the university of washington (uw) offered a screening of “these sacred hills” on nov. 6, 2025, sponsored by the burke museum, the nature conservancy washington state, uw center for nature and health, uw department of history, and uw school of environmental and forestry sciences.

the documentary featured elected member of the yakama nation council jeremy takala, rock creek band elder elaine howtapat, rock creek band chief bronsco jim jr., and rock creek band activist and uw alumnus elaine harvey. the film was directed by jacob bailey and christopher ward, and is centered around the implications of the northwest’s largest proposed pumped storage facility.

according to the documentary, the energy storage project would be located in goldendale, washington, and would destroy five indigenous archaeological sites, as well as three cultural ones.

“these sacred hills,” which alternated scenes of indigenous cultural practices, public hearings, and interviews with tribal members, followed the broader trend of the “green rush,” or influx of clean energy development, in washington.

there has been increasing pressure for emitters in washington state to decarbonize, especially following the climate commitment act (cca), passed in 2021.

the cca, according to indigenous affairs reporter b. ‘toastie’ oaster at high country news, contained a provision prior to its passing that granted tribes the right to consent to development on sacred lands. on the day of the bill’s passing, after the cca had been approved by the governor’s office, state legislators, and a coalition of 19 tribes, governor jay inslee vetoed all tribal civil rights provisions. 

“there’s nothing out there protecting indigenous rights,” oaster said.

the treaty of 1855 granted tribes the right to hunt, fish, and gather on public lands. the privatization of land, compounded with resource depletion, have increasingly threatened indigenous ways of life.

yakama nation peoples have been overlooked and displaced numerous times throughout history, as outlined in the documentary.

in 1941, after the attack on pearl harbor, tribes residing in the pine creek canyon were forced to relocate so that the area could be used for war plane target training. in 1971, subsequent to the completion of the john day dam, the army corps of engineers informed the rock creek band that they must relocate so that the area could be flooded.

protection of indigenous sacred lands, despite being a united nations standard, is absent in state and federal law in the united states.

the united states geological survey began assessing the columbia river for hydroelectric storage in 1967. klickitat county began working on the goldendale energy storage project in 2008, with the initial goal of completing it through their public utilities district. it wasn’t until several years into the process that the yakama nation was even notified of the proposal, giving them less than 60 days to conduct surveys on the site and give comment.

renewable energy in washington is usually developed on “low value” or low biodiversity land. but these lands often contain critical resources for tribes. according to the documentary, the goldendale energy storage project would be incredibly detrimental to the local shrub steppe habitat.

the goldendale energy storage project is just one of nearly 50 proposed renewable energy projects in the state, many of which overlap with yakama or colville reservations in eastern washington.

this history and sense of urgency was conveyed throughout “these sacred hills;” nearly every scene spanning the natural area of the yakama nation contained imagery of wind turbines.

rye development, the company leading the goldendale energy storage project, brought oaster to tour the project site. though they stressed the importance of indigenous rights, according to oaster, they also spoke of displacement almost as if it were inevitable, “us[ing] the rhetoric of manifest destiny.”

tribes are not against renewable energy, harvey emphasized. they are in favor of “responsible decarbonization,” which should respect tribal sovereignty.

while filming “these sacred hills,” tribal members had to share personal parts of their culture in order to encourage respect and understanding for tribal sovereignty.

the documentary was made with the intention to spread awareness, according to harvey. it’s been screened to the washington department of ecology, and will be screened to legislators in the future.

“we hope that this deepens the conversation about green energy,” bailey said.

as of november 2024, rye development plans to break ground on the goldendale energy storage project in 2026. according to the documentary, the federal energy regulatory commission has never directly consulted the yakama nation on the project.

the university of arizona’s data diversity lab gives researchers a new way to picture the future of life on earth. by blending ecology, evolution, and advanced data science, the lab creates tools aimed to streamline massive biological datasets — allowing scientists to more accurately predict biodiversity loss, climate change, and long-term ecological impacts, along with guiding conservation efforts. 

founded in 2023 and led by ecologist and evolutionary biologist cristian román-palacios, the lab investigates a range of questions about life on earth, such as how urbanization, shifting ecosystems, and culturally learned behaviors affect species and their environments. 

“data science forms the backbone of our research, whether it’s analyzing biological data, predicting patterns behind species extinctions or extracting meaningful data from letters written by students demanding social justice in academia,” the lab’s mission reads. 

much of the data diversity lab’s work involves developing new algorithms and computational tools that can be applied to real-world problems. 

“for the lab, i wanted to assemble a group of students and researchers who would collaborate on diverse topics,” román-palacios said. “rather than restricting themselves to specific areas, they would bring curiosity to provide input and feedback, ask questions, and critically examine work outside their particular disciplines, drawing on their fundamental and transversal knowledge.”

datasets developed by the lab have supported research on topics such as freshwater fish diversity, plant evolution, climate-driven extinctions, and changes to access in natural spaces worldwide. taken together, this work offers a clearer picture of how species — and the ecosystems they rely on — are responding to unprecedented environmental shifts. 

román-palacios explained that his goal for starting the lab extended beyond his formal training in biology. “the lab emerged from my ever-growing interest in how biology permeates not only our basic understanding of nature, but also how we see human societies and understand social conflict, inequalities and other phenomena,” román-palacios said.

on-the-ground impact

the data diversity lab comes to life through its postdoctoral researchers, who each contribute their own specialties of research to the broader mission of understanding and having access to data on biodiversity.

among the researchers pushing this mission forward is ian estacio, whose work bridges ecology, public health, and urban planning. estacio studies socio-ecological systems — the complex networks of people, landscapes and biological communities that shape modern life. 

according to estacio, one of the factors impacting biodiversity the most is land use change, including urbanization. 

