Sven-Olof Lindblad
Sven-Olof Lindblad, founder of Lindblad Expeditions, was born in Switzerland. He traveled extensively with his father, renowned adventure-travel pioneer Lars-Eric Lindblad, who led the first non-scientific groups of travelers to Antarctica (1966). In 1979 he launched Special Expeditions, the adventure travel company that became Lindblad Expeditions. In 2004, Lindblad formed a strategic alliance with National Geographic that combines the strengths of two pioneers in global exploration, with the goal of inspiring people to explore and care about the planet.
Lindblad’s personal experience led to a commitment to environmentally responsible travel, which has resulted in numerous travel and environmental awards. He received international recognition for his innovative and successful model of tourism, receiving the “Commandeur de Notre Ordre de Merite Civil et Militaire d’Adolphe de Nassau” from Grand Duke Henri of Luxembourg at the Grand-Ducal Place. He also had a newly discovered endemic species of moth in the Galapagos Islands, Undulambia lindbladi, named in honor of his conservation work.
Sven is an honorary member of the General Assembly of the Charles Darwin Foundation for the Galapagos Islands. He serves on the Board of The Safina Center, and on the Board of Trustees of Rare; is a founding Ocean Elder of the non-profit organization, Ocean Elders, which brings together global leaders to pursue the protection of the ocean’s habitat and wildlife, and serves on the Board of Advisors for Pristine Seas.
3 words to describe Nature?
Awesome. Remarkable. Essential
3 things Nature taught you?
Reverence
Respect
Joy
3 most treasured Nature spots?
Antarctica
Galapagos
Serengeti
When you look at the ocean, it makes you feel...?
Serene
When you see a forest, it makes you feel...?
Happy
When you see a volcano, it makes you feel...?
Amazed
When you see a sunrise or sunset, it makes you feel...?
Peaceful
When you hear thunder, it makes you feel...?
Excited
When you hear the wind howling, it makes you feel...?
Soothed
Are you an Ocean, Mountain, Forest, or Desert person?
All
On a scale of 1 to 10, how important is Nature to your well-being?
10 and more
Share with us a childhood nature memory.
First encountering a fin whale in a zodiac at very close range. Fear, wonder, awe all colliding as the experience unfolded.
Michael Rosenblum
For more than 30 years, Michael Rosenblum has been on the cutting edge of the digital ‘videojournalist’ and Citizen News revolution.
During this time, he's led a drive for video literacy, and the Democratization of Video and Video news. His work includes: the complete transitioning of the BBC's national network (UK) to a Vj-driven model, starting in 2002; the complete conversion of The Voice of America, the United State’s Government’s broadcasting agency, (and the largest broadcaster in the world), from short wave radio to television broadcasting and webcasting using the ‘VJ” paradigm (1998-present); the design behind Current TV in partnership with former US VP Al Gore; the construction of a national hyperlocal citizen journalist network with Verizon; and the construction of NYT Television, a New York Times Company and the largest producer of non-fiction television in the US.
He has partnered with a number of major media companies including The Guardian (UK), USA Today, New York Magazine, The Travel Channel and others to create video ‘Academies’ where anyone can learn to report, shoot, edit and produce video on their own.
In 2009 he co-founded TheVJ.com, along with his wife, Lisa Lambden, an online video training site.
He has also designed, built and implemented VJ-driven news channels around the world, including Time/Warner’s New York 1, Associated Newspapers (UK) London based Channel 1, Young Broadcasting stations in the US, Switzerland’s largest commercial TV broadcaster, TeleZuri, as well as a host of smaller projects such as Eritrea’s ERI-TV and Sri Lanka’s SLBC. His consulting clients include The BBC, McGraw-Hill, TV-24/Germany, TV4/Sweden, Oxygen Media, National Public Radio, Danmarks Radio (DK), TV-3 Sweden, Norway & Denmark, Tokyo Broadcasting, Korea Broadcasting.
As a producer, Rosenblum has produced or overseen production on more than 3000 hours of programming for both network and cable. His shows have included the long-running TRAUMA: LIFE IN THE ER, Paramedics, Police Force, Labor and Delivery, Science Times. These series have aired on TLC, Showtime and National Geographic. He has also produced for ABC, CBS, Oxygen and the BBC. Most recently his groundbreaking 5Takes series for Discovery has completely rewritten the production paradigm. The company currently has more than 350 hours in production for this year alone.
He has conducted his unique VJ training classes and boot camps all over the world, from Thailand to Marrakech, and has lectured extensively both overseas and in the US. He recently entered into a partnership with Discovery Communications to set up the Travel Channel Academy, a national training facility open to anyone. For 8 years he was an adjunct professor of communication at New York University, where he taught “Television and the Information Revolution”, a course of his own design and at The Bauhaus in Germany. Prior to that he taught at Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism. His Brussels based Rosenblum Institute trains European journalists to work as vjs. He is the author of Videojournalismus (germany) and iPhone Millionaire (McGraw Hill, 2013).
He and his wife live both in New York and in the UK and teach at Oxford University in Britain.
3 words to describe Nature?
Real. Unmediated. Honest
3 things Nature taught you?
Who I was
Who I am
Who I could be
3 most treasured Nature spots?
Coast of England at Northumbria
Middle of Sahara Desert
Lamu, Kenya
When you look at the ocean, it makes you feel…?
Humble
When you see a forest, it makes you feel…?
Connected
When you see a volcano, it makes you feel…?
Terrified
When you see a sunrise or sunset, it makes you feel…?
Grateful
When you hear thunder, it makes you feel…?
Alive
When you hear the wind howling, it makes you feel…?
Connected
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 about 10 years old, my father had a friend named Eddie Durban who had a wood Lightning sailboat - 19 foot. No motor. One day, he took me out for a sail and we turned up into a series of small estuaries that ran in the wetlands that are now almost gone on the East Coast. The boat was silent, but it ghosted along, and as we drifted in the marsh, the whole place around us seemed alive and vibrant.
Andrew Zuckerman
Andrew Zuckerman is a photographer, filmmaker, creative director, and curator. In 2019 he co-founded The Slowdown, a media company focused on culture, nature, and the future. Much of his work is concerned with the intersection of nature and technology. His immersive investigation of the natural world has produced multiple books and exhibitions collected in three volumes Creature(2007), Bird(2009), and Flower(2012). A year-long curatorial residency at Chamber Gallery NY, spanning four exhibitions of design and art that bring nature into the living environment, and an installation for the windows of Barneys NY commissioned by Dries Van Noten are invitations to the public to consider nature in new ways. Most recently, he worked with the California Academy of Sciences as their 2016 Osher Fellow creating a body of work about the Twilight Zone, a relatively unexplored depth of the oceans.
Andrew’s precise and determined images create unique correlation points between the viewer and the subject. His works, often at life scale, have been exhibited and acquired by public institutions and private collections. Andrew’s ongoing portrait practice utilizes both photography and filmed interview formats to examine human perspectives. With the support of Archbishop Desmond Tutu, he released Wisdom in 2008 as a book, a feature-length documentary film, and a global traveling exhibition. Over 50 individuals from across disciplines participated in the project, including Nelson Mandela, Andrew Wyeth, Jane Goodall, and Madeline Albright. Following Wisdom, Zuckerman expanded this series to musicians including Iggy Pop, Ornette Coleman, Yoko Ono, and Herbie Hancock for the Music film and book. Andrew’s narrative film work includes directing High Falls, which premiered at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival and was awarded Best Short Film at the Woodstock Film Festival the same year as well as producing a feature documentary on the musician Bill Withers, Still Bill, which premiered at the 2009 SXSW film festival. Zuckerman’s books have been translated into numerous languages and published in 18 international editions.
Andrew has collaborated extensively for many brands as a photographer, filmmaker, interviewer, and creative director. Designed by Apple in California, a book released in 2016, was the result of a multiyear commission exploring 20 years of Apple design. From 2008-2017 Andrew served as Executive Creative Director of Creature Pictures, a boutique production company he founded, which worked on numerous media projects for Apple. In May 2019 Andrew co-founded The Slowdown, a multi-platform media company to explore culture, nature, and the future.
Andrew donates time and resources to a number of not-for-profits, having created media for One, the ACLU, Starving Artist, Red, and United Way. He currently serves on the board of the Children’s Museum of Arts in New York City. Andrew lives in New York City with his wife and three children.
3 words to describe Nature?
Living. Self. Interdependence.
3 things Nature taught you?
Humility
Rhythm
To slow down
3 most treasured Nature spots?
My body
The Hudson Valley
New York City
When you look at the ocean, it makes you feel…?
Connected
When you see a forest, it makes you feel…?
Protected
When you see a volcano, it makes you feel…?
Cautious
When you see a sunrise or sunset, it makes you feel…?
Reset
When you hear thunder, it makes you feel…?
Anxious
When you hear the wind howling, it makes you feel…?
Curious
Are you an Ocean, Mountain, Forest, or Desert person?
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 have vivid memories of long walks through the grassy fields, under the buzzing power lines in suburban Maryland, wondering what it was like before the houses were built and the foreboding steel structures were needed to keep them on life support. I’ve always been interested in that intersection of industry and nature.
Dana Romanoff
Dana Romanoff is an internationally acclaimed photojournalist and filmmaker dedicated to making a difference in the world. Whether she is sleeping on animal skins in Ethiopia, hunting with tribes in the jungles of West Papua, driving around with gang bangers in the U.S. or summiting 19,000 foot peaks with adaptive climbers, her work is intimate, layered and soulful and creates relationships and reveals inner lives. Her award-winning imagery, films and commercials foster understanding and create change.
