Earthworks

Open Access Oceans and Three Million Virtual Dives with Dr. Erika Woolsey

Most of us will never go scuba diving on a healthy coral reef. Dr. Erika Woolsey, National Geographic Explorer, marine scientist, and co-founder of The Hydrous, is trying to fix that. In this episode, we talk about the time she was a dive buddy for for 450 people in headsets in Washington, DC; what healthy coral reefs actually sound like (spoiler: not silent); why she thinks of motherhood and the ocean as parallel invisible worlds; and why "don't convince, connect" might be the single most useful piece of advice for anyone trying to move people to care about anything. Plus whale sharks, butterfly fish, and a baby on a research station in the middle of the Great Barrier Reef.

Bird Bingo, Intense Creatives, and Leadership in the Environmental Movement with Brigid McCormack

The environmental movement has more tools than ever, and also more burnt out people than ever. Brigid McCormack lives on both sides of this story. In this episode, the former executive director of Audubon California and current California Environmental Voters board member answers questions from listeners about what’s happening right now in climate and conservation organizations, why they need more "intense creatives" who don't fit in cubicles, and how to build the kind of resilience that lasts longer than a news cycle. We also talk about passing the baton, bird bingo, and a Zen master's advice on environmental burnout. Plus I nerd out on bird aerodynamics. GET CONNECTED * Brigid's website: spindriftadvisors.com [http://spindriftadvisors.com] * California Environmental Voters website: envirovoters.org [http://envirovoters.org] TAKEAWAYS FROM THIS EPISODE * Your resilience is a strategic imperative, not a luxury. Brigid quotes Thich Nhat Hanh: if you want to save the planet, you first have to save yourself. Cultivate the adaptive resilience of a mangrove swamp, and only then turn around and do the work. * Stop sprinting. This is generational work. The climate movement has gotten communications wrong by motivating people through crisis and doom. People aren't moved by fear; they're moved by a hopeful vision of a future that's actually better. If you're a creative, that's your superpower. * Leaders: let the intense creatives in. The best engagement ideas (Bird Bingo anyone?) didn't come from a strategic plan - they came from creative people who were given the OK to try weird things. If your team profile is all strategists and diplomats, you're missing something vital. RESOURCES AND FUN STUFF RELATED TO THIS EPISODE * Zen and the Art of Saving the Planet by Thich Nhat Hanh: The book Brigid credits with reframing her approach to burnout and resilience * Dr. Ned Hallowell and the Hallowell Center: Brigid references his work on the brilliance of the ADHD brain and why intense creatives don't fit in boxes (drhallowell.com [http://drhallowell.com]) * The Enneagram: A personality framework Brigid uses with leadership teams. The "intense creative" maps to the Enneagram Type 4. * Climate Collaborative Justice Fund: The collective donor-advised fund Brigid mentions that's funding shovel-ready clean energy on Native lands and in communities of color * V-formation flight science: The original 2014 Nature study by Portugal et al. showed ibises precisely sync their wing flaps to catch updrafts in formation flight. Science magazine has a great accessible writeup: "Why Birds Fly in a V Formation." A 2001 Nature study by Weimerskirch et al. confirmed pelicans save significant energy in formation using heart rate monitors. The lead bird gets zero benefit, which is why they rotate. * Podcasthon: The global event connecting podcast creators with the nonprofits they love. This episode spotlights California Environmental Voters. Learn more at podcasthon.org [http://podcasthon.org]

You Don't Get the Love Mail: Rosanna Xia on Courage and Covering the California Coast

Rosanna Xia is an environmental reporter at the LA Times, Pulitzer Prize-nominated author of California Against the Sea, and first-time documentary filmmaker. In sixteen years of covering California's coast, she's developed a philosophy of storytelling that seeks to help readers not just learn something, but do something.

