a zookeeper dropped a frozen clam into the pool, waiting patiently as the family of four swam over. this was no ordinary family, but a group of north american river otters, made up of a mother and her three babies. the father is not involved in the rearing of these youths, and may be sent to breed with the denizens of other zoos if he and the mother do not get along well when their children are grown.

“i was always passionate about animals, and once i started working with otters that transferred over, it took on a life of its own” said david hamilton, general curator at seneca park zoo and species survival plan coordinator. “i became the otter guy”.

overcoming historical challenges

as we watched the otters playing in their pool, we were discussing the importance of transferring these otters between zoos to breed in larger otter conservation efforts. north american river otters are an indicator species, meaning that if their population declines in their natural ranges, it signifies broader issues in that ecosystem. thus, the local extinction of the species in western new york for nearly 60 years was a major influence in provoking programs to examine waterways in the area and to begin their clean-up.

hamilton, who organizes the placement of otters in different facilities and closely monitors the otter populations in monroe county through the zoo, explains the historical origins of this issue. “it started off that there weren’t any checks on trapping,” he said. “that was bad news in the early 1800s and 1900s, with the fur trade.”

however, exploitation by the fashion industry was not the only plague that industrialization brought to river otter populations in the region. companies like kodak, which is headquartered in rochester, new york, have generated immense toxic waste which, according to studies by houghton college, have continued to poison local waters and food webs. furthermore, urban sprawl has continued to cause deforestation, shrinking the range available to otters. thus, it is no surprise that their populations almost completely disappeared, either dying out or migrating to the adirondacks and catskills.

“otters don’t follow that kind of migration pattern,” hamilton said. “and they’re one of the main predators of those non-game fish. so when they leave like that, it’s like the wolves of yellowstone – the fish populations blow up, and the ecosystems can’t take it.”

a comeback story unlike any otter

beginning in the 1990s, the new york state department of environmental conservation launched a project working with zoos like seneca park to return otters back to western new york. as a matter of fact, similar methods were being used across the country as otters were reintroduced to clean waterways.

most regions did not have as local a source of otters as western new york did, so many conservation efforts had to bring individuals from farther areas with particularly large and dense populations, such as louisiana. these were employed gradually so that their fitness could be surveyed in new and unfamiliar regions, safely transferred to farther regions like new england and the west coast. however, such movements presented a major problem. 

to solve the issue of population loss, programs needed more research about the causes of otters’ disappearances.  “we looked up the information about river otters and saw that there was a huge data gap,” said megan isadore, co-founder and director of the nonprofit organization the river otter ecology project.

the river otter ecology project was formed in marin county, california, around 2012, in the midst of these government-funded transfer programs. isadore, an enthusiastic and self-taught watershed ecologist, realized that although these programs were based in sound theory, there was very little accurate monitoring going on in california. however, she knew firsthand that anyone could easily become infatuated enough with otters to help without a scientific background, and so developed a solution.

“community science is really exciting to people because anyone can be a scientist,” she said of her organization’s “otter spotter” program. “we help people to understand that science is not just for eggheads sitting at their computers; it’s for all of us out there noticing what’s going on.”

over the last 13 years, using mapping technology and surveying, the project has gathered a remarkable amount of data from people who have reported sightings of otters in the marin county through their otter spotter program.

seeing that populations were truly on the rise, this monitoring began to spread further around the san francisco area, where the new data could inform policy and regulation that has continued to protect the species and clean the waterways.

now, the river otter ecology project is working with several grassroots nonprofits across the country to develop similar maps of otter populations, highlighting the areas that still need further attention – an undertaking made possible by the efforts of local communities collaborating with researchers out of the love for the otters.

the seneca park zoo has borrowed these methods, using similar technology and community reporting to check on the health and population of the otters of western new york. today, this research is focused on whether or not the otters still need intervention; and the outcomes, so far, are very promising.

“i’m monitoring to see whether these populations are sustainable now,” hamilton said. 

as they do, they will continue to help otter populations grow by nurturing their families at zoos across   the nation.

