Creative Society Delegation Participates in 6th Annual Michigan Climate Summit
Dr. Denise Keele, Dr. Kyle Whyte and Creative Society representatives at the Michigan Climate Summit 2025
Lansing, MI — September 9, 2025 — Creative Society participants Olga Kovtun and Olga Schmidt attended the 6th Annual Michigan Climate Summit, the state’s leading climate gathering that brings together advocates, experts, students, and solution-seekers from across Michigan. Throughout the summit, they connected, networked, and engaged in substantive conversations with participants, organizers, speakers, and attendees about urgent climate challenges and collaborative, community-centered solutions.
During the event, the delegation had the pleasure of meeting with Dr. Denise Keele, executive director of the Michigan Climate Action Network (MiCAN), and Dr. Kyle Whyte, professor at the University of Michigan School for Environment and Sustainability and faculty director of the Tishman Center for Social Justice and the Environment. Discussions centered on the imperative to unify efforts across sectors to address the impending climate and environmental crisis, as well as the serious risks posed by micro- and nanoplastics.
In addition, the delegation built many more connections, including with Samantha Pickering, Public and Environmental Health Policy Coordinator at the Environmental Council; Neil L. Drobny, Ph.D., Western Michigan University; Zigmond Kozicki, DHA, MSA, MA, LLP, Associate Professor, University of Detroit Mercy; and Katie O’Connor-Price, LLMSW, Psychotherapist at Fair Sky.
Stephanie Baiyasi-Kozicki, Dr. Zigmond Kozicki, Tanai Dawson, Saagar Karwa and Creative Society representatives at the Michigan Climate Summit 2025
The Creative Society project is a global initiative dedicated to addressing key challenges facing humankind, with a particular focus on tackling the climate crisis and advancing sustainable development. In alignment with this mission, Creative Society participants shared and discussed two featured reports:
“On the Threat of a Magma Plume Eruption in Siberia and Strategies for Addressing the Issue,” which warns of a potential global hazard linked to shifts in Earth’s inner core. Citing satellite observations from 1997–1998, the report suggests a sudden inner-core shift toward Eastern Siberia drove rapid magma ascent, forming a massive Siberian plume now reaching the base of the crust beneath the northern East Siberian Craton. The study emphasizes that an uncontrolled breakthrough could have catastrophic consequences, with estimated energy release potentially on the order of ∼1,000 times that of the largest known Yellowstone eruptions, with historical parallels to plume events associated with the Permian extinction. The report outlines three scenarios and recommends intensified monitoring, preparedness, and international coordination to mitigate risk.
“Nanoplastics in the Biosphere: From Molecular Impact to Planetary Crisis,” which presents a comprehensive analysis of plastic pollution’s impacts on the environment, human health, and the resilience of critical societal systems. The report investigates the behavior of micro- and nanoplastics (MNPs) that carry static charges and toxic chemical compounds, and evaluates their effects on ecosystems. It places particular emphasis on potential contributions to ocean acidification, disruption of food webs, and threats to biodiversity. The report advances a hypothesis that MNPs may alter water properties in ways that accelerate ocean warming and intensify natural disasters. An urgent focus is the risk to human health: due to their minute size, MNPs can traverse biological barriers and may trigger oxidative stress, DNA damage, inflammatory responses, and cellular dysfunction. The report notes a possible association between MNP exposure and rising rates of neurodegenerative and neuropsychiatric disorders and indicates that exposure during prenatal and postnatal development may impair cognitive function and mental health in children, posing a serious threat to future generations.
Edward Rivet II and Creative Society representatives at the Michigan Climate Summit 2025
By translating these complex subjects into accessible insights for practitioners and community leaders, the delegation underscored the need for integrated risk assessment, science-informed policy, and coordinated action across academia, civil society, and industry. The Michigan Climate Summit provided a timely forum for Creative Society to deepen relationships, exchange knowledge, and identify opportunities for collaborative projects that strengthen climate resilience across Michigan and beyond. The organization extends its appreciation to the summit organizers and all participants for fostering an inclusive, solutions-oriented environment.
About Creative Society
The mission of the Creative Society Project is to draw the world's attention to global natural disasters, study their causes, and find solutions. Our aim is to create conditions for global cooperation among scientists to protect human life, uphold international human rights, and prevent further natural disasters.
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