She has received prestigious awards and recognition for tackling significant social issues including her recent film “Noah" which was featured on Upworthy, The Guardian, The Atlantic, RYOT and National Geographic Digital Showcase and won awards at the 2017 W3 Awards, Telly Awards and Communicator Awards and the 2017 Spirit of Activism Special Jury Award at the Crested Butte Film Festival. As co-Director and Director of Photography of National Park Experience, an independent film series celebrating diversity and youth in the National Parks, her documentaries have been broadcasted on PBS and Smithsonian Channel. “Confluence” a feature length doc released in 2018 is currently winning awards touring festivals and universities. Another short film, “Canyon Song” won the 2017 Director’s Choice Award at Flagstaff Mountain Festival, 2017 Award of Merit in the Best Shorts Competition and the 2017 Social Awareness Award at Wasatch Mountain Film Festival. Dana's work is syndicated with Getty Reportage and she is a Getty Global Assignments Photographer, Blue Earth Awarded Photographer and a Director working with Stept Studios and Blue Chalk Media. Her clients include National Geographic Magazine, New York Times, Esquire, Forbes, GQ, Men's Journal, National Geographic Traveler, The Sunday Times, USA Today, UNICEF, and many others.
In 2019, she directed a short film for Budweiser, “For The Fathers Who Stepped Up”, which has been viewed 3.3M times on the Budweiser YouTube channel only.
3 words to describe Nature?
Connected. Necessary. Healing
3 things Nature taught you?
Nature is one of the greatest teachers.
I’ve learned that nature doesn’t need us, but we need nature.
That all living things are connected.
That we should cooperate, not compete with nature.
3 most treasured Nature spots?
My family home on a tiny lake in the Adirondack Mountains of New York.
An incredible waterfall pouring from the jungles of West Papua, Indonesia into the Indian ocean.
A blooming field of wildflowers surrounded by the Rocky Mountain FlatIrons along the Mesa Trail in my backyard in Boulder, Colorado.
When you look at the ocean, it makes you feel…?
Humbled and inconsequential
When you see a forest, it makes you feel…?
A sense of security
When you see a volcano, it makes you feel…?
I haven’t seen that many volcanos!
When you see a sunrise or sunset, it makes you feel…?
Reflective and grateful
When you hear thunder, it makes you feel…?
Energized and on alert
When you hear the wind howling, it makes you feel…?
Uneasy. Howling wind makes any situation more epic whether it be dodging shopping carts while walking through a parking lot or precariously balanced on a 14,000 ft ridge.
Are you an Ocean, Mountain, Forest, or Desert person?
I would probably say Forrest. A person’s true nature emerges in the deep woods.
On a scale of 1 to 10, how important is Nature to your well-being?
A 10. On a high level, without a healthy earth and nature we are in big trouble. As an individual, my mental and physical health is very closely linked to my time spent in nature.
Share with us a childhood nature memory?
I remember my first backcountry camping experience near a lake in the Adirondack Mountains. I had heard the warnings about bears and was very aware of the food I was carrying in my backpack and needed to suspend in a bear bag from the towering pine trees. That night in my tent I was on high alert. Every branch that snapped I was sure was a bear. Feeding my anxiety was a deep growl that repeated for many hours. When I could not take the fear any longer I screamed out and awoke my friends, more experienced backpackers, in the next tent over. They listened cautiously until they deducted that it was most definitely a bullfrog.
Dorothy Grant
Dorothy Grant is an internationally renowned fashion designer and traditional Haida artist. In 1988, Grant became the first to merge Haida art and fashion utilizing her formal training at the Helen Lefeaux School of Fashion Design. She believes that her clothing embodies the Haida philosophy Yaangudang, meaning “self respect", stating that the driving force behind her designs is “empowerment, pride and feeling good about oneself.”
She is the recipient of the National Aboriginal Achievement Business Award, the Asper Business Institute – “Business Woman of the Year” award, the Royal Canadian Academy Prestigious Award for the Arts, the BC Achievement Award for Individual Lifetime Achievement Award in Business and in May 2015, Dorothy received the “Order of Canada” for her contributions to Canada’s fashion industry and for mentoring youth through her example as a designer and entrepreneur. She was voted as one of 100 Most Influential Women in British Columbia by Vancouver Sun Newspaper and was honored at Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian in Washington D.C.
Dorothy's work can be found in 15 museums world-wide, including the the Denver Fine Art museum, the Liverpool World Museum in the United Kingdom, the Natural History Museum in New York city, the Burke Museum in Seattle, the Seattle Art Museum, the National Gallery of Canada in Ottawa, the UBC Museum of Anthropology in Vancouver, the Deyonge Museum in San Francisco, the Vancouver Museum and the Museum of Civilization in Hull.
He work has been commissioned for the Seattle Mayor's Office and former Canada Prime Minister Kim Campbell.
In February 2016 her “EAGLE RAVEN TUXEDO” was worn by actor, Duane E. Howard at the Oscars Red Carpet and in 2018, P. Diddy wore her RAVEN TEASING FROG KIMONO on his birthday.
3 words to describe Nature?
Balance. Power. Health
3 things Nature taught you?
Stillness
Awareness
Calm
3 most treasured Nature spots?
Hlk'yah G̱awG̱a (Windy Bay) - Gwaii Haanas National Park, Haida Gwaii
Lake Point, Point Roberts
Hiellen Haida Gwaii, Rose Spit
When you look at the ocean, it makes you feel...?
I live by the ocean and every day I see the tide come and go. The rhythm from the tide makes me appreciate and feel respectful about life’s rhythm. I also feel extremely aware that we need the ocean just like we need the air, or the land. We are all one.
When you see a forest, it makes you feel...?
Really calm and taken care of. I feel like trees have this tremendous power - every time I come back from Haida Gwaii, I feel revived and healed by them. I feel like I am one of their subjects, under their wisdom.
When you see a volcano, it makes you feel...?
In awe, from a long distance. To be honest though, I can’t really relate since I haven’t experience it.
When you see a sunrise or sunset, it makes you feel...?
Reflective on the timing of all things, the cycle of life
When you hear thunder, it makes you feel...?
I reminds me of the Thunderbird, the Native American legendary creature, as it flaps it winds, ready for take off. It makes me feel like anything can happen.
When you hear the wind howling, it makes you feel...?
Like nature is in control, a reminder that we have no control.
Are you an Ocean, Mountain, Forest, or Desert person?
Ocean 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.
As child, we lived in Ketchikan, Alaska and our house was next to a creek. That creek was our favorite playground. I knew every little nook and cranny, the places we could play like this swimming hole at the mountain’s edge, or others we had to stay away, like those giant rapids high up. I spent so much time, countless hours exploring that creek.
Wallace J Nichols
Dr. Wallace "J" Nichols - called a “Keeper of the Sea" by GQ Magazine, “a visionary" by Outside Magazine, a "water warrior" by AQUATICS International and a "friend of the sea" by Experience Life Magazine - is an innovative, silo-busting, entrepreneurial scientist, movement maker, renown marine biologist, voracious Earth and idea explorer, wild water advocate, bestselling author, sought after lecturer, and fun-loving Dad. He also likes turtles (a lot).
In 2010 Nichols delivered the commencement address at DePauw University where he also received an honorary doctorate in science. In 2011 he was inducted as a Fellow National member of the Explorers Club. In 2014 he received the University of Arizona's Global Achievement Award. And in 2017, he was presented by Fijian Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama the Champion of Change Award at the World Oceans Festival on Governor’s Island, New York.
Nichols has authored more than 200 scientific papers, technical reports, book chapters, and popular publications; lectured in more than 30 countries and nearly all 50 states; and appeared in hundreds of print, film, radio, and television media outlets including NPR, BBC, PBS, CNN, MSNBC, National Geographic, Animal Planet, Time, Newsweek, GQ, Outside Magazine, USA Today, Elle, Vogue, Fast Company, Surfer Magazine, Scientific American, and New Scientist, among many others.
His book Blue Mind, published in summer 2014 by Little, Brown & Company, quickly became a national bestseller and has been translated to numerous languages and inspired a wave of media and practical application.
J. is currently Chief Evangelist for Water (CEH2O) at Bouy Labs, a Senior Fellow at the Middlebury Institute for International Studies' Center for the Blue Economy, a Research Associate at California Academy of Sciences and co-founder of Ocean Revolution, an international network of young ocean advocates, SEE the WILD, a conservation travel network, Grupo Tortuguero, an international sea turtle conservation network, and Blue Mind a global "movement of movements" sharing the new story of water.
He co-mentors a motivated group of international graduate students and serves as an advisor to numerous non-profit boards and committees as part of his commitment to building a more creative, stronger, more progressive, and connected environmental community.
J. lives with his partner Dana, two daughters and some cats, dogs, and chickens on California's Slow Coast, a rural stretch of coastal mountains overlooking the Monterey Bay where organic strawberries rule, mountain lions roam and their motto is "In Slow We Trust". The Nichols chose to settle down in this area after trekking the entire 1,800 kilometer coast from Oregon to Mexico.
3 words to describe Nature?
Primal. Creative. Home
3 things Nature taught you?
Humility
Solitude
Confidence
3 most treasured Nature spots?
50 miles offshore and 50 feet deep from Bahia Magdalena, BCS Mexico
The source of Mill Creek in the Santa Cruz Mountains
Greyhound Rock
When you look at the ocean, it makes you feel...?
Optimistic
When you see a forest, it makes you feel...?
Connected
When you see a volcano, it makes you feel...?
Awe
When you see a sunrise or sunset, it makes you feel...?
Hopeful
When you hear thunder, it makes you feel...?
Warm
When you hear the wind howling, it makes you feel...?
Nostalgic
Are you an Ocean, Mountain, Forest, or Desert person?
Yes on all!
On a scale of 1 to 10, how important is Nature to your well-being?
11
Share with us a childhood nature memory.
Backpacking to Deep Lake, in Wyoming, when I was 11 and feeling like I wanted to feel that way a lot more throughout my life. The origins of “blue mind” research, practice, philosophy and the growing global movement.
Karen Elliott
Karen Elliott was elected as Mayor of the District of Squamish, British Columbia in October 2018 after serving as a member of Squamish Council from 2014-2018. She moved to Squamish in 2012 after spending six years abroad in Melbourne, Australia. Karen decided to run for elected office because she quickly realized the significant opportunities and challenges that lay ahead for Squamish as it experienced significant growth and big city pressures, despite its small town feel. During her time on Council, Karen chaired the Community Development Committee, Finance and Audit Committee and was the Council representative on the Food Policy Council, the Library Board, and the Community Advisory Community for the Official Community Plan review.