“modeling and analyzing socio-ecological systems enable researchers to understand the effects of human-environment interactions on biodiversity,” estacio said.

estacio studies how people and the environment influence each other, using maps, satellite imagery, and computer simulations to uncover those relationships. he explained that he gathers information through spatial science techniques, such as remote sensing, geographic information systems, and agent-based modeling, to acquire datasets on factors like air temperature, vegetation, population or land use.

from there, he uses models to simulate interactions between humans, wildlife and landscapes. according to estacio, these models allow him to test how new policies or urban planning decisions might affect biodiversity, heat exposure and environmental equity. 

the biggest challenge with socio-ecological modeling is accurately capturing the spatial processes that weave together social and environmental datasets, according to estacio. “modeling will always be an abstraction of reality — hence, there will always be limitations in modeling research,” estacio said. 

he explained that validation methods ensure that simulations match observable patterns, and thus can create reliable outcomes. 

one of estacio’s research focuses is urban heat islands — areas within urban areas that become significantly hotter than surrounding areas due to buildings, roads, and other surfaces that trap and radiate heat. this can create higher energy use, poorer air quality, and increased health risks. 

according to estacio, his main goal within the data diversity lab is to contribute to more sustainable planning of cities. “i hope that in the future, desert cities like tucson can use the findings of my research to promote environmental justice and build sustainable cities,” estacio said. 

from identifying areas at greatest risk of extreme heat to evaluating the cooling effects of new design strategies, he explained that his simulations offer tools for city planners, public health officials, and local governments to plan for future climate change. 

“we hope our research can pinpoint solvable issues and preventable pitfalls regarding ecosystem conservation,” román-palacios said. “through our findings, we aim to inform impactful decisions that foster conservation efforts and manage biodiversity on our planet.”

better data, better biodiversity

another major aspect of the lab’s work focuses on understanding biodiversity on a global scale, often through tools designed to make complex ecological questions accessible to researchers everywhere.

kristen martinet, a postdoctoral researcher specializing in biodiversity modeling, develops and refines computational tools that help scientists measure how species diversity changes across different landscapes. 

one of her central projects is the r package ssarp — the species-/speciation-area relationship projector — which models patterns such as species distributions, extinction risk, and environmental change. according to martinet, her interest in tool-building began during graduate school, when she found herself limited by poor software or databases.

“as a graduate student, i often felt frustrated that there were very few tools that would help me answer the biological questions on which i wanted to focus,” martinet said. “if tools did exist, they were often poorly documented and hadn’t been maintained in years.” 

that gap pushed her to create the tools she needed. while studying island-dwelling lizards, martinet developed a code pipeline to understand how non-native species affected species-area relationships — a foundational ecological principle describing how the number of species changes with the amount of land area. 

“i wanted to ensure that the code pipeline i developed to conduct this research was well-documented and openly available for other researchers with similar questions to use for their own work,” martinet said. “this pipeline became my first r package, ssarp.”

today, ssarp helps researchers quantify and visualize biodiversity trends by standardizing how they use occurrence records — the millions of species observations stored in online databases like the global biodiversity information facility. these records make it possible to determine how many species live on a given island or landmass, which is the information needed to infer species-area relationships and speciation-area relationships.

“the ssarp r package makes quantifying and visualizing patterns of biodiversity on a global scale more accessible,” martinet said. “trends in biodiversity are often disrupted by anthropogenic effects, such as habitat loss and fragmentation. island systems are uniquely threatened due to their isolation, so monitoring island biodiversity is critical for conservation.”

looking ahead, martinet said she hopes ssarp and future tools will help researchers compare biodiversity patterns at a global scale — something historically difficult due to inconsistent datasets and computational barriers. 

“my hope is that the easily accessible nature of the tools i develop will allow more researchers to ask questions about biodiversity in their study systems,” martinet said. “making global comparisons more accessible will hopefully lead us to a clearer picture of the world’s biodiversity.”

building on the lab’s focus with biodiversity, kiran basava studies another layer of life on earth — cultural diversity in animals and humans. basava explained that she looks at behaviors animals learn from each other, such as how they find food, avoid predators, communicate, migrate, and build habitats. 

according to basava, understanding these behaviors can help scientists understand how species respond to changes in the environment. 

“​​the consideration of cultural diversity or socially learned behaviors has important implications for how species respond to climate change and other human-caused disturbances to the environment,” basava said.

by combining this information with existing biodiversity data, basava explained that scientists can see patterns that show how species adapt or struggle when their ecosystems are altered. “by bringing together information on animal behaviors, we can better understand how species survive and thrive,” basava said. “this can help guide conservation efforts and protect biodiversity for the future.”

the data diversity lab also ensures that diversity, equity, and inclusion remain central to the way scientists conduct research and collect data. the lab shapes data inclusion not as an extension to research, but as a core part to its identity. “our commitment to diversity and inclusion isn’t a separate initiative but a part of our lab’s dna,” its mission reads.

“our research seeks to advance understanding of biodiversity patterns and processes while educating the public about these critical issues,” román-palacios said. 

for román-palacios and his team, the future of biodiversity research depends not only on stronger models and better data, but on broadening the amount of scientists who can use those tools.

this past november, i had the opportunity to speak with charlie sellars, an award-winning author of what we can do: a climate optimist’s guide to sustainable living. his joy-forward book provides a practical, data-based framework to guide readers towards positive impact across their personal, professional, and political lives.

sellars is also a director of sustainability at microsoft, where he has led sustainability projects in both consumer hardware and cloud operations. in this role, he was recognized by the im100 awards as one of 2024’s top 100 most impactful individuals in the digital infrastructure industry.

on nov. 9, 2025, sellars spoke at a tedx conference at middlebury college, and his talk, titled “let’s make sustainability fun again”, invited audiences to rekindle the joy of working in sustainability through cutting-edge environmental science and technology.  

the following interview has been edited for brevity and clarity.

josette chun: thank you, charlie, for being with us today and for sharing your insights on your newest book, what we can do. i first want to ask how you view the current corporate sustainability ecosystem — what are we doing well, what needs to happen, and what the future holds? 