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!

as a child, i grew up learning not to waste food. i often wonder why i, and many others across the globe, lost sight of that lesson as we grew up. 

lately, i’ve started to love cooking. but this newfound activity comes with some important questions: why does it hurt when no one eats the leftovers of the food i made? why doesn’t it hurt when i throw the last couple bites of someone else’s hard work away? why do i spend on groceries that i won’t eat? why am i not the only one that makes these mistakes? 

food is a powerful force in our lives and the degree to which we waste it has serious environmental, social, economic, and civil impacts. food is also powerful enough to bring communities and cultures together and i’d love to help people gain more respect for food. 

this video was filmed over the fall of 2025 during a time when the government shutdown in the united states had halted snap benefits for millions of americans. the video focuses on how i, and the people around me, view food and what that relationship looks like. 

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.”

almost everyone has, at some point or another, walked into a glass door or screen. after shaking off the initial embarrassment and checking to see if there were any witnesses, the consequences are usually mild. however, the same cannot be said for many birds. while humans learn to adapt and avoid these obstacles, a single window strike for a bird can result in severe injury or death. in the united states, building collisions, due to glass, lead to over 1 billion bird deaths every year. 

now, companies around the world are racing to develop glass with innovative designs, patterns, and elements that birds can see and, hopefully, avoid. despite this influx of “bird-safe” glass products, there are only two testing sites in the entire united states – both run by the american bird conservancy – that assess whether these glass designs are truly effective. these testing tunnels use groundbreaking methods and rigorous field research to examine the functionality of bird-safe glass. one such tunnel, located deep in rural maryland, is on the front lines of the fight to conserve and protect birds across the world.

you can also see the first installment of patched wings here!

tulsi basil, “wizard of oz” dahlias, cherry tomatoes, antoinette tulips, “jessica’s sweet pear” mint – the list goes on. the roof crop urban agriculture initiative supports farms yielding a vast range of eclectic flowers, produce, and apothecary crop varieties across chicago.

the roof crop promotes sustainability, ecological engagement, and community development through its support of 14 rooftop farms across the chicagoland area.

“the goal of sustainability and increasing green spaces in chicago and using those spaces in productive ways means a lot to me,” said elise anhorn, operations manager of the roof crop.

at the roof crop’s home base in chicago’s west side, several independent enterprises work in tandem under the same roof. the ground floor houses the restaurant maxwells trading, third season, an apothecary and design studio, and a coffee shop. flashpoint innovation, a food and beverage consulting firm, occupies the second floor. and on the roof you will find the roof crop’s green roof featuring two greenhouses and a small event space.

the roof crop launched in 2013. it began as a marketing initiative and evolved into a partnership with a company that installs green roofs, according to anhorn. 

anhorn said the company began with the question: “how can we market more installations through this lens of [roofs] being growing space?” 

“that kind of took off, and now it is its own stand alone company,” anhorn said.

the green roofs the roof crop support serve a range of purposes. some are urban farms yielding produce and flowers, while others are simply green spaces that contribute to natural ecosystems in chicago. 

the roof crop foundation, a non-profit affiliated with the roof crop, manages apiaries on green roofs across the city. the apiaries serve the dual purpose of rejuvenating the region’s pollinator populations and producing honey.

the roof crop has helped green roof development at a variety of types of spaces throughout the city, including the mcdonald’s headquarters, google’s midwest headquarters at 1k fulton and many residential buildings. 

third season, which opened in 2023, hosts events and workshops and sells various apothecary and local products such as homemade soaps and honey, supporting the local sustainability needs met by rooftop gardens.

mickey cao, design and store manager at third season, said the organization recently hosted a midwestern minimalist design workshop that promoted the beauty and simplicity of nature. it has run a monsoon pottery workshop with a local artisan as well, as it aims to involve local artists from the community in its work.

“i think it’s been really positive to have a space in a fairly industrial area where people can come and have community and learn and do creative things together,” cao said.

third season also hosts sustainable farming programs for chicagoland teens and young people, according to cao.

anhorn said a goal of the organization is to educate urban farmers.

“the end goal isn’t to farm on every green roof around the city, but to make green roof farming more accessible and possible and to share what we’ve learned along the way,” anhorn said.

