Ross Beaty
ROSS BEATY is a geologist and entrepreneur in the international minerals and renewable energy industries. He currently Chairs Pan American Silver Corp. and Equinox Gold Corp. and has founded and divested many other resource companies. He is also an environmental philanthropist, primarily through The Sitka Foundation. He serves on the Advisory Board of the Nature Trust of BC, is a Director of The Pacific Salmon Foundation and Panthera, and is patron of the Beaty Biodiversity Center at the University of BC. Mr. Beaty was appointed to The Order of Canada in 2017 and the Canadian Mining Hall of Fame in 2018.
3 words to describe Nature?
Spiritual. Wondrous. Sustainable
3 things Nature taught you?
What beauty really is.
What sustainable systems look like.
The ability to enjoy simple things without all the junk in urban systems.
3 most treasured Nature spots?
Patagonia
BC coast
Galapagos
When you look at the ocean, it makes you feel...?
Small
When you see a forest, it makes you feel...?
Fulfilled
When you see a volcano, it makes you feel...?
If it’s an active volcano it’s always awesome. If it’s an extinct volcano I always think of the power of plate tectonics.
When you see a sunrise or sunset, it makes you feel...?
Beauty
When you hear thunder, it makes you feel...?
Appreciative of the power of nature
When you hear the wind howling, it makes you feel...?
Ditto
Are you an Ocean, Mountain, Forest, or Desert person?
Mountain
On a scale of 1 to 10, how important is Nature to your well-being?
10
Share with us a childhood nature memory?
Hiking and camping with my family.
Marshall Birnbaum
Marshall Birnbaum is an artist, curator and photographer living in the mountains of Utah. He is the founder and director of the Summit Institute AIR (Artist in Residence) program based in Eden, Utah. He has previously curated the Art Programs for numerous Summit flagship events. He serves as an advisor to the SXSW Art Program and sits on the board for cultural development at Weber State University. Marshall is a Co-Founder at Escape Collective where he learned to build geodesic domes. Marshall is also a Co-Founder of The Hideout Riders Club dirt bike gang where he learned to pop wheelies on a dirt bike. His favorite color is Blue. His favorite flower is Cosmos Atrosanguineus. He enjoys distance running and touring far-away places on his bicycle. The longest Marshall has ever gone without blinking is about 53 seconds. Marshall can hold his breath for around a minute and a half.
Marshall has had photos published in The Atlantic, Surface Magazine, Forbes, Vogue, Outside Magazine, Arch Newspaper, Cultured Magazine, Complex, Alpine Modern, CLAD Magazine & Cool Hunting and has had writings published in Stay Wild Magazine.
3 words to describe Nature?
Organic. Evolving . Complex
3 things Nature taught you?
Life is strange
Time is relative
Keep asking questions
3 most treasured Nature spots?
Airports
Great Basin Bristlecone Pine Forest in the White Mountains of California
The East River, NYC
When you look at the ocean, it makes you feel...?
Like drifting
When you see a forest, it makes you feel...?
Like running
When you see a volcano, it makes you feel...?
Oddly happy
When you see a sunrise or sunset, it makes you feel...?
Awake or tired
When you hear thunder, it makes you feel...?
Hungry
When you hear the wind howling, it makes you feel...?
Wild
Are you an Ocean, Mountain, Forest, or Desert person?
Mountain Person!
On a scale of 1 to 10, how important is Nature to your well-being?
11
Share with us a childhood nature memory?
When I was younger, I was told with great assurance and confidence by my school teachers that giant squids were pure fantasy. I was prohibited from selecting the animal for a science presentation which caused me great anxiety and sadness. When the Giant Squid was discovered in 2012 I felt an overwhelming sense of justice and validation in the universe.
Julie Angus
JULIE ANGUS is an accomplished adventurer, scientist and bestselling author of Rowboat in a Hurricane, Rowed Trip and Olive Odyssey. She is the first woman to row across the Atlantic Ocean from mainland to mainland and a recipient of the National Geographic Adventurer of the Year award.
She has also cycled across continents, rowed thousands of kilometers of coastlines and rivers, and organized a National Geographic expedition that sailed the ancient Phoenician trading routes to research the olive.
Explore Magazine listed her as one of North America’s leading adventurers and in 2016 Canadian Geographic named her one of Canada’s Greatest Women Explorers. She is a recipient of the McMaster University Arch Award and a Canadian Geographic Fellow. She is regularly seen on television shows such as Canada AM, CBC Sunday News and Daily Planet.
Julie is a scientist with an B.Sc. from McMaster University in Psychology and Biology and an M.Sc. in Molecular Biology from the University of Victoria. She also studied at the University of Leeds in England. She spent a decade developing therapeutics for genetic ailments and cardiovascular disease as a researcher and in business development. Currently she is the co-founder of the boat company Angus Rowboats and is an engaging and entertaining motivational speaker who inspires audiences and demonstrates techniques to reach goals and overcome challenges.
3 words to describe Nature?
Harmony. Joy. Peace
3 things Nature taught you?
How to be at peace with myself
To look at the bigger picture
To respect others
3 most treasured Nature spots?