charlie sellars: part of the reason i wrote my book is because of how amazed i am at how rapidly our understanding of sustainability has evolved in the corporate world. now that significant private investment has joined public funding and academic research, we’re getting to the point where sustainability is moving from “science experiment” to “scaled solution” in just half a decade.

for example, in my book, i talk about something i call the “make it, move it, lose it, use it” framework. in essence, you can break the lifetime impact of any product we use into these four buckets. historically, most people have conceptualized their impact only in terms of whether we’re leaving the power on or off, or of “losing” something (i.e., whether we’re recycling it or just throwing it away). 

however, there is a huge hidden impact in what it takes to make something and move it around the world to your door. for an average phone or laptop, the energy required to make it in the first place is often more than a decade’s worth of use. even after all the sustainability features we added to reduce its impact by half, my own book still takes about a year’s worth of phone charging to make a single physical copy.

this insight is only possible because the underlying science – called a “life cycle assessment” – has matured to the point where we can start tracking the impact of our products all the way back to the original mining of the raw materials. and now companies, including my own, are applying this framework to products so customers can start seeing the lifetime emissions of their things. i would be shocked if, by 2030, we didn’t have this sort of “nutrition label for impact” on most of items we buy. we already have these for many categories, such as consumer electronics, food, construction equipment, and building materials.

another implication of this is that regular people within companies are now more empowered than ever to know how they can contribute to sustainability. it is becoming easier for an average employee not only to see how they might fit in, but also to measure the results of their work. this is a critical turning point for how we should think about corporate climate action.

jc: it sounds as though you offer insights into how we can work “within a system” rather than rejecting it outright. how do you address the critiques of those who believe that institutions perpetuate individual blame for the climate crisis and push for degrowth? 

cs: you can pursue profit within a company while still contributing to de-growth (or at least decoupling) at the system level. that tension is where some of the most interesting work happens.

for example, in consumer electronics, companies are incentivized to sell as many devices as possible, which might lead them to prioritize sales over features like repairability. if devices are difficult to repair, customers will replace them more frequently, which drives growth but increases waste and emissions. but customers clearly want devices that last, so our team saw an opportunity to compete by prioritizing repairability.

by doing that, the total number of devices society needs can shrink, even as our company captures a larger share of the market. in other words, the overall “pie” gets smaller, but our slice gets bigger. the company still seeks profit, but the system is moving toward degrowth because fewer products are needed overall. 

that said, degrowth at the global level is extremely difficult while the population continues to grow. long-term, population growth will slow, and degrowth will occur naturally, but in the meantime, we cannot wait. we have to act pragmatically within the systems we work in. whether it is our workplace, home, or school, working inside an institution means accepting tension. i would have no ability to effect real change at microsoft if i said, “i don’t want the company to grow.” i would simply be fired. the balancing act is learning to initiate incremental changes (while holding true to your values). 

framing is also essential for corporate sustainability leaders to take action in mitigating negative environmental impacts. we always start our strategy with an emissions forecast called our “business as usual”. this strategy assumes emissions grow in line with business growth. we then set up and finance decarbonization projects to reduce emissions against the baseline forecast until we establish a roadmap to meet our climate goals. in this consumer hardware example, rather than telling the business, “let’s sell a million fewer pcs” to reduce the growth forecast, the language shifts to “let’s source recycled materials, decarbonize the supply chain, and improve repairability for the million pcs we plan to sell.”

is there a significant environmental opportunity to reduce the “business as usual” forecast first, so we have an easier starting point? sure. but that’s where folks working outside the system can exert their influence, for example, through policy and regulatory work or by shaping customer sentiment. pragmatically, though, we need people on both sides of the equation.

jc: what is the next frontier for individuals entering the esg and corporate sustainability fields today? 

cs: around 2020, most major corporations set sustainability targets and built their initial teams. as a result, there are fewer opportunities to create sustainability programs from scratch inside large companies today. what is happening now is even more interesting: those large companies are pushing sustainability requirements down their supply chains. smaller companies that want to keep major clients are rapidly setting targets, tracking emissions, and reporting progress, often for their first time.

this is creating demand for sustainability roles at smaller and mid-sized companies, regardless of federal politics. people are being hired specifically to help suppliers understand carbon accounting, clean energy procurement, and reporting.

another significant opportunity is water. carbon accounting is relatively mature, and we have clear standards and protocols for ghg emissions. water accounting is about a decade behind. most companies only track direct water use and ignore water embedded in electricity and supply chains. that will change, and when it does, demand for water regulation will explode. waste and biodiversity are also emerging areas. biodiversity credits and nature-based solutions are still in their early stages, but will grow significantly.

jc: what are your thoughts on nature-based credits and setting a monetary value on nature?

cs: the moral argument alone for conservation is, unfortunately, not enough to drive large-scale corporate action. that is uncomfortable, but it is reality. to mobilize capital, environmental benefits must be translated into business value. that is why credible carbon removal, water replenishment, and nature-based credit markets matter so much. for example, at my company, we no longer buy traditional carbon offsets. we only invest in verifiable carbon removal — projects that demonstrably remove emissions from the atmosphere.

we structure these contracts similarly to clean energy power purchase agreements. without trusted markets and strong contracts, that capital will not flow. this approach has allowed us to fund large-scale reforestation, methane capture, and emerging carbon removal technologies. the goal is to move massive amounts of money into protecting and restoring natural systems so that companies can, in a verifiable way, claim carbon neutrality or net zero. 

jc: what advice do you have for students and early-career professionals who want to work in clean energy and private sector sustainability?

cs: you do not necessarily have to start your career in sustainability to have a long-term impact. i spent seven years building general business skills before moving into sustainability, and that made me better at my job. most sustainability professionals i work with spent much of their careers doing something else first — engineering, finance, supply chain, software, policy — and then layered sustainability on top.

corporate sustainability is still very young, so there are very few true entry-level roles. most positions require significant experience because the career ladder has not yet fully formed.