In addition to her Council duties, from 2016 - 2018, Karen served as the first Ombudsperson for Quest University Canada, working with students, staff and faculty to ensure policies and practices were fair and followed the principles of natural justice. In addition, Karen has 15 years of consulting experience as a specialist in organizational effectiveness and leadership development. She supports her clients with strategic planning, team and leadership development, change management and large group facilitation. When she is not at work, Karen is a literacy tutor and enjoys spending time with her family and friends exploring the beautiful environment around Squamish.
3 words to describe Nature?
Inspiring. Evolving. Home
3 things Nature taught you?
Patience
Courage
Systems thinking - about how everything is connected.
3 most treasured Nature spots?
The middle of a prairie
The top of a mountain
Around the campfire
When you look at the ocean, it makes you feel…?
I am not an ocean person to be honest. Although I appreciate the ocean’s beauty and vitality, there is something a little unsettling when I look at this vast mass of water. It reminds me that there is a whole world I cannot see.
When you see a forest, it makes you feel…?
Like taking a deep breathe and walking quietly.
When you see a volcano, it makes you feel…?
It makes me think about the creative power of the earth, about creation and not so much about destruction.
When you see a sunrise or sunset, it makes you feel…?
When I see a sunrise, I am grateful for the day ahead. When I see a sunset, I am grateful for the day I just experienced. Sometimes, I will admit, I am just grateful that the day is over!
When you hear thunder, it makes you feel…?
Anticipation. In fact, during a thunderstorm, every time I see the flash of a lightning, I start counting the seconds until I hear the big bang so that I can calculate how far away the impact was. I have been doing this since I was a child and it is habit now.
When you hear the wind howling, it makes you feel…?
Like wanting my loved ones to be close, like coming together. It creates in me the desire or instinct to protect.
Are you an Ocean, Mountain, Forest, or Desert person?
I would say mountain and forest because of where I live now but really, I am a prairie person. I love these endless landscapes and the big skies. It is home for me. I am a long term, big picture thinker and the prairie gives you that perspective. You see things from far away, you see them approaching, passing by and leaving, providing you with different perspectives with which to take it all in.
On a scale of 1 to 10, how important is Nature to your well-being?
10 because of where we are today. We often say that we don’t appreciate something until it is gone. With the current state of our planet, nature and our relationship to it at risk, we must find our way back to nature and reconnect. The planet can exist without us. But we can’t exist without a healthy planet. It is the only support system we have.
Share with us a childhood nature memory?
Paddling with a friend, on a lake in Algonquin Provincial Park, Ontario late one night and watching the moon rise. Suddenly the trees up on the hills started to turn orange, like they were on fire. For a few minutes we couldn’t understand what was happening. And then this massive moon started to rise. It was like a sunrise! I was speechless and humbled by the incredible beauty of what I was seeing. I was a teenager at the time, and this moment really affected me. It broke through my self-centred teenage attitude and made me realize that I didn’t know it all, and hadn’t seen it all. It shifted my perspective and made me start appreciating many things that I took for granted, or hadn’t taken the time to really see.
Jean-Charles Boisset
Jean-Charles Boisset is a leading producer of luxury wines in France, California and Canada. His parents, Jean-Claude and Claudine, founded the family winery in 1961 with an innovative and entrepreneurial spirit in one of the most traditional winegrowing regions in the world. Today, the family collection includes wineries that share more than 20 centuries of combined winemaking heritage and tradition in some of the world’s most prestigious terroirs, from Burgundy to the South of France, to California’s Napa Valley and Russian River Valley, including Domaine de la Vougeraie, Jean-Claude Boisset, Raymond Vineyards, Buena Vista Winery, DeLoach Vineyards, and many more.
Jean-Charles has expanded from the world of wine and spirits to include a lifestyle vision; he has created namesake collections for jewelry, perfume and the JCB Passion Collection by Baccarat — the first glassware line the historic French crystal company has ever done with a vintner. In addition, the JCB offerings include home accessories that exemplify the JCB world of hospitality and entertaining. As a natural extension of his growing influence in the lifestyle realm, in June 2019 Senses by JCB, a fashion and fragrance boutique and medi-spa debuted in the JCB Village in Yountville. Senses showcases high-profile luxury fashion, accessories and skincare products from around the world, with highlights including a selection of vintage handbags as well as an osmologue machine that enables guests to blend custom scents.
Jean-Charles’ sets forth a vision of the wine and luxury worlds centered on family, passion, history, innovation and a commitment to sustainability. Decanter magazine has included him on its “Power List” of the 50 most important people in the wine world each year of its publication since 2007; in March 2008, he received the Meininger’s International Wine Entrepreneur of the Year; and in December 2008, he was named “Innovator of the Year” by Wine Enthusiast. The French-American Foundation awarded him their first-ever French-American Partnership Award in 2013, bestowed upon an extraordinary individual or organization that has contributed to creating a strong and enduring French-American partnership in business, government or academia. Haute Living named him to the Haute List San Francisco, recognizing the 100 most influential people in the San Francisco Bay Area. He was honored with the 2014 Jefferson Award by the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, which celebrates the museum’s historical connection to wine. Also in 2014, JFK University in Concord named Jean-Charles and his wife Gina Gallo its “Entrepreneurs of the Year.” In 2015 Jean-Charles was named an Honorary Co-Chair of that year’s Sonoma Harvest Wine Auction, which broke all records by raising a staggering $4.5 million. In March 2017, Jean-Charles and Gina received the Mondavi Food & Wine award Robert Mondavi Wine & Food award by The Collins College of Hospitality Management in honor of their vision and leadership to advance the wine industry. In May 2019 Jean-Charles accepted the Wine Country Business of the Year French American Business Award from the French American Chamber of Commerce of San Francisco.
3 words to describe Nature?
Inspirational. Generous. Beautiful
3 things Nature taught you?
Respect
Authenticity
Truth
3 most treasured Nature spots?
In the vineyard
On the ocean
In the air
When you look at the ocean, it makes you feel…?
Energized
When you see a forest, it makes you feel…?
Oxygenated
When you see a volcano, it makes you feel…?
On fire
When you see a sunrise or sunset, it makes you feel…?
Reflective
When you hear thunder, it makes you feel…?
Excited
When you hear the wind howling, it makes you feel…?
Inspired
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?
11
Share with us a childhood nature memory?
I have this vivid memory when I was 7 years old. Growing up in France, roaming the vineyard, we were always connected to the land, to nature, and the rhythm of the seasons. I felt the pendulum of life, being in touch with all the forces and the vibrations of the universe. I felt this energy pulling me in, it was magnetic. Winemaking, creating from the earth and nourishing our spirit, is for me a celebration of this memory I felt as a boy.
Charles Michel
Charles Michael connects art, gastronomy, experimental psychology, crossmodalism, human-centered design, theory of change and ritual to catalyse communities and foster human development. He has recently starred as a master chef in Netflix’ latest food show The Final Table, but my work has taken many shapes.
Charles has published over 12 papers in peer-reviewed journals on multisensory science, co-created a multisensory VR experience to take the viewer to the Amazon forest, and a spoon that enhances flavour perception and nudges towards healthier, more mindful eating.
At the intersection of community and social change, he’s helped design a sustainable village project in Ecuador (Tanusas), founded an artistic movement (Crossmodalism) inspired by total art and cross-disciplinary collaboration. Charles also has designed transformational gatherings (Domus) and directed events for hundreds of young leaders (Sandbox) in Kenya, Europe and South America.
He’s given over 30 talks on the future of food and eating, on stages such as The Royal Society with Prof. Brian Cox, at The Royal Institution’s famous “Faraday Theatre”, Tech conferences, Burning Man, TEDxHackney and TEDxMogadishu. He currently teaches through Patreon, and have designed courses on Culinary Leadership, Sensorial Exploration and Luxury Gastronomy for the Institut Paul Bocuse in Lyon.
3 words to describe Nature?
LIFE. UNIVERSAL. SACRED.
3 things Nature taught you?
That humans are the nervous system of the planet, in the way we exchange information and resources.
That it is the greatest source of wisdom and innovation, if we know how to look, and if we pay enough attention to what is really going on, putting time into perspective.
That contemplation is a natural state of humans, and that doing it more often is healthy, just like meditation.
3 most treasured Nature spots?
The “Heart of the World” - Sierra Nevada of Santa Marta in Colombia, home to the largest indigenous tribe still operating in pre-Columbian ways.
The forest where we build a treehouse with my father, near Bordeaux.
Iceland in the winter… I felt like traveling on a different planet.
When you look at the ocean, it makes you feel…?
Small… I have a deep sense of reverence to the Ocean, it is a mystery that we are not able to understand fully.
When you see a forest, it makes you feel…?
Connected to everything. Abundant.
When you see a volcano, it makes you feel…?
The immense power of the flying rock we are standing on and we call home. A mix of fear and full presence.
When you see a sunrise or sunset, it makes you feel…?
Pure Awe…
When you hear thunder, it makes you feel…?
A blend of excitement and humility. And extreme comfort, if I find myself in a warm, dry place.
When you hear the wind howling, it makes you feel…?
Energised. I feel it carries a message.
In ancient pre-columbian wisdom, the wind is a woman who carries a song, a message that we must listen to carefully.
Are you an Ocean, Mountain, Forest, or Desert person?
I think I’m a forest person. The trees reaching their arms up to the sky, roots deep into the black earth, the mycelium web intimately and discreetly interconnecting everything. The vegetation capturing and storing sunlight, water and carbon to sustain life and ignite the cycles. Breathing organism, pulsating to the energy of solstices, dancing with light and dark.
I relate to Forests more than any other living ecosystem.
On a scale of 1 to 10, how important is Nature to your well-being?
10. We should listen to nature more often…
Share with us a childhood nature memory?