“and then, we’ll feed you.” i could sense a collective sigh of relief from the group of weary travelers when national geographic-lindblad expeditions naturalist tanya helmig uttered those words in the airport lobby. up before dawn and off by 6 am, our planet forward team flew from quito to guayaquil, then from guayaquil to baltra island, passing through several biosecurity checkpoints before finally arriving in ecuador’s enchanting galápagos islands. 

stepping off the plane felt otherworldly. maybe it was the dissonance of seeing the abundance of cacti in what i thought would be a tropical paradise, or maybe it was the inkling of realization that i — a small town girl from rural north carolina —  now stood in a place famous the world over for inspiring the theory of evolution. 

our smiling scottish-born guide gave a warm welcome to the gaggle of tourists and shared some logistical instructions, but it was all a blur until she said those magic words: “and then, we’ll feed you.” last night’s dinner was long ago and i, like many others, passed on breakfast in lieu of a later wake up call. she promised we were in for a treat that week, starting with a grand buffet lunch to welcome us onboard. but once we sat down to eat, i realized this wasn’t just another restaurant experience — it was a window into a complex food system that keeps the people in the galápagos fed.

a “bucket list trip” is how many (if not all) of the guests aboard the national geographic gemini expedition ship described their journey to the galápagos islands. our group of planet forward storyfest winners shared the experience with members from three generations of a midwest family celebrating the life of their beloved grandfather, a mother-daughter pair from northern california capping off a longer tour of ecuador, and a semi-retired arizona snowbird who was on the trip to better understand the experience she recommends to her travel clients.

some people were adventure enthusiasts signing up for all the adrenaline-pumping hikes and dives; others were savoring the opportunity to get up close and personal with wildlife from the convenience of the zodiac (a brand of rigid inflatable boats). bookending the breathtaking natural beauty of time spent exploring the islands was the comfort and attention to detail experienced aboard the gemini. 

this floating hotel provides shelter and transportation for up to 48 guests and 50 crew members at any given time. in addition to the private cabins, there’s an indoor dining room, outdoor dining patio, lounge area, pool deck, and library for guest perusal. as you might imagine, there’s way more space behind the scenes that keeps the gemini going.

most intriguing to me was the galley, where an expert culinary team preps, serves, and busses a world class meal — influenced by the local cuisine and catered to myriad dietary restrictions and preferences — three times a day. there were (seemingly) endless assortments of delicious and freshly made foodstuffs available for breakfast, lunch, and dinner delivered right to guests’ tables by the knowledgeable and courteous waitstaff. 

meal times were so elegantly choreographed that they belied the logistical challenge of feeding 100 people while floating more than 600 miles away from the nearest commercial food supplier. that distance matters because, according to a study by carolina sampedro and colleagues published in 2018, around 75% of all food consumed on the islands is imported from mainland ecuador, a share that could grow to 95% in the next decade without policy and infrastructure investments.

and tourists like myself (~270,000 people each year) account for more than 70% of the islands’ total economy, increasing the demand for fresh food in a place with limited agricultural land and strict conservation zoning. 

from farm to fork

as a food and agriculture researcher, i knew there was more complexity to the food service than meets the eye. i sought out a variety of crew members to learn more about our meals and agricultural development in the galápagos islands. 

my first stop was the hotel office, where hotel manager fernanda orellana walked me through how menus are designed and groceries are purchased, not just around guest expectations, but around the agricultural realities of the islands and the company’s commitment to sustainability.

fernanda, a bubbly and easygoing person, started her career as a hospitality student in guayaquil, ecuador’s biggest city and coastal hub, furthering a lifelong dream to live in the galápagos. a stint as a waitress on a cruise ship brought her to the islands a decade ago and she worked her way up the hierarchy of numerous tourism companies before beginning her current role aboard the gemini. 

as the hotel manager, fernanda manages the culinary team and approves all purchase orders, giving her great insight into the food system onboard. she described the company philosophy of local purchasing in the following way: “most of our products are purchased here in galápagos: the first option is always local farmers.

many companies bring food from guayaquil because it’s cheaper, but buying local food supports the economy here. some companies make a whole video campaign about buying one local product; lindblad doesn’t brag about it, but they really do it.” 