if you want to maximize impact:

• become excellent at a core skill, whether that be engineering, accounting, software, supply chain, or policy. 
• next, join mission-driven companies or climate tech startups, even in non-sustainability roles. consider learning technical niches like lifecycle assessment, carbon accounting, or water accounting. any job at an impact-forward company is a sustainability job.
• if you choose a “traditional” career path, consider how you can layer sustainability onto your personal brand, tied to your core skill. explore how you can make your existing job a sustainability job, even if a little bit.
• lastly, do not feel like you are betraying your values by building skills first, especially if that helps you become more effective down the line.

the last piece of advice i’d give to those looking to get involved in sustainability in their career is to give yourself grace if it doesn’t materialize right away. your college experience may have been around four years of your life, but your career is your next 40. you have time.

while the climate crisis is undoubtedly urgent, it will (likely and unfortunately) still be here for decades. you can build your skills before pivoting into private-sector sustainability, and if you do so first, you may be a greater agent of change.

climate tech is still growing rapidly, including in the circular economy: clean energy, batteries, grid infrastructure, green steel, green concrete, water replenishment and conservation, and carbon removal. any role in these companies contributes to impact, and who knows what amazing jobs might exist down the line when it’s your turn to join the movement!

amanda willet’s research sits at the center of a high-stakes equation: predicting how fast sea levels will rise — and how coastal cities can defend themselves. an overestimate could waste billions. an underestimate could leave cities facing devastation on the scale of hurricane katrina.

willet, a graduate student at penn state, attended the 2025 comer climate conference in the fall to present her upcoming research completed with professors sridhar anandakrishnan and veteran glaciologist richard alley, titled “seismic stories from earth’s frozen frontiers: thwaites glacier, antarctica.” alley teaches at penn state and is the emcee for the annual comer conference held in southwestern wisconsin.

what lies beneath the surface?

one reason sea level rise models remain uncertain, willet said, is that scientists don’t yet know what lies beneath glaciers. her team, in partnership with the british antarctic survey, is studying thwaites — a glacier larger than pennsylvania — because if it melts entirely, it could add 3 meters to global sea levels. that’s 9 feet, 10 inches of sea level rise, enough to inundate vast coastal areas and many islands. thwaites is part of the west antarctic ice sheet, which a dartmouth study (combining data from 16 ice sheet models) concluded may disappear by 2300. 

“depending on what the bottoms of these glaciers look like in big places like antarctica depends on how much sea level rise we actually get,” willet said. “if we want to understand sea level rise, we need to know what the bottoms of glaciers look like.”

alley said that model predictions for antarctica vary so widely that “nobody can reliably say what will happen.” the single biggest uncertainty, he added, is how glaciers move across the materials beneath them. once glaciers slide beyond a bedrock foundation, tongues in the water melt much faster. 

the thwaites glacier is the ice shelf of the much larger west antarctic ice sheet (wais). thwaites is considered the “doomsday glacier” because if it collapsed completely it could raise sea levels by 10 feet. according to the international thwaites glacier collaboration (itgc),the massive glacier will face accelerated retreat in the 21st and 22nd centuries, with much of the glacier gone by the 23rd century. full collapse may take hundreds to a few thousand years according to recent models. 

to study that hidden world two miles below the surface, willet and her team use highly sensitive seismometers to listen to tiny earthquakes that can indicate cracks or breaks in the ice.

“they listen to the earthquakes and can tell where they are, how big the spot is that breaks, and how much energy it releases,” alley said. “those little spots are really important — they inform how glaciers move, and how the ice sheets behave. that’s what will let us build better models for what antarctica will do.”

willet said thwaites’ bed is far more complex than most models suggest, with both hard and soft patches beneath the ice. that mixed environment is difficult to simulate — and potentially dangerous.

“if we have both, that’s the worst-case scenario,” willet said. “it’s drawing down ice from inland and breaking off at the front — doing everything we wouldn’t want it to be doing. the data show the most likely scenario is this mixed environment. we want to get that information to modelers so they can make more informed decisions.”

all hands on deck

elizabeth case, a ph.d. researcher at columbia university who also studies thwaites glacier, said the glacier may already be undergoing irreversible retreat. the bed beneath it — whether granite, sand, or clay — determines how easily it can slide or flow into the ocean. 

“what happens at the bed affects crystal structure throughout the ice, influencing how fast thwaites may disappear,” case said. “this has serious implications for sea level rise, and the impacts will be felt around the world — directly along coastlines, and indirectly as displacement and migration follow rising seas.”

willet said that improving the accuracy of those projections is essential. most glaciologists, she believes, see current sea level predictions as overly optimistic. alley agreed, emphasizing the urgency and value of the work.

“the costs of getting it wrong are flabbergastingly high,” alley said. “supporting amanda’s research is saving you money. the cost is trivial compared to the value of what comes out.”

though she calls herself an environmentalist — even a “tree hugger” — willet said her motivation goes beyond nature.

“i want to protect this planet that we live on,” she said. “but more importantly, i want to protect people. sea level rise doesn’t matter if there are no humans on the coast — but there are. we’re the ones who will struggle to live with that reality.”

seagulls overhead, the faint smell of sulfur on the coast, and waves crashing against the cliffs — the uk’s relationship with its shoreline forms a fundamental part of national culture and identity. 

for an island nation with over 10,000 miles of coastline and nearly 40% of its population living within a few miles of the sea, this connection runs deeper than fish-and-chip shops or oceanfront arcades. it is the heartbeat of hundreds of communities.

yet as the climate crisis intensifies, with violent storms and rising sea levels, the cliffs and sea defenses that protect these towns crumble, accelerating the erosion that threatens their future. 

erosion explained 

experts say climate change actively causes an increase in the severity of coastal erosion, but how does this actually happen? 

according to nasa, atmospheric co2 levels have reached an unprecedented level — a staggering 50% increase since the pre-industrial era. these values intensify the natural greenhouse gas effect, leading to higher global temperatures. this in turn raises sea levels and fuels more powerful storms, allowing waves to reach further up the coast and strike cliffs more frequently, accelerating erosion. 

ken buchan is the project delivery manager for stronger shores, an innovative project tasked with mitigating coastal change. he highlighted that shoreline erosion ”makes coastal communities vulnerable” for a reason which may be overlooked in comparison to traditional physical processes. 