I was 7 or 8, in the eastern Orinoco plains of Colombia. My family owns land and are farmers and ranchers. I remember the day I went on a full day of work with my cousins, all barefoot riding horses, to go check on the cattle in remote parcels of land. Crossing rivers, passing by caimans and seeing flocks of birds flying. The journey lasted for about 8 hours, I remember well the feeling when we got back to the ranch at sunset… the smell of the tired sweaty horse, the mud on my feet, the companionship of family and the comfortable shelter where the mothers had prepared warm sancocho soup and cold “agua de panela” - water with raw cane syrup and lemon… I was proud to have made it!
Nile Zacherle
Nile Zacherle is the co-Founder of Mad Fritz Brewing Co and Director of Winegrowing at David Arthur Vineyards on Pritchard Hill in the Napa Valley.
Nile first began his journey into fermented beverages in 1990 at the age of 18 when he and his father brewed their first batch of beer at home. What began as a father/son home project continued to evolve until he transitioned his schooling from a focus in art and design to a BS in Fermentation Science at UC Davis. While at UC Davis, Nile completed the Master Brewers program passing the 2 day exam issued by the IOBD (Institute of Brewing and Distilling based in the UK) in 1996.
After an internship at a Napa Winery doing small lot winemaking and research enology he returned to UC Davis to finish his degree. From winemaking positions in Napa Valley’s Barnett Vineyards and Chateau Montelena to roles at Western Australia’s Pierro Margaret River Vineyards and Bordeaux, France’s Chateau d’Arsac, Nile built a career producing award-winning wines from Burgundian and Bordeaux varietals.
In 2014, together with his wife, they started, Mad Fritz, named after their two children Madeleine and Fritz. Their focus is on malting and brewing beers with a ‘Farm to Foam’ approach. The sourcing of single variety barleys that are craft-malted with an origin, as well as hops and water sourcing defines the beer styles in what they call ‘Origin Beer’.
3 words to describe Nature?
Inspiring. Powerful. Subtle
3 things Nature taught you?
Respect
Patience
Gratitude
3 most treasured Nature spots?
The ocean/waves at Kailua Beach in Hawaii
The forest/trails at Moore Creek in Napa
The rocks/geology at Yosemite Valley
When you look at the ocean, it makes you feel...?
Calm yet tentative -aware
When you see a forest, it makes you feel...?
Excited yet unknowing - insignificant
When you see a volcano, it makes you feel...?
Inspired yet scared
When you see a sunrise or sunset, it makes you feel...?
Impatient
When you hear thunder, it makes you feel...?
Helpless
When you hear the wind howling, it makes you feel...?
Curious
Are you an Ocean, Mountain, Forest, or Desert person?
Forest/Mountains
On a scale of 1 to 10, how important is Nature to your well-being?
10 (living around it and exploring regularly keeps me sane)
Share with us a childhood nature memory?
Moving to Hawaii and learning to duck the waves as a young boy, feeling safe in ocean as big surf rolled in rather than scared. Accepting and swimming towards the monster rather than away
Nate Weis
Nate Weis is the Vice President of Winegrowing at Silver Oak Cellars & Twomey Cellars. A Napa Valley native whose father is also a winemaker, Nate grew up with wine on the table and a drawer full of t‐shirts emblazoned with winery logos. His first job after graduating with honors from UC Santa Barbara with a BS in Biopsychology/Neuroscience was as a “cellar rat” at Groth Vineyards & Winery. Nate then spent the 2003 harvest at two New Zealand wineries – Craggy Range Winery and Sacred Hill Wines – and when he returned home he worked a harvest for Etude Wines before starting grad school. After earning his MS in Viticulture and Enology, he was hired as cellar master at Etude, and then spent two years as assistant winemaker for Patz & Hall Wine Company. In 2008 Nate was hired by Marchese Piero Antinori to be winemaker for Antica Napa Valley, where he made Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay and Merlot. He also served as winemaker for Aril Wines in Napa, a small ultra‐premium producer of Cabernet and Syrah.
In 2014, Nate joined Silver Oak. Under Director of Winemaking Daniel Baron, he was responsible for managing Napa Valley and Alexander Valley wine production from grape to bottle and also serving as an ambassador for the brand.
Nate earned his Executive MBA in Wine Business from Sonoma State University in 2014. He is married, and with four children, the little free time he has is spent playing rugby, running and reading.
3 words to describe nature?
Powerful. Vast. Unforgiving
3 things nature taught you?
Humility
Patience
Resilience
3 most treasured nature spots?
Yosemite
Lake Tahoe
Milford Sound
When you look at the ocean, it makes you feel...?
Relaxed and Calm. The Pacific has been the backdrop to some of my most treasured memories and times
When you see a forest, it makes you feel?
Excitable, ready for exploration. The way the redwood forests near my home filter light makes me feel reverent
When you see a volcano it makes you feel...?
Very, very small and very, very young
When you see a sunrise or a sunset, it makes you feel...?
Hopeful for a peaceful night with loved ones or for a day full of new opportunities
When you hear thunder, it makes you feel...?
Powerless
When you hear the wind howling, it makes you feel...?
Like hunkering down and reading a great book
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. Nature provides me with my profession and career in addition to my escape from my profession and career.
Share with us a childhood nature memory
I was never much of a scout but still have vivid memories of backpacking through the Desolation Wilderness as a young man with my father and some Explorer scouts. I think what sticks out were the senses of empowerment and independence.
Ian McAllister
Ian McAllister is a co-founder of the wildlife conservation organization Pacific Wild. He is an award-winning photographer, film director and author of nine books, his images have appeared in publications around the world. He is a member of the International League of Conservation Photographers and a fellow of the Royal Geographic Society; a recipient of the North America Nature Photography Association’s Vision Award and the Rainforest Action Network’s Rainforest Hero award and Time Magazine’s “Leaders of the 21st Century” award for efforts to protect British Columbia’s endangered rainforest. He recently directed the Great Bear Rainforest IMAX film, the film is narrated by Ryan Reynolds and produced by MacGillivray Freeman Films.
3 words to describe Nature?
Life-support. Metamorphosis. Fragility
3 things Nature taught you?
Love of earth
Curiosity
That working in defense of nature is the most fulfilling life pursuit that I can think of.
3 most treasured Nature spots?
Where the Pacific ocean meets the temperate rainforest
Anywhere underwater
Staring into the eyes of a wild wolf
When you look at the ocean, it makes you feel…?
Humble, at home, empowered by the beauty and strength of it but also sadness for how our actions are impacting life below the surface.
When you see a forest, it makes you feel...?
Like I am surrounded by a collective of ancient and wise souls.
When you see a volcano, it makes you feel...?
Glad I don't own real estate under it
When you see a sunrise or sunset, it makes you feel...?
Sunrise. A sense of awakening, anticipation.
When you hear thunder, it makes you feel...?
Energized and wide eyed.
When you hear the wind howling, it makes you feel...?
comfort, if I am in a safe harbor, exhilarating if I am offshore.
Are you an Ocean, Mountain, Forest, or Desert person?
I live at the interface between ocean and the rainforest and feel a deep and strong affinity for each environment.
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 nine years old I opened our front door to find my mothers favorite goat giving its last breath as a large cougar had just crushed its throat. My dad wasn’t sure who was more dangerous at that point, my mom or the cougar. He quickly ran outside and yanked the cougars tail so hard it literally flew across the driveway and quickly climbed a tree. I have never been so close to a cougar since.
Mike Velings
Mike Velings is one of the managing partners and founders of Aqua-Spark, a global investment fund for sustainable aquaculture, combining a healthy financial profit with environmental and social impact. A lifelong entrepreneur, Mike has spent decades jumpstarting a range of successful businesses. Among other ventures, he co-founded Connexie, which has helped catalyze a professional employment industry across the Netherlands. Mike naturally combines his business background with environmental and social engagement. He understands the potential for business to create durable solutions to complex world problems. With this in mind, Mike founded A-Spark: an investment company that assists entrepreneurs across the globe in realizing their visions of a start-up with a world-changing element. Through A-Spark he has invested in a broad range of ventures over the years– both in the developed and developing world. Mike serves on several boards and is an active supporter of a range of non profits.
3 words to describe Nature?
Beautiful. Forceful. Unforgiving.
3 things Nature taught you?
Nature has an unparalleled capacity for efficient design
Resilience
The smaller parts are as important as the bigger parts
3 most treasured Nature spots?
Okavango Delta, Botswana
Southern Line Islands, Kiribati
Bazaruto Archipelago, Mozambique
When you look at the ocean, it makes you feel...?
Calm
When you see a forest, it makes you feel...?
Fresh
When you see a volcano, it makes you feel...?
In awe
When you see a sunrise or sunset, it makes you feel...?
Calm
When you hear thunder, it makes you feel...?
Invigorated
When you hear the wind howling, it makes you feel...?
Alive
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?
8
Share with us a childhood nature memory?
With my best friend lying in the park, in the bushes, studying the behaviour of ducks in the pond
Krista Tippett
Krista grew up in a small town in Oklahoma, attended Brown University, and became a journalist and diplomat in Cold War Berlin. She lived in Spain and England before seeking a Masters of Divinity at Yale University in the mid-1990s. Emerging from that, she saw a black hole where intelligent conversation about the religious, spiritual, and moral aspects of human life might be. She pitched and piloted her idea for a show for several years before launching Speaking of Faith — later On Being — as a weekly national public radio show in 2003.
In 2014, President Obama awarded Krista the National Humanities Medal at the White House for “thoughtfully delving into the mysteries of human existence. On the air and in print, Ms. Tippett avoids easy answers, embracing complexity and inviting people of every background to join her conversation about faith, ethics, and moral wisdom.” Krista is now at work on her next book, Letters to a Young Citizen. Her first book Speaking of Faith, published in 2007, is a memoir of religion in our time, including her move from geopolitical engagement to theology. In 2010, she published Einstein’s God, drawn from her interviews at the intersection of science, medicine, and spiritual inquiry. Krista’s 2016 New York Times best-selling Becoming Wise: An Inquiry into the Mystery and Art of Living opens into the questions and challenges of this century.
3 words to describe Nature?
Extravagant. Intelligent. Fierce.
3 things Nature taught you?
To get quiet inside
To marvel
To know myself a creature among other creatures
3 most treasured Nature spots?