sourcing local ingredients also contributes to the goal of building a delicious and diverse menu that’s 100% ecuadorian. fernanda uses her interactions with guests to promote culinary curiosity. she said, “it’s good because guests get to explore the culture and tradition through food. ecuador has every kind of dish you can imagine. food has history, and i love sharing the stories behind how dishes came to be so people understand ecuador more fully.”

from seco de pollo (ecuadorian chicken stew) to pan de yuca (cheesy cassava bread) to locro de papa (potato and cheese soup), i for one walked away with a more expansive view of ecuador through its cultural foods.

next, i had an opportunity to speak with head chef victor bodero. my conversation with victor — nestled into a few moments of spare time before dinner service and interpreted by fernanda — started with his tenure on the gemini, covered his perspective on galápagos food systems as a local, and ended with innovative efforts to reduce food waste. 

victor was born in guayaquil and moved to santa cruz island at age seven. he worked his way from dishwasher to line cook to head chef on the vessel under previous management, and was happy to be continuing a world-class culinary experience with lindblad expeditions. responding to a prompt about the company’s commitment to local food sourcing, victor said, “buying directly from the people [on the islands] allows farmers and fishers to create new pathways to market and start upgrading [their operations] because they know they have a steady buyer.” 

for victor, it’s not just about getting quality produce straight from the galápagos; it’s also important to ensure as little food waste as possible. approximately one-third of all food produced globally is lost or wasted. wasted food isn’t just about lost meals, it means wasted water, land, energy, and fertilizer. 

one way lindblad expeditions and the gemini team reduce food waste is by asking guests to pre-register for dinner entrees. each afternoon, the team placed a sign-up sheet on the end of the bar with evening meal options. by indicating your preferences ahead of time (as opposed to ordering on the spot in the dining room), victor could tightly tailor the dinner service to only prepare what was requested.

“for example, if i have 10 guests pre-registered for the chicken and five unregistered, i’ll take out 15 portions of chicken in case the unregistered folks want some. that’s an improvement from prepping 45 portions (the full guest list), but it would be so much better if everyone pre-selected their entree,” he said. 

a fond farewell

having embarked on the gemini on a saturday, when the next saturday rolled around it was time to leave. the last meal was a tranquil mid-morning breakfast on the patio, a bittersweet time to get our fill and say goodbyes. peering over the guardrails, i caught a glimpse of a small, nondescript white boat that was cozied up beside the gemini.

i wasn’t quite sure what to make of it, but figured it out after a few minutes of curious observation: the crew members were exchanging loaded coolers for empty ones, bringing all sorts of meats and produce from the islands to replenish the galley for the next voyage.

the circularity of it all struck me with another thought, that the food service experience on the gemini was at once uber global and hyper local: we were international tourists eating ecuadorian meals sourced from — almost exclusively — the galápagos islands. more than 2,500 miles away from my own family farm, my once-in-a-lifetime adventure was powered by family farms in the galapagos. now, that’s something to chew on. 

editor’s note: lindblad expeditions, our planet forward storyfest competition partner, made these series possible by providing winners with an experiential learning opportunity aboard one of their ships. we thank lindblad expeditions for their support of our project.

but what if policy can achieve the same climate-first results without the label, all while delivering improved public health and saving money? 

researchers around the world are looking to implement climate policy without using the word “climate” by turning to urban planning, food, and energy solutions, according to a report released in environmental epidemiology.  

the report is encouraging climate policy that aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by putting the attention on public health, says george thurston, an author of the report and a professor of medicine and population health at new york university.

“the more you can localize and individualize these risks and benefits, the more people are going to be motivated to do something,” thurston said.

the researchers presented 11 different case studies of climate action in seven countries and demonstrated their efficacy in producing improvements not only in greenhouse gas emissions but also in public health and healthcare cost expenditures. their bottom line was that improving the climate is not really a cost at all, but could be a preemptive economic rescue plan for the u.s. health system if more intervention studies and policies were modeled after the case studies they examined.

mary rice, the report’s corresponding author, joined thurston in saying that their motivations for the study were grounded in trying to influence policymaking.