“when sea level rises, there’s coastal squeeze where beaches and so on become smaller,” he said, referring to an issue which buchan emphasized depreciates the power of beaches as the first line of defence for many seaside towns across the uk.

building on this, matthew agarwala, ph.d., a professor in sustainable finance at the university of sussex, discussed how the combination of higher seas, storm surges, and strong winds can allow waves to overcome existing man-made sea defenses on the uk’s shores and therefore damage the cliffs supporting these regions. 

for these british towns, long fortified by the fishing industry and tourism, these damages are more than physical: they are a burden on both their financial and cultural stability. for instance, onehome data predicts that by 2100, nearly £600 million [approximately $810 million] worth of assets and over 2,000 properties could be lost in the uk due to coastal battering. experts like agarwala say these losses can take different forms, such as damage to roads or water treatment facilities, posing “big risks” to an island nation.

transcript: that includes stuff like transport infrastructure, like roads, railways, bridges along the coast but it’s also utilities, water treatment facilities, power lines, gas infrastructure — a lot of that’s on the coast as well. and of course it’s tourism assets as well: the beaches, the holiday parks, the hotels, the places we all like to and hang out in the nice weather. so these really are big risks, not just for physical infrastructure but also to some degree the social and cultural identity of an island economy like the united kingdom.

matthew agarwala, ph.d., professor in sustainable finance at the university of sussex

communities in danger 

as some coastal towns respond to rising sea levels by beginning the process of decommissioning (forcing residents to move out as the town dissolves), it is evident that erosion is not a uniform process, with particular areas more at risk than others. a spokesperson for the environment agency, a governmental body tasked with protecting the environment in england, stated that certain geological rock types play a role in this vulnerability. 

in the southwest of england, cliffs are more prone to hydraulic action, where the sheer force of water wears away the rock, due to a mix of hard and soft stone types dominating the region. by contrast, the east coast, with its glacial deposits, sandstone, and clay boulders, experiences a faster erosion climate characterized by rock and sand grinding along the coastline. this is demonstrated by east yorkshire’s holderness coast, one of europe’s fastest-eroding coastlines.

agarwala expanded on this, discussing an interesting correlation he found amongst these vulnerable groups. ”some of the communities that are most at risk from climate change are also the communities that are voting for conservatives or are shifting to reform [uk],” he said in reference to the political parties which are less supportive of environmentalism in their policy-making. 

“there are places that are viable today and that have been viable for centuries in the past, that will not be viable even 20 years into the future,” agarwala said.

zooming in 

in northern england, on the north sea’s boundary, lies the small village of staithes, where maritime industry and seaside tourism form the engine of local life. 

“for a long, long time, fishing was the main job for the people in the village, along with some mining. these days it’s tourism,” said sallie hernandez, a local resident who has lived in the area for 16 years. “a lot of people refer to staithes as their happy place and visit more than once, twice a year.”

despite the area’s economic success and picturesque nature, coastal deterioration has battered the region for decades, with the community pub, the cod and lobster, washing away on multiple occasions. most notably, on the northwest of the village resides a small hamlet known as cowbar cottages, accessible by a singular entry route named cowbar lane.

over many years, this access road has eroded and been rebuilt multiple times under the burden of perpetual wave action from the sea below. resident and local authority concerns are now escalating, following a rockfall event in october 2024 that has placed the route at immediate risk of collapse. 

“walking through today, big chunks are missing,” hernandez said, on one of her daily walks through cowbar. ”all along by cowbar cottages is all fenced off. i recently saw some drone footage of the cliff and it was terrifying to see what was going on underneath.”

a council report published by north yorkshire, redcar, and cleveland borough council — the government bodies responsible for overseeing staithes — have since attributed reasons for the rockfall.  most strikingly, the document acknowledges erosion processes exacerbated by sea level rise, increased storm frequency due to climate change, and foreshore lowering — a process in which wave energy removes protective layers of sediment at the base of a cliff — as integral factors. 

council efforts are advancing to manage the issue and involve a three-phased road realignment, whereby the lane is gradually moved southwards away from the cliff edge over 50 years.

“keeping access is vital. there are cottages down there that are only accessible via that road and the lifeboat station, so all these things would need to move if access cannot be maintained,” hernandez said. 

elsewhere in the village, the council has worked tirelessly, installing sea defenses in the form of rock armor and breakwater piers to protect the harbor from the destructive nature of the north sea. despite this, local anxiety prevails, particularly following the loss of a child’s’s life at seaton garth, staithes, due to a rockfall in the summer of 2018. 

transcript: at the end of the day, the cliffs are soft, water’s harsh, and it’s just going to keep going until it wins. the piers at staithes, i think, were given a 50-year lifespan, at which point that will need to be revisited. but 25 years from now, i think the coastline will look completely different again.

sallie hernandez, a local staithes resident who has lived in the area for 16 years

stemming the tide 

for regions like staithes, mitigation frameworks named shoreline management plans are the leading unit tasked with stemming the tide of coastal erosion. using factors such as population, technical feasibility, and climate change, these models assign a planned course of action to every section of the english coast. 

however, these schemes often focus on hard-engineered solutions, such as sea walls, which sustainability experts like agarwala argue come with significant drawbacks.

enter stronger shores, a £200 million [$269 million] research project focused on innovative ways of improving coastal resilience. having started in 2023 and currently funding 25 different schemes across the northeast oceanfront of the uk, the program is rooted in a philosophy of trial and error.

