Aaron Olivera
Aaron Olivera is the Founder and CEO of Earth 300, a global environmental multidisciplinary initiative incorporating a 300 meter super science vessel for research, exploration, and innovation at sea. Equipped with 22 states of the art labs and frontier technologies such as AI, Robotics, and quantum capabilities, a team of 160 scientists from different fields, will work together on climate science, ecosystem restoration, and planetary stewardship. Marrying science, technology, adventure, exploration, and education, Earth 300’s mission is to ring the climate alarm on a global scale and inspire the greatest and largest climate action effort in history.
Aaron was instrumental in the launching of the world’s first Porsche Design megayacht Catamaran – the famed 41 meter RFF-135, helping secure the financing needed to develop it and launch it with a hospitality package that forms part of a timesharing program aimed at reducing the ecological footprint of the UHNW community.
Aaron lives in Singapore but spends half of his time traveling. He is a member of the invite-only Monaco Private Label presided by Prince Albert II of Monaco, and of The Explorers Club (NYC).
3 words to describe Nature?
Astonishing. Miraculous. Alien.
3 things Nature taught you?
Humility
Fragility
Abundance
3 most treasured Nature spots?
Beach
Ocean
Ancient Forest
When you look at the OCEAN, it makes you feel...?
Wondrous
When you see a FOREST, it makes you feel...?
Foolish
When you see a VOLCANO, it makes you feel...?
Ashamed
When you see a SUNRISE or SUNSET, it makes you feel...?
Loved
When you hear THUNDER, it makes you feel...?
Redeemed
When you hear the WIND HOWLING, it makes you feel...?
Scared
Are you an OCEAN, MOUNTAIN, FOREST, or DESERT person?
Depends on the season
Share with us a childhood nature memory?
Going to the beach early with my father and diving into large waves. Feeling fragile and strong at the same time, that sense of lack of control and yet able to bounce back.
Ellen Windemuth
Ellen Windemuth is the CEO of WaterBear, a free streaming platform dedicated to the future of our planet. Prior to WaterBear, Ellen was the owner and CEO of the production company Off the Fence, having founded the company in 1994. Ellen is a seasoned Executive Producer and Distributor and has produced over 500 hours to date herself. She executive produced My Octopus Teacher, which won this year’s BAFTA and Oscar for Best Feature Documentary. She is the Chair of the Jackson Hole Film Festival Board, Honorary President of the Sunnyside Doc 2019 festival in La Rochelle, France, and is active in conservation and land development. Ellen was presented with Wildscreen’s Christopher Parson’s Outstanding Achievement Awards 2018.
3 words to describe Nature?
Mother. Protector. Genius
3 things Nature taught you?
There is no waste.
The more carefully you look inside even the smallest habitat, the more fascinating it becomes.
Nature connects humans and animals with their common future.
3 most treasured Nature spots?
South African kelp forest
Okavango Delta
Norwegian fjord outside my house.
When you look at the OCEAN, it makes you feel...?
Vast and open
When you see a FOREST, it makes you feel...?
Protected and understood
When you see a VOLCANO, it makes you feel...?
Awed and excited
When you see a SUNRISE or SUNSET, it makes you feel...?
In harmony with life on earth
When you hear THUNDER, it makes you feel...?
Happy for the rain to fall
When you hear the WIND HOWLING, it makes you feel...?
Wanting a blanket to sit under and listen and tell stories
Are you an OCEAN, MOUNTAIN, FOREST, or DESERT person?
Ocean, Mountain, and Forest
On a scale of 1 to 10, how important is Nature to your well-being?
10
Share with us a childhood nature memory?
I used to roam outdoors in the fields and the forest nearby, looking for animals in preferably very muddy places. One day I found a pond and discovered how much fun it was to forget the consequences and just jump in in my clothes and immerse. It is my first memory of feeling truly exhilarated from being outdoors
Ron Garan
Former NASA astronaut and highly decorated combat fighter Ron Garan racked up 178 days in space and more than 71 million miles in 2,842 orbits between between tours on the International Space Station, flying on both the US Space Shuttle and a Russian Soyuz spacecraft. During his time in space Ron conducted four spacewalks in support of ISS construction and maintenance. Prior to those space journeys, he lived and conducted research on the bottom of the ocean in the world’s only undersea research lab, Aquarius. Before reaching the summit of his career, Ron, a former test pilot and graduate of the US Naval Test Pilot School, taught hundreds of elite pilots how to fly at the prestigious USAF Fighter Weapons School, the Air Force version of Top Gun. He is the author of the critically acclaimed book, The Orbital Perspective and the upcoming books, Floating in Darkness – A Journey of Evolution and Railroad to the Moon. Today, Ron is celebrated for his research in space and for his humanitarian contribution to life on Earth.
3 words to describe Nature?
Implicit. Natural. Wholeness
3 things Nature taught you?