The highlands and islands of Scotland
Byron Bay, Australia.
In my hammock under the White Pines in my Minnesota backyard
When you look at the ocean, it makes you feel...?
Liberated from any illusion of significance – pensive, joyous, and free
When you see a forest, it makes you feel...?
Like clambering around in the branches
When you see a volcano, it makes you feel...?
Respectful
When you see a sunrise or sunset, it makes you feel...?
Liberated from the Newtonian straitjacket of clocks and calendars while utterly present to time as rhythm and pattern and passage and mystery.
When you hear thunder, it makes you feel...?
Happy to have no option but to hunker down indoors (if I can)
When you hear the wind howling, it makes you feel...?
Giddily spooked
Are you an Ocean, Mountain, Forest, or Desert person?
Ocean, also Valley
On a scale of 1 to 10, how important is Nature to your well-being?
10, though I am not always faithful to that truth
Share with us a childhood nature memory?
I grew up in central Oklahoma, where we kept the natural world at bay. I was never taught the names of the trees or flowers that grew on our semi-desert, oil-rich land. We were drilled only to watch out for the things that bite and blister, and they were legion: poison oak and poison ivy, black widow spiders and scorpions, water moccasins, rattlesnakes. We were forbidden to explore the wilderness that was rapidly being consigned to memory all around our manicured housing estate.
And yet, if you ask me about the happiest days of my childhood, my mind goes to expeditions through as yet unconquered woody areas nearby. It goes to tadpoles and turtles discovered with furtive awe. I can still see those tadpoles, feel them swimming in cold creek water through my splayed fingers. A rapt attention settles all the way through my body in their presence. I know how memory works, that I am reconstructing all these sensations from fragments scattered across my brain. But I feel my breathing slow before the mystery of minute creaturely life observable. Amazed.
Wrapped up in these memories, too, is a dawning tension between their smallness and my relative giant size; their fragility and my power – to scoop them up, starve or orphan them, literally kill them with my amazement. And the power instead to forego dominance, and take care with my delight.
We turned up home at the end of long summer days sunburned and freckled and festooned with pink rashes from the poison ivy we wandered into and tangled with after all. We’re covered with feasting blood ticks, fat and purple with our blood, and all manner of worms. Other worms were gifted from our dogs, who ran leash-less and half wild in those days and were officially what we were allowed to befriend from the wild.
They would occasionally disappear for days at a time. We would wash and pick them clean when they returned mangy and exhilarated. We would vicariously absorb their effusive abandon.
Miki Agrawal
Miki Agrawal was named 2018 Fast Company’s “Most Creative People”, 2017 “Young Global Leader” by World Economic Forum, “Social Entrepreneur of the Year” by the World Technology Summit, “Top 20 millennials on a mission” by Forbes, and was one of INC Magazine’s “Most Impressive Women Entrepreneurs of 2016.” That year, she made the cover of both Entrepreneur Magazine and Crain’s Magazine. She is the recipient of the Tribeca Innovation Award and was named one of the 100 Most Influential People in Brooklyn Culture in 2017 by the Brooklyn Magazine.
She co-founded THINX, a high-tech, period-proof underwear brand and led the company as CEO to a valuation of over $150 Million and to Fast Company’s Most Innovative Companies of 2017, all while helping tens of millions of women period better.
She also founded TUSHY, a company that is revolutionizing the American toilet category with a modern, affordable, designer bidet attachment that both upgrades human health & hygiene as well as the environment from wasteful toilet paper consumption. She and her team are also helping fight the global sanitation crisis by bringing clean latrines to underserved communities in India through their partnership with Samagra. SNL covered TUSHY after its subway campaign was banned. Watch the clip here.
She is the founder of the acclaimed farm-to-table, alternative pizza concept called WILD with 3 locations in New York City, one in Guatemala and more on the way.
Additionally, Harper Collins published her first book entitled "DO COOL SH*T" on entrepreneurship and lifestyle design. Hay House published her second book “Disrupt-Her”.
3 words to describe Nature?
Alive. Present. Symbiotic
3 things Nature taught you?
That we are tiny specs of dust that are here for a short amount of time, so we must add more to nature than take away from it.
3 most treasured Nature spots?
The Catskills
My backyard garden
Redwood forest in California
When you look at the ocean, it makes you feel…?
Ever-present
When you see a forest, it makes you feel…?
Meditative
When you see a volcano, it makes you feel…?
Powerful
When you see a sunrise or sunset, it makes you feel…?
Rejuvenated
When you hear thunder, it makes you feel…?
Energetic
When you hear the wind howling, it makes you feel…?
Alive
Are you an Ocean, Mountain, Forest, or Desert person?
Forest
On a scale of 1 to 10, how important is Nature to your well-being?
10
Share with us a childhood nature memory?
Going camping in Stowe with my family and climbing Mt Orford at 3 years old and feeling very accomplished :-)
Jan Van Ijken
Jan van IJken is an internationally known documentary photographer and filmmaker from the Netherlands. Self-taught and working mainly autonomously on long-term projects and microscopy, he is interested in human/animal relationships and nature.
His most recent video BECOMING (2018) has been screened at more than 25 International Film Festivals and received the Award for Best Short Documentary at the Innsbruck Nature Film Festival 2018 and the Vision Science Award at Imagine Science Abu Dhabi 2019. The film went ‘viral’ on the internet, being awarded the Vimeo Staff Pick and watched by a few million people on National Geographic, Aeon, Colossal, Live Science, IFLScience and numerous others.
His ART OF FLYING (2015) movie was Awarded Best Art Film at Pärnu Film Festival, Estonia. It was screened more than 50 times at international film Festivals, Galleries, Biennales, etc.
FACING ANIMALS (2012) won the Grand Prix Short Films at Split Film Festival, Croatia
Jan has published 3 books: Precious Animals (2005), New Neighbours (2004) and A touch of Divinity (2001)
3 words to describe Nature?
The connection with all other life
Pristine beauty
A fragile ecosystem, not to be destroyed by humans
3 things Nature taught you?
To be silent
That all life is one
To care for other creatures
3 most treasured Nature spots?
The North Sea and Waddenzee (NL)
Kagerplassen (NL)
Waterland (NL)
When you look at the ocean, it makes you feel...?
Free
When you see a forest, it makes you feel...?
Open
When you see a volcano, it makes you feel...?
Humble
When you see a sunrise or sunset, it makes you feel...?
Joyful
When you hear thunder, it makes you feel...?
Alive
When you hear the wind howling, it makes you feel...?
Like running
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?
10
Share with us a childhood nature memory?
Ice skating in our neighborhood on local waters
Jon Bowermaster
Photo by Jennifer May
Writer, filmmaker and adventurer, Jon Bowermaster is a six-time grantee of the National Geographic Expeditions Council. One of the Society’s ‘Ocean Heroes,’ his first assignment for National Geographic Magazine was documenting a 3,741 mile crossing of Antarctica by dogsled. Jon has written a dozen books and produced/directed more than fifteen documentary films.
His Oceans 8 project took him and his teams around the world by sea kayak over the course of ten years (1999-2008), bringing back stories from the Aleutian Islands to French Polynesia, Gabon to Tasmania, and more, reporting on how the planet’s one ocean and its various coastlines are faring in today’s busy world.
Jon lives in New York’s Hudson Valley. He is the Executive Producer of Oceans 8 Films and President of One Ocean Media Foundation, Chairman of the Advisory Board of Adventurers and Scientists for Conservation and a Board Member of Mark Ruffalo’s Water Defense.
3 words to describe Nature?
BIG. ALL-ENCOMPASSING. AT-RISK
3 things Nature taught you?
HUMILITY
APPRECIATION OF QUIET
RESILIENCE
3 most treasured Nature spots?
ANYWHERE ON THE EDGE OF THE OCEAN
When you look at the ocean, it makes you feel...?
THAT PLACE WHERE BLUE-MEETS-BLUE: CALM
When you see a forest, it makes you feel...?
DARK AND MYSTERIOUS
When you see a volcano, it makes you feel...?
VIOLENT
When you see a sunrise or sunset, it makes you feel...?
SUNRISE = EXCITED / SUNSET = AT PEACE
When you hear thunder, it makes you feel...?
EXCITED AND A LITTLE FRIGHTENED
When you hear the wind howling, it makes you feel...?
CALM
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?
FIRST SAILINGS ON CRYSTAL BLUE LAKES OF THE NORTHERN MIDWEST; FIRST KAYAKS ON THE SAME BODIES OF WATER. AS AN EARLY TEENAGER.
TOKiMONSTA
Jennifer Lee "TOKiMONSTA" is one of the top producers and DJs in the world. In 2010, she was invited to attend the Red Bull Music Academy in London. Making her mark on the music scene, Jennifer became the first woman to sign with Flying Lotus's Brainfeeder label. Following the release of her first album Midnight Menu, Lee was rated the #1 Hottest Los Angeles Lady DJ by LA Weekly. In 2015, Jennifer was diagnosed with an extremely rare and potentially fatal brain disease known as Moyamoya (Read story here). After undergoing two brain surgeries, Lee was left unable to speak, create, or even listen to music. Through perseverance and faith, Lee’s memory returned and shortly after taking a break, she was finally able to regain her music making abilities. After regaining much of her memory and music-making talent in March of 2016, Jennifer made her triumphant return with jaw-dropping performances at SXSW and Coachella. In 2019, she was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Dance / Electronic Album. Lee was featured on Vox-Netflix series Explained. Check her latest album, Lune Rouge.
The name Tokimonsta originates from the Korean word for rabbit (tokki), which she took from a Korean's children's song "San Toki”
3 words to describe Nature?
Beautiful. Freedom. Enigmatic
3 things Nature taught you?
Beauty
Patience
Mindfulness
3 most treasured Nature spots?
Big Sur
Joshua Tree
All the beaches of SE Asia
When you look at the ocean, it makes you feel...?
At peace
When you see a forest, it makes you feel...?
Connected to all of nature
When you see a volcano, it makes you feel...?
Chaos
When you see a sunrise or sunset, it makes you feel...?