“we intended to illustrate the opportunity and also the importance of more rigorous research in this area, looking at the full picture of what the costs and benefits are of climate interventions,” rice, the director of harvard’s harvard’s center for climate, health, and the global environment program, said.

while the two researchers cited a lack of intervention studies being conducted and funded as a limitation to the scope of the case studies they presented, they said that it only highlights the need for funding into these projects that could help shape policy to come and improve community health. among the 11 case studies they looked at were ones involving energy use in pittsburgh, urban planning in barcelona, and food systems in sweden. 

pittsburgh: asthma rates and hospitalizations plummet after the shenango coke works plant closure

residents of alleghany county, pennsylvania endured decades of odors that would wake them in the night, soot that would collect on their homes, and escalating child asthma rates. then, in 2016, they celebrated the closing of the shenango coke works plant and what it would mean for community health. 

“they [the residents] didn’t imagine that things could improve so much so quickly,” annie fox, a law clerk with the clean air council, said.

before its closure, the shenango coke works plant produced a form of refined coal used in steelmaking called coke. it is created by baking coal at high temperatures, and often contributes to carbon air pollution. 

fox described a “constant vigilance” that residents of the pittsburgh suburb would experience when stepping outside their homes, readying themselves for facing poor air quality. when the coal plant closed, she said, “people just said the absence of having to notice the air was huge.” 

pediatric emergency room visits related to asthma dropped by 40 percent immediately, fox said, and local hospitals saw reduced visits for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, heart disease, and strokes.  

within just three years of the plant’s closure, pittsburgh saved over $12,000,000 in hospitalization medical costs, according to an epa mapping program used by the report. 

after the public health benefits of the coke plant closure, residents continue to advocate for stricter air pollution enforcement.  

“seeing that the benefits the community received were even greater than they imagined, it galvanizes people to keep participating, organizing, and keep striving to protect their family’s health and the community’s health,” fox said. 

barcelona: superblocks lay the blueprint for climate and people-first urban planning

in barcelona, greenhouse gas emissions and improved public health are being tackled through urban planning solutions with the creation of their “superblock” program.  

catherine pérez, the health promotion department head at the agència de salut pública de barcelona, said a “superblock” is an urban planning technique used to cluster city blocks and divert traffic to the perimeter, leaving the interior streets for people to walk, play, and relax. 

“the design goal is to cut traffic volume and speed, reduce air and noise pollution and heat, and boost everyday physical activity and social interaction,” pérez said in an interview. 

in a study released in february 2025, pérez said she and her colleagues looked to produce evidence on how the superblock designs change everyday exposures and wellbeing, with an emphasis on equity.  

although they determined that additional measures are needed to deliver consistent results, pérez said half of residents across three of the superblocks reported less noise and pollution inside the intervention zone.

to convince policymakers across the world to invest in superblocks that remove interior, city traffic, improves pollution, and reallocates space to people, pérez said she would point to the numbers. 

rice and thurston also highlighted a benefit of 1.7 billion euros annually due to longer life expectancy if all 503 planned superblocks are implemented. with only six completed superblocks, pérez said this potential points to why investment should continue. 

“these interventions could prevent an estimated 667 premature deaths per year in barcelona, according to independent health-impact assessments,” pérez said. 

pérez said that it is feasible for countries to create their own superblocks because they have already started doing similar projects at smaller scales for years. 

“superblocks are replicable in the u.s. and other settings because the underlying ingredients have already proven effective in multiple cities,” pérez said. 

sweden: plant-based school meals curb greenhouse gas emissions

in sweden, patricia eustachio colombo has carried out multiple plant-based food trials in schools over the last five years.

after designing a menu that was not only nutritious and culturally conscious but cost-effective, colombo’s first trial in 2019, which rice and thurston cited in their report, found 40 percent less greenhouse gases emitted and an 11 percent cost reduction from the original meals. 

the study also found that while prioritizing higher plant-based proteins and locally sourced ingredients throughout the study’s four weeks, food waste and attitudes toward the meals were not compromised among the students. the intervention has since been repeated twice and produced similar results.

colombo said that her decision to implement plant-based diets in schools comes from the exposure and education children get from school, which helps to change their attitudes toward healthy, sustainable diets without putting a label on it.