To be still
To be quiet
To be grateful
3 most treasured Nature spots?
Boulder Flatirons
Zion National Park
Rain forests of Costa Rica
When you look at the ocean, it makes you feel...?
Interdependent
When you see a forest, it makes you feel...?
One with the biosphere
When you see a volcano, it makes you feel...?
The certainty that I am part of a much bigger picture.
When you see a sunrise or sunset, it makes you feel...?
As if I am watching life's expression that it's grateful to be alive
When you hear thunder, it makes you feel...?
Connected to the primordial
When you hear the wind howling, it makes you feel...?
Energized
Are you an Ocean, Mountain, Forest, or Desert person?
I am a person who strives to keep the focus on the continuum that links all those ecosystems and more
On a scale of 1 to 10, how important is Nature to your well-being?
10.5
Share with us a childhood nature memory?
I have fond memories of trading a day-to-day life in the city to camping with the Boy Scouts in the NY Adirondacks.
Nicole Stott
Nicole Stott has explored from the heights of outer space to the depths of our oceans. In awe of what she experienced from these very special vantage points, she has dedicated her life to sharing the beauty of space ~ and Earth ~ with others. She believes that sharing these orbital and inner space perspectives has the power to increase everyone’s appreciation of and obligation to care for our home planet and each other.
A veteran NASA Astronaut, her experience includes two spaceflights and 104 days living and working in space on both the Space Shuttle and the International Space Station (ISS). She performed one spacewalk and was the first person to fly the robotic arm to capture the free flying HTV cargo vehicle. Nicole was the last crew member to fly to and from their ISS mission on a Space Shuttle. She was also a crew member of the final flight of the Space Shuttle Discovery, STS-133.
Stott is the first person to paint a watercolor in space, which is now on display at the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum in DC.
As a NASA Aquanaut, in preparation for spaceflight and along with her NEEMO9 crew, Nicole lived and worked for 3 weeks on the Aquarius undersea habitat, the longest saturation mission to date.
Now retired from NASA, Nicole combines her artwork and spaceflight experience to inspire creative thinking about solutions to our planetary challenges, to raise awareness of the surprising interplay between science and art, and to promote the amazing work being done every day in space to improve life right here on Earth. She is the founder of the Space for Art Foundation and co-founder of Constellation.Earth.
She recently was featured in the National Geographic documentary series, hosted by Will Smith, about our planet called “One Strange Rock”, she is featured in the award-winning short film “Overview” by Planetary Collective, and she is a regular supporter of BBC radio and TV with a special focus on space exploration and our home planet.
3 words to describe Nature?
Peace. Life. Reflection
3 things Nature taught you?
Appreciation
Everything is connected
Respect
3 most treasured Nature spots?
On a space station in awe of the view of Earth from space.
Bari reef in Bonaire
My backyard
When you look at the ocean, it makes you feel...?
At one with something much bigger than myself.
When you see a forest, it makes you feel...?
Chilly and wanting to look up and appreciate the majesty of the trees surrounding me.
When you see a volcano, it makes you feel...?
A little bit of fear, total respect for the power and beauty and unpredictability, and like I should keep a very respectful distance.
When you see a sunrise or sunset, it makes you feel...?
Relaxed and in awe and with an increased awareness of the fact that we live on a planet.
When you hear thunder, it makes you feel...?
Like curling up on the couch with my dogs.
When you hear the wind howling, it makes you feel...?
Like a kid in Florida on the beach before a big rain.
Are you an Ocean, Mountain, Forest, or Desert person?
All of the above. If I had to pick it would be ocean (surrounded by mountains, forests and desert).
On a scale of 1 to 10, how important is Nature to your well-being?
10
Share with us a childhood nature memory?
On the space station we are traveling at 17500 mph or 5 miles per second, so we orbit the Earth every 90 minutes, which means that every 45 minutes we are presented with a stunning sunrise or sunset out the window. I loved to watch the Earth during the 45 minutes of "night". The glinting lights below outlined where the people were in contrast to the deep darkness of the oceans that cover most of our planet. The ever-changing weather moved above it all. The lightening of a thunderstorm in Florida whipped its way around the planet, flashing light over it like neurons firing across a brain. It was like I was watching all the beautiful action below me with the mute button on. It reminded me of thunderstorms from my childhood when I was growing up in Florida, and how I had imagined that the thunderstorm was happening only over my town, and when it was gone, it was gone. It had never occurred to me that the storm was zooming around the world, like the nervous system of a planet that looked alive. From space, I saw that lightning never exists in one place. It’s constantly on the move. This revelation led me to understand the life-changing truth of the undeniable interconnectivity of everyone and everything on Earth and that whatever happens in one part of the planet affects the whole. The reality check that we live on a planet, we are all Earthlings, and the only border that matters is the thin blue line of atmosphere that protects us all.