Joyful to end or begin another day
When you hear thunder, it makes you feel...?
Fear
When you hear the wind howling, it makes you feel...?
A bit spooked
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?
I remember driving with my family to Palm Springs almost every weekend. I used to find the monotony of the landscape quite boring while sitting in the car, but grew to appreciate the landscape more.
Rachel Payne
Rachel Payne is the CEO and co-founder of FEM Inc., a holding company focused on research and development at the intersection of media, technology and gender. In 2015, FEM Inc. launched Prizma, an Artificial Intelligence tech startup for major media, telecom and tech companies. Prizma was acquired by Nielsen / Gracenote in June 2018.
She has built an exceptional career as a technology executive and entrepreneur, while actively involved in philanthropic activities. A recognized thought leader in the advancement of technology to reshape our world, she champions policies that make a meaningful place for everyone in the new economy.
After graduation, Rachel worked for International Data Group and the publisher PC World to help build their digital network, which is where she discovered the power of technology and joined the first wave of Internet companies in Silicon Valley, including eBay, Hotwire and Razorfish.
Rachel returned to school at Stanford Graduate School of Business, studying public management and international development, working in Mexico City and Kampala for microfinance organizations that provide financial services and access to technology for low-income individuals in Latin America and Africa. After earning her MBA, Rachel joined the founding team of Google.org, the philanthropic arm of Google, which focused on Poverty Alleviation and Climate Change in their grants, projects and investments. Rachel and the early Google.org executives created the first blueprint for this type of organization – a hybrid corporate philanthropy and investment vehicle.
While at Google, Rachel led International Business Operations in Emerging Markets, spending several years living and working in sub-Saharan Africa. Rachel served as Country Manager, Africa Leadership Team, with the goal of building the foundation for an Internet Economy. She focused on infrastructure, localization, strategic partnerships, and public policy to ensure broad-based participation in the opportunities created by mobile phones and emerging technologies. Her team’s work was recognized in 2010, where she accepted Google’s first award at Mobile World Congress for “Best Mobile Apps for Economic and Social Development” for building and scaling critical mobile services in agriculture, trade and health that serve people in poor, rural areas. She also worked with heads of state on policy relating to Internet access and job creation. She moved back to Southern California to lead the Technology vertical for Google, managing cross-platform media sales teams. She later became Principal, Global Strategic Alliances, and managed Google’s most important strategic partnerships in Media & Entertainment
Rachel served on the Board of Directors for BRAC USA, ranked the #1 NGO in the world. She is a Guest Lecturer on Business Applications of Artificial Intelligence at Loyola Marymount University.
3 words to describe Nature?
Profound. Awe-inspiring. Harmony
3 things Nature taught you?
Self discovery
Infinite possibility
Humility
3 most treasured Nature spots?
Patagonia, Argentina
Amazon, Peru
Pacific Ocean (anywhere!!!)
When you look at the ocean, it makes you feel…?
Free, joyful, in alignment
When you see a forest, it makes you feel…?
Protected, safe, joy
When you see a volcano, it makes you feel…?
Power, feminine, creation
When you see a sunrise or sunset, it makes you feel…?
Sublime, tranquility, peace
When you hear thunder, it makes you feel…?
Exuberant, curious, alive
When you hear the wind howling, it makes you feel…?
Curious, respect, humble
Are you an Ocean, Mountain, Forest, or Desert person?
All of the above, don’t make me pick one.
On a scale of 1 to 10, how important is Nature to your well-being?
10
Share with us a childhood nature memory?
As a child, we want camping a lot in National Parks like Bryce Canyon and Zion. Our parents taught us about living on the land in harmony with nature, appreciating the bounty and beauty, reminding us we were only visitors and needed to show respect and care. These golden memories are filled with joy and awe.
Kevin Hainline
Kevin Hainline is an astronomer working on the science team for the NIRCam instrument on the upcoming James Webb Space Telescope, NASA’s successor to the Hubble Space Telescope. His research looks at how galaxies change as the universe evolve, focusing on the relationship galaxies have with their central supermassive black holes. He has given hundreds of planetarium shows, spoke at countless elementary high schools and has travelled the world giving night sky shows, sharing his inspirational message about the connection we all have to the universe. He currently lives in a small pink house in Tucson, Arizona, with his wife Lara, a musician, and his cat J. Louisiana, a meower.
3 words to describe Nature?
Complexity. Truth. Entropy
3 things Nature taught you?
Everything is more complicated than it seems
There is a time for action, just as there is a time for inaction
Life is miraculous, given its inherent chaos
3 most treasured Nature spots?
The deserts of southern Arizona.
The beaches along the California coast.
The mountains along the southern Atacama desert of Chile.
When you look at the ocean, it makes you feel…?
Overcome. The ocean tells us secrets about where we came from.
When you see a forest, it makes you feel…?
Nostalgic. Growing up in a city on the coasts meant trips to the forest were special growing up, and the smell of the woods is tied directly to these memories.
When you see a volcano, it makes you feel…?
Humbled. So much of change on the planet is gradual and incremental, and yet here are these volcanoes violently changing the landscape on human timescales.
When you see a sunrise or sunset, it makes you feel…?
Eager. For an astronomer, a sunset brings with it the possibilities of the night, and the sunrise is the reminder of our own closest star.
When you hear thunder, it makes you feel…?
Stirred. The thunderstorms in the southwest accompany powerful monsoons, and are unlike anywhere else in the world. You can feel the charge in the air, and the thunder is the pronouncement.
When you hear the wind howling, it makes you feel…?
Charged. The Santa Ana winds haunted me during the autumns my youth.
Are you an Ocean, Mountain, Forest, or Desert person?
I grew up as an ocean person, but I have recently discovered that I am a desert person. The desert gives back what you give it. It rewards patience, and observation, and endurance. Last week, it snowed about five or six inches. It was surreal, walking through snow-covered cacti and desert shrubs. The desert resists categorization.
On a scale of 1 to 10, how important is Nature to your well-being?
10. Science is the imperfect human method of understanding nature. Without my relationship with nature, both nature as the universe, and nature as the manifestation of life on our planet, I don’t know who I would be. It is a constant companion, quiet and giving. My current research on NASA’s upcoming flagship space telescope has me excited for the future, because JWST will both help us answer longstanding questions about the history of the universe as well as introduce new fundamental questions. What more could we ask for?
Share with us a childhood nature memory?
One summer, my father bundled my brother up once and drove us up to Cajon Pass northeast of Los Angeles early in the morning to watch the Perseid meteor shower. My love for astronomy mostly came from reading books as a child, so while I was fascinated by space, it was still very foreign to me. Being able to lay out on the hood of a car, in the stillness of the very early morning, covered in blankets, and see so many stars, was revelatory. It felt less like I was under them but that I was laying in front of them, as a child I felt the push of the Earth through space, towards those meteors which glowed, incandescent, as they fell through the atmosphere.
Barrie Mowatt
Barrie Mowatt, a pioneer of visual arts, has a long and accomplished history as an educator, philanthropist, and entrepreneur opening the Buschlen Mowatt Fine Art gallery in 1979. Barrie is the visionary behind the Vancouver Biennale Open Air Museum, where he combines his passion for art, education and community service in exhibitions that bring great art to public spaces where people live, work, play and transit, free for all to enjoy, explore and be inspired by. Barrie is also the founder of the Celebration of Hope Foundation, co-founder of Taste the Nation, and the Buschlen Mowatt Scholarship Program at Arts Umbrella. Barrie received the Vancouver Business in Arts Award from the Vancouver Board of Trade, and the Ethics in Action Award, presented by Vancouver City Savings and the BC Work Ministry. He has twice been nominated for Western Canada’s Entrepreneur of the Year in the category of socially responsible businesses.
3 words to describe Nature?
INCREDIBLE. AWE INSPIRING. MAGICAL
3 things Nature taught you?
PATIENCE
GRATITUDE
FRAGILITY OF LIFE
3 most treasured Nature spots?
JOSHUA TREE NATIONAL FOREST
YOSEMITE
HAIDA GWAII
When you look at the ocean, it makes you feel...?
DWARFED AND INSIGNIFICANT
When you see a forest, it makes you feel...?
ALIVE AND REFRESHED
When you see a volcano, it makes you feel...?
EXCITED, CURIOUS AND IN AWE
When you see a sunrise or sunset, it makes you feel...?
GRATEFUL TO BE ALIVE IN THAT MOMENT
When you hear thunder, it makes you feel...?
ALIVE AND CURIOUS ABOUT WHAT WILL FOLLOW
When you hear the wind howling, it makes you feel...?
ALIVE AND EXCITED
Are you an Ocean, Mountain,Forest, or Desert person?
I’M ALL 4 OF THESE.
I LUV LOOKING AT, CLIMBING & BEING ON TOP OF MTNS; AS WELL I LUV BEING DEEP IN FORESTS, AND IN THE OPEN DESOLATE DESERT AND WATCHING AND LISTENING TO THE POWER OF THE SURF...EACH ARE INSPIRATIONAL RETREATS WHERE I CAN BE AT ONE ONE WITH MYSELF AND IN AWE OF THEIR GRANDEUR AND IMMENSITY.
On a scale of 1 to 10, how important is Nature to your well-being?
10
Share with us a childhood nature memory?
BEING ALONE IN THE MTNS PICKING HUCKLEBERRIES, DISCOVERING LADY SLIPPERS AND RUNNING NAKED AMONG THE TREES AND TALL GRASSES!
Jaha Dukureh
Jaha Dukureh is the founder and CEO of Safe Hands for Girls, an NGO that works in The Gambia, Sierra Leone and the USA. Since 2013, Safe Hands for Girls has advocated for an end of female genital mutilation (FGM) and forced marriage (CEFM). She works at grassroots level to change attitudes, mobilize opposition to both practices and provide support to survivors.
The work Jaha led with Safe Hands for Girls was instrumental in convincing President Obama’s administration to investigate the prevalence and profile of FGM in the USA, and the subsequent Summit to End FGM at the United States Institute of Peace. Safe Hands for Girls’ advocacy was also a key contributing factor in the Gambian government’s decision to outlaw FGM in 2016.
