as the Associate Director at Interfaith Philadelphia, where she coordinated the Religious Leaders Council of Greater Philadelphia and directed the creation and expansion of the organization’s many Dare to Understand initiatives.
Nicole is a graduate of the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia and Ohio Wesleyan University. When she’s not leading programs or facilitating meetings, she can be found exploring tide pools with her son, hiking with her dogs, or reading a memoir at a local coffee shop.
Ben Yosua-Davis
Ben Yosua-Davis serves on The BTS Center staff team as Director of Applied Research, where he shapes the organization’s posture of “rigorous and reverent curiosity,” focused on research that supports and shares the wisdom of on-the-ground practitioners working in a climate-changed world. He is a graduate of Drew Theological Seminary and Colby College.
Previously, he lived in Haverhill, MA, where he co-planted a new church called The Vine, one of the earliest mainline missional church expressions in the country, and hosted a podcast entitled, “Reports From the Spiritual Frontier,” which chronicled the day-to-day lives of leaders innovating new forms of spiritual community.
Ben is a Maine native and now lives on Chebeague Island, Maine with his wife, Melissa, his son Michael, and his daughters, Genevieve and Emeline; where he directs the community chorus and delivers tins of cookies to unsuspecting neighbors.
Peterson Toscano
After spending 17 years and over $30,000 on three continents attempting to “de-gay” himself through conversion therapy, Peterson Toscano came out a quirky queer Quaker concerned with human rights. He asks himself and his audiences unusual questions: Who are the gender outlaws in the Bible? What is a queer response to climate change? What is the role of comedy when addressing trauma? His film, Transfigurations—
Peterson has been featured in People Magazine, The Times of London, the Trya Banks Show, and NPR Morning Edition. In addition to his original performances, Peterson produces multiple podcasts including Citizens Climate Radio, Bubble&Squeak, and the Bible Bash Podcast. In much of his work, Peterson helps people see climate change from fresh angles while stirring up empathy towards those most affected. Wherever he goes, he brings stories of determination, resiliency, and a cast of comic characters. He lives in Pretoria, South Africa with his husband, Glen Retief.
Learn more at www.petersontoscano.com.