“we know that our diets are usually shaped when we are young, and the diets that we acquire as children tend to stick into adulthood,” colombo said. “we thought that if we want to promote sustainable dietary habits, we should focus on children, and schools are a really good platform for that.”

although colombo said it would be difficult to expand the model without appropriate funding and researchers on the ground guiding cooks and teachers, she believes it can be replicated in other parts of the world, including the united states.

“for these changes to effectively be achieved, you need to have the same attitude and mindset across, from politicians down to principals, teachers, everyone needs to be on the same level and having the same ideas,” colombo said.

the public health angle for climate

using the evidence from pittsburgh, barcelona, and sweden, rice hopes that by motivating people through improved public health that policymakers will be able to help pass regulations that also help the climate and their wallets. 

“each of these interventions have a cost, but there’s also a value to the benefits to be gained and the value of improved health is enormous, especially when you improve productivity, length and life expectancy and avoid hospital admissions, which can be very costly.”

several experts on a panel from rural and urban communities discussed their progress and challenges of being a farmer. the panel was hosted by mya o. price, an assistant professor at the global food institute, with panelists dion dawson, chief dreamer of dion’s chicago dream; cicely garrett, co-executive director of the national black food and justice alliance; qiana mickie, new york city’s inaugural executive director of the office of urban agriculture within the mayor’s office; and ashley c. smith, executive director of black soil ky.

before the panel began, opening remarks were shared by tambra raye stevenson, the founder and ceo of women advancing nutrition, dietetics, and agriculture (wanda). she discussed her heritage as a fifth-generation oklahoman and the historical significance of black farming communities.

she also highlighted the erasure of black cultural contributions and the need for policy changes. addressing the audience, she asked them to “plant hope,” meaning attendees should support black food sovereignty through community and policy efforts.

“by planting hope, we will not just simply survive: we will thrive,” stevenson said.

ashley c. smith of black soil ky, an organization promoting agriculture to black kentuckians, said a major challenge for black farmers in a rural area is balancing the finances. she said rural farmers know no one, like national funders, are coming to “save them.”

according to the economic research service, a part of the department of agriculture researching agriculture, the environment, and rural development, 86% of all united states counties with “high and persistent levels” of poverty in 2019 were rural.

“we can’t have our farmers standing in the food bank or food pantry lines,” smith said. “they have to be fully supported.”

cicely garrett of the national black food and justice alliance, an organization representing rural and urban black farmers, said she saw some successes amid the challenges. she specifically pointed to a growing number of people who are more open to collaboration. she said more people have space to breathe, they have the time to dream of certain ideas, and they want to collaborate to make their ideas possible.

“having more encouragement around people doing this, like organic, genuine relationships in which they have shared values and vision, is something we are seeing more of,” garrett said.

qiana mickie of the new york city mayor’s office said there are some innovations and strategies giving her hope today. one example was people creatively using spaces, especially in urban areas. she said she wants to use underutilized spaces, like by expanding community and school gardens.

“there is the opportunity of leveraging smaller micro-contracts, or meeting them where they’re at, at their scale and still creating contracts that can create food,” mickie said.

but she also added there is not much sustainability and upkeep in places like community or school gardens, as they require maintenance.

in terms of black communities responding to climate change, organizations are finding some success, dion dawson said. dawson runs dion’s chicago dream, an organization working to improve health outcomes and equity while addressing food security in chicago. according to dawson, the organization produces around a quarter of million pounds annually and does not waste anything.

while working towards a solution, dawson added, he hopes everyone does not have a doomsday plan; rather, he challenges everyone to think about a future they can hope for. he also said “resiliency” is necessary, but in some cases it is not needed. 

for dawson, the goal of building a sustainable future is a group effort. “i think everyone should look at themselves like a lego,” dawson said.

this massive following didn’t happen overnight. trigueiro started his career back in 1988 when brazil was emerging from a military dictatorship. he was a reporter for a state-run radio station before going to grupo globo in 1993. to this day, globo is the largest media conglomerate in brazil, both on television and in print. 