“at this stage it’s quite experimental, it’s quite research orientated,” said ken buchan, the delivery manager of the project. “if things don’t work, that’s okay. because we are learning from that.”

the focal point of stronger shores targets soft-engineered solutions to climate change, exploring how oyster restorations, kelp forests, or seagrass meadows can improve the robustness of maritime communities.

buchan discussed how one student at newcastle university is actively using artificial kelp structures in laboratory wave tanks to understand biodiversity, carbon sequestration, and wave reduction benefits.

transcript: the hard engineering things include the sea walls and the groynes, rock armor, offshore breakwaters, etc. but these are really quite expensive, they’re difficult to maintain, and the problem with a lot of these hard sea defenses is that you create a solution here that just shifts the problem there. 

matthew agarwala, ph.d., a professor in sustainable finance at the university of sussex

“with the [kelp] fronds being up on the surface of the water as the wave energy comes through, that energy gets dissipated by the top of the plant. it’s like it puts the brakes on as the waves come over,” buchan said, referencing how kelp systems can mitigate erosive forces. 

with the project set to finalize in 2027, one main ambition drives buchan and his team: the creation of a toolkit combining all the research, methods, benefits, and challenges from stronger shores. it will guide coastal engineers nationwide, helping to protect the uk’s enduring bond with its marine identity. 

given the uncertain future, buchan is left asking, “can we [as a nation] be doing things differently from what we’ve currently been doing to try and improve resilience and protect coastal communities?”

a study published aug. 4 in nature ecology & evolution outlines a recent breakthrough in sea star wasting disease (sswd) research: scientists have identified a causative agent.

sswd emerged unexpectedly in 2013 and quickly spread along the pacific coast. it destroys the tissue within sea stars, deforming their arms and causing them to break off. since 2013, it has killed billions of sea stars, including more than 90% of sunflower sea stars.

especially on the coast of california, sunflower sea star populations have been decimated, causing trophic cascades in kelp forest ecosystems. die-offs have led to a boom in sea urchins, which have then depleted kelp, their primary food source.

“there’s a lot of regions along the california coast where the kelp forests are severely declined and that has huge impacts,” a doctoral student in the school of aquatic and fisheries sciences, grace crandall, said.

kelp acts as a carbon sink, making it crucial for combating global warming, crandall explained.

a 2014 study suggested a virus as the causative agent of sswd, leading initial research in that direction. instead, the causation was found to be a bacterium known as vibrio pectenicida.

researchers used a method known as koch’s postulate to identify the cause of sswd. they began by performing a series of experiments to identify whether the disease was transmissible. they then boiled a sample of coelomic fluid, which is comparable to the human bloodstream, of the diseased sea star to determine whether the cause was alive. the boiled sample was no longer infectious, suggesting that the disease is caused by a living source, rather than environmental conditions.

researchers used a subtractive technique to isolate the causative agent; they removed everything from the diseased sample that was also highly present in the healthy sample.

“there’s this one type of bacteria that was hugely abundant in these sick stars that was not present in the healthy stars,” jason hodin, a senior research scientist at friday harbor labs (fhl), said.

this finding was a match for vibrio pectenicida fhcf-3, the same genus of bacteria that causes cholera (vibrio cholerae) in humans.

in early 2024, there was an outbreak of sswd at the friday harbor laboratories (fhl), a uw marine research station. scientists were able to isolate the full sequence of the bacterium from that sample for the first time

“the title of the paper talks about a strain called fhcf-3, and the fh in that is friday harbor,” hodin said.

the bacterium found in sea stars afflicted with sswd was a match to a scallop larval culture in france, indicating that it may have jumped species. identifying what drove the outbreak in sea stars is a next step for the research, according to hodin.

researchers are also looking to breed sea stars with more resistance to the disease. ochre stars, for instance, are already showing signs of recovery, indicating that they’ve developed some resistance to sswd. by breeding the most resistant stars, scientists could utilize artificial selection for recovery efforts. additionally, researchers could inject sea stars with a low dose of sswd, which would function similarly to a vaccine. however, scientists are uncertain whether sea stars’ immune systems work in a way that would be amenable to this.

a treatment for the disease has already been developed by the oregon coast aquarium. the process involves altering environmental conditions so that sea stars have the strength to fight off the disease themselves.

“[sea stars] are actually very robust and adaptable organisms, but they have this specific sensitivity to this disease,” hodin said.

to treat sswd, scientists put the sea stars in cooler water, adjust the ph, clean their wounds using iodine, and add probiotics to the water to support the sea stars’ microbiomes.

that afflicted sea stars heal in colder water is one piece of evidence of a correlation between sswd and warmer water temperatures.

“in 2014, there was a massive marine heat wave that coincided with the outbreak of this disease,” hodin said.

exploring this correlation is another next step for researchers.

if you stumble upon a diseased sea star while tidepooling, crandall suggests documenting it with an app like inaturalist.

“a way that people can help is if they see a sea star that looks like it’s sort of melting or has white spots or its arms are twisted up, to not touch it,” crandall said.

if you do touch the diseased sea star, wash your hands before touching anything else to prevent transmission, crandall recommends.

i grew up in fulton, new york, and have seen firsthand the impacts on our local lake. lake neatahwanta is a 715-acre lake. the lake has faced pollution, water quality, and algae-bloom issues for decades.

i hope that by watching this video, viewers can better understand the driving factors of the eutrophication (or the presence of excessive nutrients) of the body of water, what has been done to try to revitalize it, as well as current hopes and plans to help get the waters quality, and toxic blue-green algae blooms under control.

tucked away in the mountains, i was cradled by the soft towers of redwoods, the shush of the fog lazily passing through their leaves, and speckled, warm light whispering across my newly born cheeks. my eyes tracked the sway of redwoods from my first day of life, grasping to understand their constant conversation, their secret language. 

during the summer of 2020, my family and i had just moved to the city. we warily tracked the many wildfires that surrounded last chance on our phones. even then, miles away from the fires, the smoke choked the air around us. white ash would float down on us like twisted snowflakes. my mom looked up from her phone, her face drained. last chance is gone. it all burned, she said.