Dungeons, Dragons, and Dreaming Climate Futures with Lil Milagro Henriquez

What if the answer to climate anxiety isn't more data, but more play? Lil Milagro Henriquez is the founder and executive director of Mycelium Youth Network, where she's helping young people build climate resilience through radical imagination. What I’m taking away from this episode: * Dreaming isn't frivolous. In this moment of collective failure of imagination, making space to dream huge isn't a luxury. It's a first step in building the futures that we’ll want to inhabit.  * Climate education should prepare people for the world they'll actually live in. Our current system pretends the world will stay roughly the same for the next 20-30 years. What if instead, we created space to confront the grief of what we’re losing and then showed young people the hundreds of real solutions and careers they could pursue? * Go ahead, let young people create solutions.  It's "surprisingly radical" that if you give young people the opportunity to express a concern and create a solution, they will. So ... maybe we adults should ask ourselves why is this radical. Or better yet, we could just create more spaces where youth can actually do this work. GET CONNECTED * Lil on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lil-milagro-henriquez-b5997391/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/lil-milagro-henriquez-b5997391/]  * Website: https://myceliumyouth.orgmyceliumyouth.org [http://myceliumyouth.org] * Instagram: @myceliumyouth [https://instagram.com/myceliumyouth] RESOURCES AND INTERESTING STUFF RELATED TO THIS EPISODE * Mycelium Youth Network [https://www.myceliumyouthnetwork.org/]: Oakland-based nonprofit using gaming and traditional ecological knowledge for climate resilience education. * Gaming for Justice [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dZzs6ImDFrs]: Mycelium Youth Network’s original immersive experience that is designed, drawn, and soundtracked by SF Bay area artists. Using a combination of oral storytelling, visuals, and music, the game explores the history (and future!) of the San Francisco Bay Area with a specific focus on Oakland, California.  * The Marrow Thieves by Cherie Dimaline [https://birchbarkbooks.com/products/the-marrow-thieves]: The Indigenous futurism novel Lil references about people who retain the ability to dream in a world where most have lost it.  * 2017 California Wildfires [https://www.fire.ca.gov/incidents/2017]: More than 10,000 structures were destroyed across the state, and more than 9,000 fires burned a total of 1,248,606 acres.  LIKE WHAT YOU HEARD? Leave me a comment (guest and topic suggestions welcome!) and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. SHOW NOTES AND MORE Visitwww.marinapsaros.com/earthworks [http://Visitwww.marinapsaros.com/earthworks] for show notes, transcripts, and more.

Good Storytelling, Accidental Farming, and Loving What's Left with Julie Carrick Dalton

Join us for a funny, fascinating reminder that the most powerful environmental stories focus on characters and plot, not lectures. Today's guest is award-winning novelist, former beekeeper, and accidental farmer Julie Carrick Dalton. TAKEAWAYS AND TRY-ITS FROM THIS EPISODE Let your characters work it out. Julie hands off her big existential climate questions to her fictional characters and let's them sort it out. Not only does this let her sleep at night, it also allows her to see multiple perspectives. After all, no character in real life (or good fiction) is always right or always wrong.   Love the hell out of what you have. When confronted with loss, you have a choice: get stuck in the grief or protect and celebrate what's still there. Let's love the hell out of what we have left, because that’s how we find strength and inspiration to take action. Find your personal why. Don't write a "climate story", write YOUR story. Julie lost 40,000 honeybees in a single day when a neighbor's lawn chemicals drifted into her hives. That loss inspired "The Last Beekeeper."  Story first. The people who pick up books labeled "climate fiction" probably aren’t the ones who most need the message. Julie gives her thriller readers the content that they want … and if they wind up rethinking their assumptions about environmental issues, that’s a happy extra. RESOURCES AND FUN STUFF RELATED TO THIS EPISODE * New Hampshire's growing season has extended by 22 days over the last century, but some regions have seen even more dramatic shifts. Check out the EPA's Climate Change Indicators: Length of Growing Season [https://www.epa.gov/climate-indicators/climate-change-indicators-length-growing-season]. * Moth Story Slams are hosted [https://themoth.org] in cities across the country, and you too could tell a 5-minute story on stage!  * The Land Back movement seeks to put more Indigenous lands in Indigenous hands. NPR did a recent story [https://www.npr.org/2024/09/18/nx-s1-5091001/the-latest-on-the-land-back-movement-in-which-native-american-tribes-reclaim-land] on efforts in the US.  BONUS CRAFT EPISODE Want to nerd out about craft? We dove deep into processes like Julie's visual plotting system (with spirit animals!) and the intensive writing program that took her from journalist to published author. Tune in if that sounds like fun. GET CONNECTED * Website: juliecarrickdalton.com [http://juliecarrickdalton.com] * Newsletter: Julie's Plot Twist on Substack [https://juliesplottwist.substack.com] * Instagram: @juliecdalton [https://instagram.com/juliecdalton] Julie's Books * "Waiting for the Night Song" (2021) - CNN, USA Today, Newsweek Most Anticipated Book * "The Last Beekeeper" (2023) - Massachusetts Book Award longlist * "The Forest Becomes Her" (July 2026) - forthcoming from St. Martin's Press LIKE WHAT YOU HEARD? Leave me a comment (guest and topic suggestions welcome!) and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. SHOW NOTES AND MORE Visit www.marinapsaros.com/earthworks [http://www.marinapsaros.com/earthworks] for show notes, transcripts, and more.