his rise to success is notable, not just for its sheer scale, but also for the fact that trigueiro’s work is explicitly environmental, pushing sustainability solutions into brazil’s public consciousness. as a professor at pontifícia universidade católica do rio de janeiro, he also inspires journalism and communications students to contend with sustainability issues and to prioritize environmental reporting. 

as an exchange student taking trigueiro’s class this semester, i had the opportunity to sit with him for an interview about his career, environmental reporting, and the necessity for collective awareness regarding the damage we’re doing to the space we live in. 

the contents below have been translated from portuguese and edited for length and clarity.

alexia massoud: your show,  “cidades e soluções,” started in 2006 and covers environmental solutions, natural resources, and energy in brazil, which has really helped bring sustainability into your audience’s lives. can you tell me a bit more about the show and how it came together? 

andré trigueiro: it’s a program that’s almost 20 years old, and its purpose is to showcase what works in different settings: public sector, private sector, and non-governmental organizations. we talk about the problems of modernity and how to solve them.

it’s a very broad pitch, and we face the challenge of being the only program on the open network/cable tv with the word “solutions” in its title, which forces us to be very careful not to legitimize projects that don’t deserve to be on the “solutions” shelf. we make an effort to refrain from getting into a sinking boat. it’s complicated, but we try. therefore, we take great care to find a topic that deserves the visibility we’ll give it.

am: do you find it difficult to find these stories?

at: no, but it requires a lot of resources. if i just did that, i could do about three shows a week. so we have to take big steps, which is sometimes a bit of a sacrifice. a 25-minute edited show each week is something that requires a team, but we’ve managed to get the job done. it’s a program that has inspired public policy. i’ve already received feedback from environmental ministers and businesspeople who saw the program and replicated it.

am: you have a large online following, and you’ve grown a lot as a journalist. do you think there’s a difference between your online persona and your work in the studio? how have you found a balance, and do you struggle with it?

at: at work, there are expectations set for my performance in relation to the product. on social media, i am who i am. basically, the difference is this: i am my own host, and i define the direction. there’s an intention not to trivialize social media, not to be relegated to cheap entertainment — i try to delve deeper, to use social media in an inspiring way, where i can point the way and open paths.

i’m still careful about the fact that i’m also on television. possibly, the day i’m no longer on television, i’ll have a freer, more light-hearted, and relaxed approach to some topics on social media. but most of the content i share is in the first person: it’s me. there’s no product i’m selling; just me.

am: when did you start to grow more online? do you remember when you started getting so much traction?

at: oh, i started on twitter, which was my favorite network until elon musk bought it. i didn’t want to monetize a business owned by someone i don’t respect and whose ideas and way of thinking i disagree with completely. so i left twitter with about 700,000 followers. but if i were really concerned about being popular on the network, if that were my goal, i wouldn’t do hour-long live streams. instagram itself says that if it’s longer than three minutes, it won’t be pushed out. but i don’t care.

am: how do you feel your impact on social media is, then?

at: i try to fill this space with content. there are a lot of people interested in content on social media, so i think it’s the meeting of hunger and the desire to eat. if i have any resonance in terms of followers, i think it’s because of this. i try to discipline myself regarding appealing content and try to follow a very honest line. i won’t sell myself short to get engagement. if they find my content interesting, great, if not, life goes on.

am: following this path of impact, as you have been teaching here at puc since 2004, tell me more about why you wanted to become a professor and bring this impact to your classes.

at: i’m the son of two educators. i enjoy teaching. it’s an exercise in communication. therefore, all my activities have communication in common. journalism, social media, teaching, writing… i’m communicating. this communication with kids is part of my utopia: i think it’s worth it because it will have some kind of impact.

i have former students who have risen in the profession, and i sometimes notice that they carry a journalistic vision that has some component of this righteous indignation against the unsustainable model of development, the need for us to point the way toward sustainability, etc. i come here to do what i believe is my obligation: to have this contact with young people and seek to foster this attitude.

am: very cool. are you disappointed with the current state of the world compared to what it was 30-or-so years ago in your career?

at: i think tension is rising due to the clash of ideas, which is exacerbated in communication by denialism, fake news, and the industrial-scale production of disinformation. on the one hand, while we’ve improved several aspects — the public and private sectors, legislation, and awareness — on the other, we’re faced with repressed ignorance and stupidity.