grief clawed at my chest. a thread that i had not fully appreciated–one that connected me to those trees no matter the time or distance–was singed. when we drove past last chance after the fire, we were stunned to silence. the wall of green was replaced with a sweeping darkness. the light that had woven through the forest to touch lucky eyes was now full of opaque ash. the swaying redwood towers were reduced to stiff, black sticks.

i could no longer hear even their softest conversation. the little wooden house that held playful racoons and guarded the memories of my first smiles, had been brought to the ground. 

when last chance burned, i forever lost a connection to myself and part of my family’s story. but california is a land of loss, one whose soils and peoples know too well the ache of utter destruction. the state of california was born in an era where the violent severance of connection to land was an industry. 

from the spanish missions in the 1700s through the discovery of gold a century later, the “california genocide” of indigenous nations has set ablaze the sacred histories, knowledge, and identities of generations of california native people. in this brutal campaign, indigenous systems of generosity, reciprocity, and love towards the land was driven to the edge of extinction, as were land sovereignty and rights. today, we are facing the repercussions of the imbalance and greed of a settler-colonialist society. 

i have spent my early career as an ecologist trying to understand how to regain the balance of our ecosystems while centering our human relationships to the land and each other. but the most basic environmental standards are being erased. new and massive fossil fuel projects are being proposed off of our coasts. 

my work– from monitoring arctic rivers to observing changes in wetland plant communities– is inherently slow, and the threat of the climate crisis is dauntingly fast. each paper that i write, every site that i survey, feels like a drop of water desperately thrown at flames that roar above my head. but the drop evaporates just from the heat. how can my two hands possibly hold a whole world on fire? 

as the climate crisis roars in fury, california will keep burning. we will lose stories, entire languages, and pieces of ourselves. but california is also a land of resistance. i am finding my way through the fire by learning with the survivors. 

through immense brutality and violent separation from their land, west coast tribes thrive. local communities and even the federal government have been beginning to understand the importance of integrating traditional ecological knowledge (tek) into the conservation and restoration of our natural lands. 

i refuse to lose that momentum – even as the current administration tightens its hold. as the daughter of an educator, i understand the importance of cultivating collective love for a place. it is slow work. and truthfully, we don’t have time to bring back all that was lost. but i can love my home and work my hardest to save a piece of it. 

part of that work is to push myself and my own community of ecologists, students, and educators to integrate traditional ecological knowledge (tek) wherever we can, from our schools to research institutions. today, indigenous groups lead the most hopeful environmental projects in the country like the undamming of the klamath river, the integration of cultural burns into yosemite national park, and the inter-tribal management of the chuckwalla national monument. simultaneously, i am investing in my own local ecological knowledge – the knowledge that is developed by staying. holding my love for this land, i see a way through the flames.  

i am now working at the woodwell climate research center in massachusetts, away from my family and away from the glowing forests and twinkling pacific ocean. until i make it back to her, i hold california in my heart wherever i go. when the flames of crisis surround my heart, i pull the memory of the redwoods and i conjure the soft winds of her hills. the flames lower. we cannot let our connection to the land burn. 

holding the inevitable loss of what we love, we must continue to invest in our local ecosystems however we can–see them flourishing and lean into their constant conversation. i will continue my work – tending to the recovery of our wetlands, coaxing the hidden meanders from our uncovered rivers – and when the speckled light from the regrown redwoods hits the cheeks of my own child, i will be able to show her what was burned, and what was saved. 

israel ceballos stands outside his condo in university village with a tupperware container full of orange peels and a handful of breadcrumbs. his husband, paul matylonek, sits inside, surrounded by eight día de los muertos ofrendas and two leather suitcases from his polish immigrant parents.

“i feed 50 birds right here, and six squirrels,” ceballos says. “when i whistle, they all show up.”

ceballos isn’t exaggerating. with one whistle, dozens of house sparrows creep out from tree branches to snack on ceballos’s offerings. above, a squirrel nest overlooks the couple’s newly completed project, nearly two decades in the making: the morgan street community garden.

a dream takes root

lifelong midwesterners, ceballos and matylonek met at church on father’s day, 28 years ago. ceballos recalls seeing “a handsome man” light a candle for his recently deceased father, and the rest was history. before transforming this patch of land into a thriving space, the pair spent years cultivating life in their own backyard. they planted milkweed to attract and raise monarch butterflies — a quiet practice that would later echo through their larger work, bringing nature and meaning to their neighborhood.

inspiration for the garden came after the pair realized that the land behind their home, owned by the burlington-norfolk and santa fe (bnsf) railway company, had served as a dumping ground for debris for years. after the railway failed to respond to their emails seeking permission to clean up the plot, ceballos and matylonek went ahead on their own in may, enlisting neighbors and friends to help. 

once they had hauled away about 40 industrial trash bags of debris, the pair invested $1,000 of their own funds to build a small, raised garden bed on the plot. they also sent a request to community members asking for donations of pots for the garden, as the soil was likely unsuitable for growth.

this simple community act led to what is now chicago native garden projects, a nonprofit organization dedicated to restoring and maintaining native plant habitats in chicago.

“i just wanted something that the community could enjoy,” ceballos said. “nothing makes me happier than walking by and seeing people sitting here.”

ceballos said that many people wanted to help, but couldn’t deliver equipment, so the pair changed their request and asked for monetary donations. over the past six months, ceballos estimates that over 60 donors have raised around $13,000 in donations and materials for the community garden. the chicago department of streets and sanitation donated paint and a city garbage can to the cause, while 25th ward alderman byron sigcho lopez attended a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the garden in september.

