Taylor Keen
Taylor Keen is a full-time instructor in the Heider College of Business Administration in Strategy and Entrepreneurship. Keen is also the Founder of Sacred Seed, a not-for-profit entity whose mission is to propagate tribal seed sovereignty, battle for tribal sacred geography, and seek cultural revitalization among tribal peoples. Currently, Keen is embarking on a journey with indigenous seeds of the upper Missouri River tribes to grow, harvest, and celebrate the cosmology of the 4 Sisters (corn, bean, squash, and sunflower). Additionally, from his book-in-progress, he incorporates teachings of the sacred masculine/feminine of tribal peoples including the cosmology of Mother Corn and the Earth Mother goddess. Keen holds a bachelor's degree from Dartmouth College as well as a Master's of Business Administration and Masters of Public Administration from Harvard University, where he served as a Fellow in the Harvard Project on American Indian Economic Development. Taylor is the author of the book-in-progress entitled "Rediscovering America: Sacred Geography, the Ancient Earthen Works and an Indigenous History of Turtle Island”. Keen is Trustee Emeritus of the Nebraska State Historical Society, Board member Emeritus of the Humanities Nebraska, and Chairman Emeritus of the Blackbird Bend Corporation (The Omaha Nation of Nebraska and Iowa’s Economic Development Corporation). Listen to Taylor’s interview on the Meateater podcast with Steven Rinella below.
3 words to describe Nature?
Love. Mother. Earth
3 things Nature taught you?
Plant Nation comes first in priority.
Animal Nation comes second, for they depend on the Plant Nation.
Third in priority are the Human Beings, for if we put ourselves above the other two Nations, we will but destroy ourselves.
3 most treasured Nature spots?
Flathead Lake
The foothills of the Ozark Mountains
Anywhere where granite meets the ocean
When you look at the OCEAN, it makes you feel...?
That our planet is a water planet. People forget that.
When you see a FOREST, it makes you feel...?
Loss, as there are not enough of them left.
When you see a VOLCANO, it makes you feel...?
That our planet is alive and that core is molten, and that there is an Underworld / Lowerworld.
When you see a SUNRISE or SUNSET, it makes you feel...?
Rebirth and Death.
When you hear THUNDER, it makes you feel...?
Those are the sounds of the Upper Realm Thunderers, and their messengers, the Thunderbirds.
When you hear the WIND HOWLING, it makes you feel...?
Spirits of those gone on are carried by the wind.
Are you an OCEAN, MOUNTAIN, FOREST, or DESERT person?
All of the above
On a scale of 1 to 10, how important is Nature to your well-being?
10
Share with us a childhood nature memory?
Realizing that all of nature is alive and knowing everything grows and dies, and feeds more life.
Kelly Alvarez Doran
Kelly Alvarez Doran is an architect and climate activist. A native of Winnipeg - Kelly has learned and worked across the world over the past two decades and currently calls London, UK home. Professionally Kelly has worked with MASS Design Group (Kigali), SvN (Toronto), and WilliamsonWilliamson (Toronto), and Severson Monteyne (Winnipeg). His focus on climate-positive design architecture and the disproportionate impact the built environment has on climate change has shaped his design approach. He has led the design of award-winning projects - notably Munini District Hospital and Rwanda Ministry of Health’s Typical Hospital Plans; the headquarters for both One Acre Fund and Andela in Kenya; and the Rwanda Institute for Conservation Agriculture. Kelly is a graduate of the University of Manitoba, the University of Toronto, a recipient of the Canada Council’s Prix de Rome for Emerging Practitioners. He is a Visiting Professor at the University of Toronto and has previously held teaching positions at The Bartlett, Harvard University, and the University of Waterloo.
3 words to describe Nature?
Replenishing. Complex. Intrinsic
3 things Nature taught you?
We are all intrinsically connected - socially, biologically, and ecologically.
Nature's nature is to constantly adapt - it will outlast humanity.
We are a part of nature and thrive when working within the natural systems we emerged within.
3 most treasured Nature spots?
Manitoba's Prairie grassland
An Algonquin Park campsite
An Essex estuary
When you look at the OCEAN, it makes you feel...?
Connected to the power of nature.
When you see a FOREST, it makes you feel...?
Closer to the endless cycles of growth and decay.
When you see a VOLCANO, it makes you feel...?
Like an inconsequential collection of biological material.
When you see a SUNRISE or SUNSET, it makes you feel...?
Connected to the cosmos.
When you hear THUNDER, it makes you feel...?
Nostalgic for a prairie thunderstorm
When you hear the WIND HOWLING, it makes you feel...?
Nostalgic for a prairie winter's night
Are you an OCEAN, MOUNTAIN, FOREST, or DESERT person?
Prairie
On a scale of 1 to 10, how important is Nature to your well-being?
8
Share with us a childhood nature memory?
Endless hours spent traveling across the prairie to the small farming community where my grandparent's lived - looking out the car window at the long, flat, prairie horizon and the ocean of different colors across the fields, meadows, ditches, and forests along the way has created a deep appreciation for how much we've transformed the landscape to our own ends, and how we must now break out of the mindset of dominion and return to one deeply connected to the natural rhythms and cycles of the landscapes we inhabit.
