On the more local fron...

As Senior Associate Director of the Office of Presidential Personnel in the Biden White House, Matt Dannenberg will be in charge of staffing up any positions in the administration related to climate, including positions in the Environmental Protection Agency, Department of the Interior, Department of Energy, and similar agencies. He’s also focused on creating a “Native American leadership pipeline and representation in appointments,” helping to make sure Indigenous communities are well-represented in the administration...

...Matt Dannenberg wanted to be a storm chaser.

Growing up in Watertown, Wisconsin, his goal in life was to go after tornadoes, “like Bill Paxton in Twister,” he said. He came to the University of Wisconsin in 2006 to study meteorology but “ran headfirst into the brick wall of Calculus 222.”

But given his interest in weather and climate, it wasn’t too much of a pivot to focus on an important issue from a political perspective.

“During my pursuit of meteorology I got interested in climate change and learning all about it and its impact on people,” Dannenberg told Madison365. “I wasn’t going to go down the science route, but I could use my passion for people, in organizing, to impact what was going on with our environment.”...