Philanthropic champion supports a low-carbon, resilient future

Thursday, May 26, 2022

Estimated reading time: 2 minutes

The University of Waterloo’s Interdisciplinary Centre on Climate Change (IC3) empowers businesses, governments, and civil society to respond effectively to climate change. Now, thanks to a generous gift from entrepreneur Phil Caravaggio, IC3 will be able to share research in new, creative ways to help us all build a low-carbon, resilient future.

Caravaggio is the Co-Founder at Precision Nutrition, the largest private nutrition education and research company in the world. His generous gift of $240,000 will be used to translate the interdisciplinary research and insights of IC3 members in innovative ways that reach broader audiences and result in real uptake and impact.  

As the climate crisis becomes more dire and more evident, I'm trying to dedicate more of my time, energy and resources to addressing it. More importantly, I'm trying to support the very best scientists and change-makers we have — those who have long made this work their calling, like Dr. Sarah Burch and the team at IC3.

Phil Caravaggio

Decision makers face urgent and difficult choices in the coming years that will influence our collective ability to address the climate crisis. Evolving and innovative climate change research offers the knowledge, strategies and tools that can inform these decisions. Caravaggio’s gift will help bridge the gap between knowledge and action in two keys ways:  

  1.  Creating a policy brief series to help inform low-carbon, resilient decision making
  2.  Communicating climate change science through unique visual and digital assets

By leveraging existing UWaterloo capacity in government relations, corporate liaising, and community engagement, this gift will have immediate and long-lasting impact on Canada’s path to a sustainable future. 

About Phil Caravaggio 

Phil Caravaggio.

Phil is an entrepreneur and co-founder of Precision Nutrition, the largest private nutrition education and research company in the world. Precision Nutrition has advised top organizations like Apple, Nike, Titleist, the Seattle Seahawks (as Super Bowl champions), the San Antonio Spurs (as NBA champions) and numerous Olympic teams. Its work and research have been widely cited in the media, from the New York Times to the Harvard Business Review. Fast Company named Precision Nutrition one of the most innovative companies in the world. Phil sits on the board of Community Food Centres Canada and acts as an advisor to Canadian entrepreneurs and leaders.


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Read more of our latest news →

On April 27, 2022, IC3’s Executive Director, Sarah Burch, spoke with climate scientist Katharine Hayhoe, who The New York Times called “one of the nation's most effective communicators on climate change.” They discussed climate change communications, strategies for individual and collective action, transition inequities, the role of children and youth, and so much more. They also weighed in on what we’re all wondering – is there hope?