Our off-the-grid boat access only cabin in the Gulf Islands
Old growth forests of Vancouver Island
The alpine environment of BC’s mountains.
When you look at the ocean, it makes you feel…?
At peace
When you see a forest, it makes you feel…?
Awed by its greatness and complexity
When you see a volcano, it makes you feel…?
Enthralled and humbled by its force
When you see a sunrise or sunset, it makes you feel…?
Appreciative to be able to experience such beauty and grateful for the day ahead or day passed
When you hear thunder, it makes you feel…?
Like curling up someplace dry and being a spectator
When you hear the wind howling, it makes you feel…?
Humbled by its power
Are you an Ocean, Mountain, Forest, or Desert person?
Ocean
On a scale of 1 to 10, how important is Nature to your well-being?
10
Share with us a childhood nature memory?
When I was kid, we lived in Edmonton Alberta. One evening, the sky exploded in waves of colour: green, purple and pink. At first I thought something was terribly wrong. It was still the Cold War, and in my school on a military base, nuclear war was on people's minds; my best friend even had a bomb shelter in her basement. It wasn’t long before someone wiser explained that it was the Northern Lights, aurora borealis. Terror turned to amazement and relief. It was a very emotional event, to behold a phenomena so beautiful, otherworldly, and incomprehensible to my young eyes.
Watch her video with LEXUS
Charlene Chiang
CHARLENE CHIANG is the Vice President of Engagement at Ocean Wise. She is a strategic communicator with 20 years of progressive experience leveraging marketing, digital communications and public relations to position, enhance and protect organizational brands. She has earned 7 provincial and national awards for excellence in communications and is an avid participant with the International Association of Business Communicators.
From crisis management to enterprise-wide transformations, Charlene specializes in stakeholder engagement with a focus on shifting attitudes and aligning behaviours. Applying best practices in thought leadership and communications technology, Charlene has led the development and execution of strategic communications programs for some of Canada’s leading businesses and not-for-profit organizations, including McDonald’s Canada, Vancouver Coastal Health, City of Victoria, City of New Westminster and Coast Capital Savings. Since joining Ocean Wise in 2010, Charlene has led innovative media and digital campaigns that have elevated the brand as a storyteller by increasing national and international media impressions by 900 per cent and garnering extensive digital connections to drive attention to ocean conservation.
As Vice-President of Engagement, Charlene oversees a dynamic team of marketing, communications and digital content practice leaders, all working towards connecting 100 million people annually to ocean conservation. This aggressive goal aims to heighten awareness on ocean issues, engage people to care about their role, and inspire more action to protect aquatic life.
3 words to describe Nature?
Inspiring. Majestic. Life.
3 things Nature taught you?
Peace
Connectivity
Importance of diversity
3 most treasured Nature spots?
When you look at the ocean, it makes you feel...?
Joy
When you see a forest, it makes you feel...?
Alive and part of a larger universe
When you see a volcano, it makes you feel...?
Amazed
When you see a sunrise or sunset, it makes you feel...?
Comfort
When you hear thunder, it makes you feel...?
Engaged
When you hear the wind howling, it makes you feel...?
Intrigued
Are you an Ocean, Mountain, Forest, or Desert person?
Ocean
On a scale of 1 to 10, how important is Nature to your well-being?
10
Share with us a childhood nature memory?
One of my fondest memories as a child was when my parents would bring my brother and I to Harrison Hot Springs every year for a large family beach BBQ. We would spend the full day exploring the hot springs, rolling in the grass, and playing in the water until the sun would set. It was invigorating, exhausting and one of my favourite moments growing up. It taught me the importance of family, nature and the connection we all share.
Joel Solomon
JOEL SOLOMON is Co-Author of The Clean Money Revolution: Reinventing Power, Purpose, and Capitalism. He is Chair of Renewal Funds, a $98 million mission venture capital firm delivering above market returns while catalyzing positive social and environmental change. Joel is a founding member of Social Venture Network, Businesses for Social Responsibility, Chair of Hollyhock, Co-Producer of RSF's “Integrated Capital Fellows Program”, and serves on the University of British Columbia Board of Governors.
3 words to describe Nature?
Guide. Goddess. Source.
3 things Nature taught you?
Diversity + Complexity are Essence
Higher Intelligence Is
Humanity is Nature Performance Art
3 most treasured Nature spots?
Cortes Island, BC, Canada
Joshua Tree and the High Desert
The human heart
When you look at the ocean, it makes you feel...?
All I need patiently awaits
When you see a forest, it makes you feel...?
Peaceful that Consciousness will survive the humanity era
When you see a volcano, it makes you feel...
Longing for wise political leaders
When you see a sunrise or sunset, it makes you feel...?
Happy to flow and glow
When you hear thunder, it makes you feel…
Change making is urgent
When you hear the wind howling, it makes you feel...
Peaceful knowing that alarming times will shift
Are you an Ocean, Mountain, Forest, or Desert person?
Diversity Is strength
On a scale of 1 to 10, how important is Nature to your well-being?
Infinity
Share with us a childhood nature memory?
When I buried my nose into the humous and discovered soil is a mystery.