In April 2016, at aged 25, she was named to the Time 100 list of the most influential people in the world. In December 2017, she received the award of “Human rights activist - Humanitarian of the Year” at the seventh annual African Diaspora Awards and was named one of the 100 most influential Africans by New African magazine. She has been named as one of the top 100 gender global policy influencers by Apolitical, and one of the top 10 Africa Changemakers by YouthHubAfrica. She was appointed UN Women Ambassador for Africa in February 2018 and nominated for the 2018 Nobel Peace Prize by Norwegian Politician Jette F. Christensen
Jaha is the subject of the film Jaha’s Promise, a documentary that covers her life and work. Her story, in her own words, can be read here.
Jaha was born in The Gambia in 1989, the daughter of a prominent Imam. She was subjected to FGM when she was just one week old. At the age of 15, Jaha was sent to New York, and forced to marry a man who was much older than she was. Having fled this marriage, she later remarried and moved to Atlanta, before returning home to The Gambia in 2018, where she now lives with her three children.
3 words to describe Nature?
Peaceful. Green. Enchanting
3 things Nature taught you?
Love
Appreciation
Meditation
3 most treasured Nature spots?
Beach
Lake
Mountains
When you look at the ocean, it makes you feel...?
Calm
When you see a forest, it makes you feel...?
Alive
When you see any volcano, it makes you feel...?
Scared
When you see a sunrise or sunset, it makes you feel...?
Happy
When you hear thunder, it makes you feel...?
Afraid
When you hear the wind howling, it makes you feel...?
Afraid
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? It's off the charts important.
10
Share with us a childhood nature memory?
When I was young I used to go to the farm with my family. I enjoyed seeing nature through the forest and learning about the different animals, trees and the different seasons.
Ami Vitale
Nikon Ambassador and National Geographic magazine photographer Ami Vitale has traveled to more than 100 countries, bearing witness not only to violence and conflict, but also to surreal beauty and the enduring power of the human spirit. Throughout the years, Ami has lived in mud huts and war zones, contracted malaria, and donned a panda suit— keeping true to her belief in the importance of “living the story.” In 2009, after shooting a powerful story on the transport and release of one the world’s last white rhinos, Ami shifted her focus to today’s most compelling wildlife and environmental stories.
Her photographs have been commissioned by nearly every international publication and exhibited around the world in museums and galleries. She is a founding member of Ripple Effect Images, an organization of renowned female scientists, writers, photographers and filmmakers working together to create powerful and persuasive stories that shed light on the hardships women in developing countries face and the programs that can help them. She is also on the Photojournalism Advisory Council for the Alexia Foundation.
Currently based in Montana, Ami Vitale is a contract photographer with National Geographic magazine and frequently gives workshops throughout the Americas, Europe and Asia.
3 words to describe Nature?
Healing. Connecting. Inspiring
3 things Nature taught you?
To slow down
To observe
To marvel
3 most treasured Nature spots?
Montana
Kenya
Planet Earth
When you look at the ocean, it makes you feel...?
Humbled
When you see a forest, it makes you feel...?
Like we are in an intricate web and deeply connected to one another
When you see any volcano, it makes you feel...?
I have never seen one up close. But I imagine in awe
When you see a sunrise or sunset, it makes you feel...?
Ephemeral
When you hear thunder, it makes you feel...?
Respectful
When you hear the wind howling, it makes you feel...?
Like snuggling up with a good book
Are you an Ocean, Mountain, Forest, or Desert person?
All the above
On a scale of 1 to 10, how important is Nature to your well-being? It's off the charts important.
10 is not enough
Share with us a childhood nature memory?
Sneaking out at night to sleep on my dad's boat. I always loved being on the water from as early as I can remember.
John Coyle
John K. Coyle, #TheTimeGuy, is a world leading expert in innovation and Design Thinking, and best-selling author of Design For Strengths: Applying Design Thinking to Individual and Team Strengths (2018) and The Art of Really Living Manifesto (2016). A graduate of Stanford University’s Product Design Program, John is an NBC sports analyst, two-time TEDx presenter, and sought-after keynote speaker. He earned an Olympic silver medal for speedskating.
John is a thought leader in the field of chronoception—the study of how humans process time. He lectures and teaches innovation courses at Marquette University, Northwestern University and CEDIM University Graduate School in Mexico. His mission is to innovate the human experience.
3 words to describe Nature?
Wind. Sand. Water.
3 things Nature taught you?
The oxymoron that I am tiny in the grand scheme if things… yet I matter.
Color and light are a core source of joy.
I am never alone in nature - only in cities with people.
3 most treasured Nature spots?
Sonoran sunsets
Yucatan cenotes
Utah snowfields
When you look at the ocean, it makes you feel…?
Home. I was raised on a lake and on boats: the scent, reflections and ripples of wind and water return me to my youth and possibility.
When you see a forest, it makes you feel…?
An adventure brewing. What is behind that copse? If I climb the ridge will I see the world?
When you see a volcano, it makes you feel…?
Like climbing to the caldera and looking into the mouth of the world…
When you see a sunrise or sunset, it makes you feel…?
That despite hedonic adaptation to almost everything (particularly money or success) a sunset NEVER gets old.
When you hear thunder, it makes you feel…?
Fearless. As kids we used to run outside in lightening storms, pelted by the big drops waiting for that first big rush of wind and leaning into it with smiles.
When you hear the wind howling, it makes you feel…?
That I need to move. The wind is the devil: it hounds you, never lets you go, slows you, makes you hot, makes you cold, makes it impossible to relax and read. I need to get the hell out of Chicago… it is always windy.
Are you an Ocean, Mountain, Forest, or Desert person?
I am an Ocean/Desert person hence I am moving to the Baja peninsula in August!
On a scale of 1 to 10, how important is Nature to your well-being?
10. I am an “outdoor person”. As my parents used to say, “in or out!” I was always out. Pretty sure I never wore shoes or a shirt until I was 10 or 11 in summer.
Share with us a childhood nature memory?
I’ve now seen it a couple of times. Late summer / early fall, last hot day with warm rain in the evening spurs a “frog crossing”. Thousands of frogs and toads use the cover of darkness, the wetness and warmth to migrate (to where? a new home?) and like worms after a downpour, they are everywhere. One evening when I was maybe 8, there were 3 white owls swiveling their necks in my driveway eating frogs like they were in a french buffet…
Amanda Slavin
During her career as an educator, Amanda realized that any platform can be a classroom with the right perspective. She learned to listen deeply to the young minds around her, and applied her teacher’s appetite for active, informative engagement to develop the award-winning brand consulting firm CatalystCreativ. As Founder & CEO of CatalystCreativ, Amanda has counseled global, national, and local organizations in planning for and achieving their branding goals. Through projects with Coca Cola, The Raiders, Google, WeWork, NPR, The Nature Conservancy, and the New York City Ballet, Amanda was featured as a Forbes 30 Under 30 honoree in Advertising and Marketing.
Amanda guides brands to do good for the world without having to sacrifice their bottom line. To do this, she utilizes her well-tested proprietary method for quantifying and scaling engagement for employees and customers. Known as the Seventh Level Engagement Framework, this technique springs from Amanda’s expertise marketing to Millennials, Gen Z and what she has coined "the Millennial Minded." She’s spoken at SXSW, TED, Summit Series, and INBOUND about how The Seventh Level Engagement Framework is the future of meaningful, personal connections. Amanda’s groundbreaking thought leadership has been covered by Inc Magazine, Forbes, Fast Company, Wall Street Journal, and Time Magazine.
3 words to describe Nature?
Majestic. Important. Emotional
3 things Nature taught you?
How to give myself permission to let my imagination lead me
How to remember how small I am in comparison to the tallest of trees and the highest of mountains
To appreciate quiet
3 most treasured Nature spots?
Sedona, Arizona
Hana, Hawaii
Makhtesh, Israel
When you look at the ocean, it makes you feel...?
At peace from the sound, in awe of the power
When you see a forest, it makes you feel...?
Completely at home
When you see a volcano, it makes you feel...?
Lack of control, the importance to surrender
When you see a sunrise or sunset, it makes you feel...?
Like a kid again, to remember the little moments in life to be thankful for
When you hear thunder, it makes you feel...?
Scared but also kind of excited
When you hear the wind howling, it makes you feel...?
If i'm inside a warm home, it makes me thankful to be in warmth
Are you an Ocean, Mountain, Forest, or Desert person?
Forest
On a scale of 1 to 10, how important is Nature to your well-being?
9
Share with us a childhood nature memory?
My 95 year old grandma recalls no matter how many toys I was given, I would always go outside and prefer to play with "my tree." There was a big tree outside my window that I thought was my tree, and I remember pretending to be a witch and stirring the wood chips around the tree as a part of my witch couldron, (I definitely had a big imagination!)
Becca Skinner
Becca Skinner was born into a family of adventurers and was raised in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado and the high plains of Wyoming. This environment fueled a lifetime passion about wild places and exploring.
While studying Social Work and Technical Writing at the University of Wyoming, she won a National Geographic Young Explorer's Grant to document post-tsunami Sumatra, Indonesia.
That trip sparked a leave from school, which led to 32,000 miles of living out of a car, traveling and photographing around the West. She now resides in Bozeman, Montana, working as an adventure and conservation photographer and writer. Make sure to follow her in instagram
3 words to describe Nature?
Calming. Grand. Curiosity
3 things Nature taught you?
How to be more curious
To to be more self reliant
How to have a paradigm shift
3 most treasured Nature spots?
Tule Elk reservation
Paradise Valley, MT
Open Sage Country in WY
When you look at the ocean, it makes you feel...?
Small
When you see a forest, it makes you feel...?
Strong
When you see a volcano, it makes you feel...?
Motivated
When you see a sunrise or sunset, it makes you feel...?
Relaxed
When you hear thunder, it makes you feel...?
Calm
When you hear the wind howling, it makes you feel...?
Grateful
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?