of course no one knows everything, but proudly asserting ignorance causes problems and leads to exalted stupidity. this has worsened; it’s not good. the writer ariano suassuna once said, “the optimist is a fool, the pessimist is a bore; i prefer to be a hopeful realist.” that’s who i am; i’ll do my part. whether it will work or not, i don’t know, but it’s up to me to do what i believe is possible to turn this around.

am: do you think the environmental issue has become partisan?

at: we won’t change the game without public policy. formal policy must enter the fray. if there are no rules, laws, ordinances, or resolutions that come from above and organize routines from the perspective of regulating the private and public sectors, it’s pointless. we need political leaders who aren’t disconnected from reality. the real world is one where the planet cries out, and we won’t get far if we don’t heed the cry of the earth. the environmental issue is embedded in the following paradigm: it’s not save the whales, save the forests, or save the amazon. it’s save yourself.

when we talk about the environment, we’re saying we want clean drinking water, breathable air, fertile soil for planting — the basics. there shouldn’t be, at this point in the game, any doubt about what it means to not combat illegal deforestation, not accelerate the energy transition, etc. this debate shouldn’t be taking place, but it is. we can’t cry over spilled milk; we have to do our part.

am: so you would call yourself an activist?

at: no, and i don’t like that term, because anyone who calls me an activist tries to discredit my journalistic side. journalism is not activism; it’s based on facts, it seeks to be well-founded with good sources, and it tells stories that are investigated with journalistic rigor. you’ll listen to those who produce knowledge, who have relevant information. you’ll report what you’re seeing, the places you go, whether reporting crimes, problems, violations, or pointing out paths, solutions, and perspectives. 

so, i’m a journalist. i’m a citizen in tune with my times. now, you can’t live in the realm of ideas, so you have to roll up your sleeves and do things. an american thinker named ross perot said something interesting: an activist isn’t someone who says the river needs to be cleaned — an activist is someone who rolls up their sleeves and goes and cleans the river.

i find this definition very inspiring; in that sense, perhaps i am an activist, because i’m not just a journalist who reports or shows what they think is appropriate. in my private life, in the choices i make every day, i strive to be consistent with what seems to me to be the expression of truth. i am a planetary ecological citizen.

am: do you have any plans for the future, perhaps for a master’s or doctoral degree related to sustainability?

at: academia isn’t my thing. but i’ve never made many plans in my life, and it just happened. an important message for the youth: keep going. listen to your heart, do what makes your eyes shine, what gives you pleasure. and from there, the paths will invite you. you think you’re choosing things, but actually, things are choosing you. i don’t think i chose the environmental field. i entered something that was waiting for me.

am: how do you handle everything you have to do?

at: strength, courage, and faith. every day we seek energy in utopia, in the things we believe in, in the realization that life isn’t a matter of chance and that we’re here for a reason. when we try to discover that reason, paths open up.

am: how do you get your audience to really care about environmental issues?

at: journalism reports facts. we need to tell stories that resonate with people, so they understand the sense of urgency and the need for individual and collective action. we need to make people feel like they’re participating in a reform, a revolution, a change in habits, behaviors, lifestyles, and consumption patterns.

we must professionally act ethically and correctly in reporting the facts while demonstrating a sense of urgency. we can’t keep postponing a new way of existing; the planet can’t take it anymore. we’re leaving a horrific ecological footprint that’s already threatening essentials: clean freshwater, fertile soil, breathable air, and the climate crisis. we have to be efficient in our communication work, which generates a desire to do something different.

am: do you have any advice for anyone looking to get into journalism?

at: be well-informed, access information from good sources, always seek to refresh your knowledge, and enroll in courses so you can tell stories with greater depth, skill, and quality information. if it’s in the environmental and climate field, take courses, seek out educational content, read, and listen to podcasts. i’ve been teaching at puc for 21 years, and i don’t teach the same classes today as i did last year. it’s a never-ending process, and that’s a good thing because the world is in flux, and so is knowledge and the magnitude of this crisis.

am: well-said. thank you so much!