Amy Webb
Amy Webb is a quantitative futurist and a bestselling, award-winning author. She is a professor of strategic foresight at the NYU Stern School of Business and the Founder of the Future Today Institute, a leading foresight and strategy firm that helps leaders and their organizations prepare for complex futures. Webb is a Visiting Fellow at Oxford University’s Säid School of Business, a Nonresident Senior Fellow in the Atlantic Council’s GeoTech Center, a Fellow in the United States-Japan Leadership Program and a Foresight Fellow in the U.S. Government Accountability Office Center for Strategic Foresight. She was a Visiting Nieman Fellow at Harvard University, where her research received a national Sigma Delta Chi award. She was also a Delegate on the former U.S.-Russia Bilateral Presidential Commission, where she worked on the future of technology, media and international diplomacy. Webb has advised CEOs of some of the world’s largest companies, three-star generals and admirals and executive government leadership on strategy and technology. She is the author of several popular books, including The Big Nine: How the Tech Titans and Their Thinking Machines Could Warp Humanity, which was longlisted for the Financial Times & McKinsey Business Book of the Year award, shortlisted for the Thinkers50 Digital Thinking Award, and won the 2020 Gold Axiom Medal for the best book about business and technology, and The Signals Are Talking: Why Today’s Fringe Is Tomorrow’s Mainstream, which won the Thinkers50 Radar Award, was selected as one of Fast Company’s Best Books of 2016, Amazon’s best books 2016, and was the recipient of the 2017 Gold Axiom Medal for the best book about business and technology. Her bestselling memoir Data, A Love Story is about finding love via algorithms. Her TED talk about Data has been viewed more than 8 million times and is being adapted as a feature film, which is currently in production. Webb was named by Forbes as one of the five women changing the world, listed as the BBC’s 100 Women of 2020, and the Thinkers50 Radar list of the 30 management thinkers most likely to shape the future of how organizations are managed and led.
Amy serves on a script consultant for films and shows about artificial intelligence, technology and the future. Most recently, she worked on The First, a sci-fi drama about the first humans to travel to Mars. She is a member of the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences and has served as a Blue Ribbon Emmy award judge.
3 words to describe Nature?
Essential. Quantifiable. Mysterious.
3 things Nature taught you?
Humility. Humility. Humility. (Seriously!)
3 most treasured Nature spots?
The hiking paths of Mt. Hayachine, which is part of the Kitakami range in northern Japan.
Walking among the giant redwoods of Sequoia National Park.
Hiking the foothills of Stowe, Vermont, especially in fall.
When you look at the ocean, it makes you feel...?
Concerned. The oceans are a vast ecosystem that we've ignored and polluted.
When you see a forest, it makes you feel...?
At home. There is a concept in Japan known as "shinrin-yoku," which is loosely defined as taking a forest bath. Connecting with trees and the sounds of a forest, breathing in the air, and taking time for contemplation and reflection are ways to improve mental clarity, emotional health and physical stamina.
When you see a volcano, it makes you feel...?
Curious.
When you see a sunrise or sunset, it makes you feel...?
Spirited. Some of my fondest memories are of canoeing and camping in Big Bend National Park in Texas and waking up with the sunrise. Even in the summer, the air is fresh and cool, and there's both a calmness and a sense of anticipation for a new day.
When you hear thunder, it makes you feel...?
Like I'm at work. When I'm researching, reading and writing, I listen to brown noise, which has lower, thicker tones than white noise. Some of the brown noise tracks I listen to include a continuous stream of rumbling thunder.
When you hear the wind howling, it makes you feel...?
Cold. Even if it's not actually cold.
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?
There was a small lake near our house, and it was fully alive: snakes, butterflies, fish, frogs, weeds, flowers, trees, and all sorts of bugs. My dad used to take me there just to walk around, look at tadpoles, and observe nature. One afternoon we found a beehive beneath a pile of boulders. We climbed on top and spent hours watching the bees do their work.
Bryan Welch
Bryan Welch is the Chief Executive Officer of Mindful Society Media, publisher of Mindful Magazine, and CEO at the Foundation for a Mindful Society. He is a veteran media executive, writer, rancher and entrepreneur with unique expertise in businesses that improve the world. He’s the former CEO of Ogden Publications (Mother Earth News, Utne Reader), B The Change Media (B Magazine), and Foster Care Technologies.
Bryan has served on the boards of the Magazine Publishers Association, the Social Venture Network, Bioneers and several other nonprofits. He also has served on corporate boards of directors and advisory boards of companies involved in natural foods, ecommerce and the media. He was Niche Media’s 2014 “Niche Rock Star of the Year” is a member of Mequoda Group’s Digital Media Hall of Fame and was honored with the B Corporations’ 2014 Hal Taussig lifetime-achievement award for “using business as a force for good.”
He holds a master’s degree from Harvard University where he studied media policy and media management at the Kennedy School of Government and Harvard Business School.
Bryan’s award-winning book, Beautiful & Abundant: Building the World We Want, appeared in 2011.
He and his wife, Carolyn, raise organic, grass-fed cattle, sheep and goats on their farm near Lawrence, Kansas.
3 words to describe Nature?
Infinite. Spacious. Energetic
3 things Nature taught you?
That I am very small
That I am part of something infinitely large
That there are beauty and abundance everywhere, and beauty is important.
3 most treasured Nature spots?
Any place where I am sufficiently aware. X3!
When you look at the ocean, it makes you feel…?
Filled with a vast energy
When you see a forest, it makes you feel…?
Contemplative. Alert.
When you see a volcano, it makes you feel…?
Stimulated
When you see a sunrise or sunset, it makes you feel…?
Present
When you hear thunder, it makes you feel…?
Filled with awe
When you hear the wind howling, it makes you feel…?
Filled with awe
Are you an Ocean, Mountain, Forest, or Desert person?
All of those!! See answers above about my favorite spots.
On a scale of 1 to 10, how important is Nature to your well-being?
10
Share with us a childhood nature memory?
Following my herd of dairy goats, watching them eat all manner of desert things - mesquite beans, bunchgrass, creosote sprouts - then bringing them in at the end of the day for milking.