“it’s opened up my eyes to the community itself, dealing with people who don’t live in my building, but have donated and have helped,” university village resident and volunteer jesus palacios said. “you turn from a neighbor into a friend.”

under ceballos and matylonek’s leadership, what was once a patch of waste transformed into a neighborhood effort that now includes over 300 native plants across 90 species.

community efforts bear fruit

nearly 60% of the world’s population now resides in urban environments, and increased urbanization has caused a substantial loss in native biodiversity. as a result, planting native species offers benefits that extend beyond neighborhood aesthetics, helping to repair some of the ecological damage caused by urban infrastructure. within city landscapes, native species have proven to outperform non-native species, providing critical habitat and food sources for pollinators, arthropods, and other local wildlife. 

in addition to ecological benefits, expanding access to urban green spaces enhances climate resilience while benefiting human wellbeing. a 2016 world health organization report synthesizing multiple studies found, among other things, that urban green spaces may be linked to improved immune system function, enhanced mental health and cognitive performance, reduced exposure to air pollution, and an increase in pro-environmental behaviors. together, these benefits illustrate how small-scale urban gardening efforts can connect people to the planet. 

for ceballos and matylonek, however, they see that growth less as an achievement in horticulture and more as proof of what trust, kindness, and transparency can build.

“you don’t know until you put yourself out there,” ceballos said. “what i’ve learned is you’ve got to let the fear go.”

although ceballos and matylonek seem stunned at the community’s outpouring of support, secretary of cgnp danielle orihuela said that it isn’t surprising at all.

“[israel] has always been the person to be able to talk to anybody. he’s captivating,” orihuela said. “i think those are the most important things that make a leader: do you actually care about the people sitting next to you? do you want to get to know them? you level with them as an equal, and i think both of them are like that.”

their approach to fundraising reflects that same ethos. instead of chasing publicity, they invite people to participate through dedicated containers, which often honor loved ones.

one pilsen resident dedicated her garden container to her recently deceased brother and stops by once a month to honor his memory. nearby, another container holds soil mixed with the ashes of a neighbor’s son. to ceballos and matylonek, these aren’t just plants: they’re reminders that what they’ve cultivated goes beyond the garden boundaries.

“it was these two that i realized, we’re really doing something right,” ceballos said. “people want to memorialize; they want to remember their loved ones. they don’t know how or where, so people found solace in that. it goes to show that you just don’t know how you’re going to impact people.”

this fall, ceballos and matylonek opened their home during día de los muertos as part of their expanded fundraising efforts. in exchange for a small donation, ceballos guided visitors through their many ofrendas – traditional memorials for dia de los muertos, or the day of the dead — and explained the holiday’s history. monarchs, once fluttering through their backyard, reappeared as symbols of the season, woven throughout the altars to represent the souls of ancestors returning home.

matylonek also offered visitors insight into his family history, explaining how his parents immigrated to the united states from eastern poland.

with the end of the gardening season, volunteers will continue to maintain the grounds and prepare for spring.

“i think we’re living in a society where it’s a little dark,” palacios said. “working together and seeing the different colors and shapes and sizes of people helps so much and brings the community together.”

palacios said he’s come to understand why the garden keeps growing, not just with plants, but with people.

“[israel and paul] have such a beautiful view … they’re so kind, i think that’s also why people want to help,” he said. “you just become one, and i think they are the glue to everything.”

every summer it seems to get a little hotter. here in chevy chase, maryland, the air gets thick with heat and humidity. last year, nbc bay area reported that “earth recorded its hottest year ever in 2024.”

a few summers ago, hugo used to love to lay out on the stone patio in our backyard, and let the sun shine on his fur. i guess it was his way of sunbathing. but lately he has been spending much more time inside.

when we go for walks, he struggles to breathe. sometimes he just stops walking, turns around, and faces the direction of the house. he doesn’t seem happy until we get back inside where the air conditioning keeps everything nice and cool.

his face lets me know that he misses the old days. the days where he would spend hours chasing toys and sticks outside, or hanging out with other dogs. one day over last summer, he went to a dog park, just like the old times. it was another hot day, and – you guessed it – there were no other dogs there, it was too hot.

hugo’s discomfort doesn’t just happen when he’s outside. later in the summer, i noticed that hugo began to itch around his ears and stomach. ticks again. we took him to the vet where he was checked for lyme’s disease. lyme’s disease causes joint paint, fatigue and loss in appetite. when we noticed the ticks on hugo again, we washed him as well as we could and then headed to the animal hospital to get him treated. 

tick season has been extended in recent years to account for warmer autumn months. additionally the population of ticks has increased due to the warmer weather, which allows for much more breeding and the creation of more nurturing environments that allow ticks to live and grow. eventually, these ticks find their way onto host animals, just like hugo.

hugo has not only been bothered by the ticks, but the mosquitos that swarm around him. when we spoke to the veterinarian at the animal hospital, she mentioned two mosquito-related illnesses that can impact dogs like hugo: anaplasmosis and rocky mountain spotted fever.

both illnesses can cause fever, aches, nausea, and let untreated, have more serious symptoms. as the climate continues to change and shift to create more warm environments, we can expect to see changes in insect populations and associated diseases that they carry.

i look at hugo sitting comfortably in our air-conditioned house, and he appears to reminisce on the days when it was cold. in those winter months, his thick fur coat keeps him warm and protects him from the harsh winds. but while i’m writing this, it is still summertime, and he can barely enjoy a walk around the block, let alone sunbathe in the backyard. not being able to go out for regular walks and play means that hugo rarely exercises. this lack of exercise takes a huge toll on his health, especially his heart. i wonder if hugo is as worried as i am about his quality of life.

hugo probably has no idea what is causing these environmental changes. but he seems to know that he has been impacted. he has gained a lot of weight and become more sluggish from his lack of exercise. i wonder whether he can sense the abnormalities in the environment like the constant buzzing vector species and the thickness of the air caused by increases in pollution and carbon.

if hugo could really talk, i bet he would implore humans to make some changes. he would beg us to  engage in new behaviors and actions to bring an end to climate change. in the meantime, i suspect he just dreams about the day that his life returns to normal, and he can enjoy summertime like he did when he was puppy.