Ivan Salas Jefferson

Iván Salas Jefferson is the founder of Iddes Yachts a Naval architecture, superyacht design & project management company based in Palma de Mallorca. Iddes was shortlisted for the Concept Yacht Over 40 Meters Award in The International Yacht & Aviation Awards with their superyacht HOP in 2019 and their Class 55 won a Red Dot Award and the German Design Award in 2020. Ivan and his team are behind the groundbreaking Earth300 design, a 300m Molten Salt Reactor-powered exploration & scientific vessel.

3 words to describe Nature?

Revitalizing. Self-Ruling. Vulnerable

3 things Nature taught you?

To stop

To let go

To trust the unknown

3 most treasured Nature spots?

The Andes

The Mediterranean Sea

Any spot with a good wave.

When you look at the OCEAN, it makes you feel...?

Nomadic

When you see a FOREST, it makes you feel...?

Oxygenated

When you see a VOLCANO, it makes you feel...?

Powerless

When you see a SUNRISE or SUNSET, it makes you feel...?

Untroubled

When you hear THUNDER, it makes you feel...?

Enchanted

When you hear the WIND HOWLING, it makes you feel…?

Restored

Are you an OCEAN, MOUNTAIN, FOREST, or DESERT person?

All of them

On a scale of 1 to 10, how important is Nature to your well-being?

10

Share with us a childhood nature memory?

Feeling the take-up and energy of a wave at my local beach in Palma de Mallorca

 


Shari Sant Plummer

Environmental philanthropist and ocean activist Shari Sant Plummer is President and co-founder of Code Blue Charitable Foundation, Secretary/Trustee of the Summit Charitable Foundation, founding board member of the Sylvia Earle Alliance, board member of the National Aquarium in Baltimore, and former Vice President of Seacology. Shari is also a member of the Ocean Unite Advisory Board, WWF National Council, and Nature’s Best Photography Advisory Council. A proponent of impact photography and filmmaking, she served as board chair of the International League of Conservation Photographers for five years and is currently an affiliate. 

In addition to her philanthropic work, Shari also produces documentary films including the Emmy award-winning Netflix documentaries “Mission Blue” (Executive Producer), and “Chasing Coral” (Associate Producer). She is also Executive Producer on the award-winning films “Anote’s Ark,” “Sharkwater Extinction,” and “Ghost Fleet.”

A graduate of NYU, Shari worked as Senior Stylist and Design Director for Ralph Lauren in New York for nine years, then as Visual Director at Esprit. She later founded the environmental lifestyle store, Worldware, in San Francisco in 1994. She sold the business in 2001 and now devotes herself full-time to conservation work, with a focus on producing impact media to inspire change.

An avid diver, photographer and ocean activist, Shari travels extensively throughout the world promoting ocean conservation and environmental awareness and lives in New York and California with her husband Dan and their dog Brody.

3 words to describe Nature?

Miraculous. Humbling. Fragile

3 things Nature taught you?

Respect

Love

Resilience

3 most treasured Nature spots?

Cocos Island, Costa Rica

Millennium Atoll, Kiribati

Our farm in the Catskill Mountains, New York

When you look at the ocean, it makes you feel...?

Curious, energized, alive!

When you see a forest, it makes you feel...?

Comforted it’s still there!

When you see a volcano, it makes you feel...?

Afraid and exhilarated

When you see a sunrise or sunset, it makes you feel...?

Reverent awe

When you hear thunder, it makes you feel...?

Apprehensive.

When you hear the wind howling, it makes you feel...?

..like diving under the covers!

Are you an Ocean, Mountain, Forest, or Desert person?

Definitely ocean

On a scale of 1 to 10, how important is Nature to your well-being?

Is this a trick question? More than 10!

Share with us a childhood nature memory.

Body surfing is a tradition in my family, so at an early age, I regularly braved the icy waves in Santa Cruz, where we had a beach house.

I would run intrepidly into the frigid sea, dodging the crushing turbulence of the waves by diving deep beneath them. I loved the feeling of the oceans power passing over me, almost as much as the thrill of catching a ride!

One day after diving through several waves, I surfaced to realize there were no more waves coming. I had inadvertently moved into deep ocean and was now caught in a riptide which was rapidly pulling me out to sea! I was alternating treading water and trying to swim back to shore when a vigilant stranger noticed and swam out to rescue me.

Though It was a frightening experience, it didn’t deter me from continuing to spend long summer days salty and sunburned in the waves, nor did it diminish my love for all thing’s ocean. But, it was a valuable lesson in humility, and in respect for the ultimate power of nature.

 


Julie Packard

Julie Packard is founding executive director of the Monterey Bay Aquarium. Based on a lifelong passion for science and nature, she has led the Aquarium to become a global force for ocean conservation. She chairs the board of the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute, a global leader in deep ocean science and technology and she is deeply engaged in ocean conservation strategies through her work as a trustee of the David and Lucile Packard Foundation. Julie served as a member of the Pew Oceans Commission which published a blueprint for improving governance of America's ocean waters, and more recently served on the California Parks Forward Commission to develop a sustainable path for California's state parks. Julie holds a master’s degree in biology with a focus in marine algal ecology.

3 words to describe Nature?

Calming. Safe. Inspiring

3 things Nature taught you?

Humility

Curiosity

Perspective

3 most treasured Nature spots?

California’s Sierra lakes

Big Sur Coast

Redwood forests

When you look at the ocean, it makes you feel...?

Intrigued

When you see a forest, it makes you feel...?

At home

When you see a volcano, it makes you feel...?

Small

When you see a sunrise or sunset, it makes you feel...?

Serene

When you hear thunder, it makes you feel...?

Unsettled

When you hear the wind howling, it makes you feel...?

Anxious

Are you an Ocean, Mountain, Forest, or Desert person?

Mountains. They put time in perspective and put us in our place.

On a scale of 1 to 10, how important is Nature to your well-being?

10

Share with us a childhood nature memory?

I grew up in the 50’s, in the foothills of what’s now called Silicon Valley. After school I’d ride my horse through our apricot orchard, into the hills and oak forest behind our house. We rarely had a destination in mind, but the act of aimless wandering was the best part. Sometimes I’d meet up with other kids and their horses, but some of the best times were alone. I loved experiencing the changing seasons in California, from the progression of spring wildflowers in the sunny grasslands and shady ravines, to the hot dry summers during the apricot harvest. These days so many kids don’t have nature to explore nearby and if they do, they’re surely not allowed to venture far from home. How did we let such a basic right of childhood disappear?