Growing up, my parents would take us into the Wyoming desert for vacation. We spent days in open sagebrush country, just walking to look at whatever there was to look at. I remember once watching a herd of pronghorn run across the horizon line at dusk. The dust they were kicking up was pink with the fading sun, and I thought it had to be one of the most special moments of my life.
Sofia Sanchez de Betak
Sofía Sanchez de Betak (aka, Barrenechea) is a Buenos Aires born, New York based, Art Director and Fashion Consultant.
An avid world traveler and style influencer, Sofía is the author of the Assouline published book, “Travels with Chufy",where she highlights off-the-radar hideaways and secluded retreats where those in the know seek unforgettable experiences. Sofía has been named among the 10 most influential women of Argentina, together with the country’s First Lady and the Vice-President. With a keen eye and love for fashion and travel, Sofía has collaborated with several magazines and brands, working on special projects and often served as a brand ambassador. This list includes Chanel, Valentino, Rodarte, Chloe, Mary Katrantzou, Peter Pilotto, Roger Vivier, Zara, Mango, Massimo Dutti, Globe Trotter, Jason Wu, The Luxury Collection (Starwood Hotels), Vogue, Condé Nast Traveler, Harper’s Bazaar, W Magazine, Revista La Nación, Paper Magazine, among others.
3 words to describe Nature?
Prestine. Pure. Amusing
3 things Nature taught you?
That we should cherish it
That we should learn from her
That she is the wisest one of all
3 most treasured Nature spots?
Patagonia
Antarctica
Mallorca
When you look at the ocean, it makes you feel…?
In peace
When you see a forest, it makes you feel…?
Small
When you see a volcano, it makes you feel…?
Powerless
When you see a sunrise or sunset, it makes you feel…?
Blessed
When you hear thunder, it makes you feel…?
Awake
When you hear the wind howling, it makes you feel…?
Breathless
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?
Long horseback rides in the mountains of Patagonia… best views in the planet!
Dallas Taylor
After cutting his teeth as a sound designer/mixer for networks like NBC, Fox, G4, and Discovery, DALLAS TAYLOR launched Defacto Sound, where he’s led thousands of high-profile projects ranging from blockbuster game trailers and advertising campaigns to Sundance award-winning films. A respected thought leader on the narrative power of sound, Dallas is a sought-after speaker at conferences, a regular contributor to major industry publications, and creator of the podcast Twenty Thousand Hertz.
3 words to describe Nature?
Calming. Symbiotic. Human
3 things Nature taught you?
We are nature disguised in fancy clothes and fancy devices.
Nature is the most preferred human sound.
Nature is a double edged sword. It can kill us, but also be the most soothing thing for our brain.
3 most treasured Nature spots?
Kalalau Valley Lookout overlooking the Na Pali Coast
Any stop along the Road to Hana
Anywhere in the Rocky Mountains on a warm day
When you look at the ocean, it makes you feel...?
Peaceful
When you see a forest, it makes you feel...?
Exploratory
When you see a volcano, it makes you feel...?
Terrified
When you see a sunrise or sunset, it makes you feel...?
Time
When you hear thunder, it makes you feel...?
Sleepy :)
When you hear the wind howling, it makes you feel...?
Like getting a recorder. Good, clean, howling wind is rare and hard to capture.
Are you an Ocean, Mountain, Forest, or Desert person?
A mountain overlooking an ocean
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 take long walks and bike rides in the Delta of Arkansas growing up as a kid. I grew up on a lake that was formed by the Mississippi River, but later leveed off. I grew up right before the explosion of the internet, so my childhood was filled with 4+ hour walks/rides up and down the Mississippi River and my lake (Horseshoe Lake, AR). I think that helped me sort out the difficult times in my childhood and ultimately prepared me for adulthood.
Jonathan Santlofer
Jonathan Santlofer is the author of 5 novels, including the international bestseller The Death Artist, and Anatomy of Fear, which won the Nero Award for best crime novel of 2009. He is editor, contributor and illustrator of the short story anthology, The Dark End of the Street, editor/contributor of LA NOIRE: The Collected Stories, The New York Times bestselling serial novel Inherit the Dead, Akashic Books’ The Marijuana Chronicles, and The New York Times “notable book” It Occurs to Me That I Am America. His stories have appeared in numerous short story collections. Santlofer, also a well-known artist, is the recipient of two National Endowment for the Arts grants, has been a Visiting Artist at the American Academy in Rome, the Vermont Studio Center and serves on the board of Yaddo, one of the oldest arts communities in the U.S.
His bestselling memoir, The Widower’s Notebook, has received starred reviews in Publishers Weekly and Kirkus, has appeared on more than a dozen “best books” lists of 2018, and is an Amazon bestseller. He was recently a guest on Fresh Air with Terry Gross.
3 words to describe Nature?
Beautiful. Calming. Fierce.
3 things Nature taught you?
To be respectful
To slow down
When I bought an old house in upstate NY there was no lawn, no grass, which I planted and was awed when it grew!
3 most treasured Nature spots?
Dutchess County, NY (where I had my house)
Canyon De Shelly
The Arizona desert
When you look at the ocean, it makes you feel...?
Mostly calm
When you see a forest, it makes you feel...?
From a distance it makes me feel small. Inside, I can feel either protected or lost and it often reminds me of fairy tales, like Hansel and Gretel.
When you see a volcano, it makes you feel...?
I have never seen a volcano in nature. In pictures or films they amaze me with their power, and make me think of Pompeii, which I’ve been too.
When you see a sunrise or sunset, it makes you feel...?
Depends where I am, and what it’s like, but often good – if I’m paying attention (and I guess I should be).
When you hear thunder, it makes you feel...?
I love thunder if I’m inside.
When you hear the wind howling, it makes you feel...?
Again, if I'm inside, or on a porch, it’s like eerie though beautiful music.
Are you an Ocean, Mountain, Forest, or Desert person?
My upstate home was surrounded by forest, which I liked. I love driving through the desert. Being near the ocean is always special. Mountains are beautiful in the distance, but I’d never climb one.
On a scale of 1 to 10, how important is Nature to your well-being?
Not sure I would put a number on nature but it’s essential to my well-being. I live in a city so it’s important for me to escape on a regular basis. I am always calmer in nature, which makes me wonder why I live in a city!
Share with us a childhood nature memory?
Getting lost at the beach when I was around 6 or 7. Always a kid who daydreamed, I wandered along the shoreline far away from my parents. I remember sitting in the sand and drawing pictures in it with a stick and watching the waves wash them away. I was very happy doing this, having the water lapping over my feet, and not at all afraid even though I knew I was lost. Eventually the lifeguards found me and took me back to their station, where they gave me ice cream.
Michael Shainblaum
Michael Shainblum is a landscape, timelapse and aerial photographer based in San Francisco, California. He has been working professionally as a photographer and filmmaker for 11 years since the age of 16. Michael first made a name for himself through his unique creativity and the ability to capture scenes and moments in his distinct style of surreal, visual story telling. A dedication to challenging the boundaries of creativity, as well as a flair for coming up with unique ideas, has since resulted in this dynamic visual artist being commissioned by large clients including Nike, Samsung, Facebook, LG, Apple and Google. You will also be able to find Michael's work published widely by media outlets such as National Geographic, Wired Magazine and The Weather Channel.
3 words to describe Nature?
Majestic. Unpredictable. Therapeutic
3 things Nature taught you?
How to truly appreciate the world we live in and just how much we need to protect it.
It has given me a sense of purpose in my life to be honest, through my photography and my art.
It had also taught me to appreciate the little things in life and to drown out the daily struggles. Laying down for a nap in the Sand Dunes, or enjoying the reflection of a mountain in a lake, these moments have helped me through some tough times.
3 most treasured Nature spots?
Just my most recent nature spot I have been too. Each place is special and I feel like my most recent trips are the ones I have fresh memories about capturing.
When you look at the ocean, it makes you feel...?
At home, I grew up by the ocean and I do not think I could live far from it.
When you see a forest, it makes you feel...?
Adventurous, nothing like a good hike through the forest.
When you see a volcano, it makes you feel...?
Conflicted, so much powerful, yet devastating beauty.
When you see a sunrise or sunset, it makes you feel...?
I have been shooting sunrise for over a week now here during winter in Utah and it has been bone chillingly cold. Yet every time I wake up and get to witness that beautiful morning light, it is worth it. I suppose it makes me feel fulfilled.
When you hear thunder, it makes you feel...?
Excited, I absolutely love capturing and witnessing lightning strikes.
When you hear the wind howling, it makes you feel...?
Like hopefully the timelapse camera I have set up is not going to blow over :P
Are you an Ocean, Mountain, Forest, or Desert person?
Ocean just based on how I grew up, but I love capturing everything. The desert is my favorite at the moment, with all the incredible shapes, colors and textures.
On a scale of 1 to 10, how important is Nature to your well-being?
10, I have dedicated my life now to capturing the beauty of nature and I would not have it any other way.
Share with us a childhood nature memory?
Funny enough I was never fully able to appreciate nature as a kid. I mean I went to the park and to the beach. But camping and hiking came a bit later on in my life during college. My family never had the ability to travel and the outdoors was never something that interested them. I found my appreciation of being outdoors through photography and I am so appreciative of that.
Sharad Kharé
Sharad is the co-founder of media company Kharé Communications. Beside creating content for companies such as Indochino, Innovative Fitness, Microsoft, Goldcorp, UN Women, Emily Carr University, Oncosec, Draper University, TEDx, Rick Hansen Foundation, Arkay Packaging and many others, he has been producing legacy documentaries and interviewing some of the world’s most interesting individuals. His infectious positive energy and communicative talents has allowed to sit down with people such as His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Meryl Streep, Helen Mirren, Jack & Suzy Welch, Chip Wilson, May Musk, Dr. Ron Burnett, Tim Draper, Bing Thom, and many more.
Sharad has a Masters in Communications and coaches storytelling & branding to leaders in private industries and public companies.
He is the co-founder of “The Indigenous Collective” and has been a prolific collaborator with the Indigenous community, directing and producing video projects that capture First Nations stories and culture. His past projects include the documentary Breaking Down Walls, Building Bridges (BCIT), Diversity Circles project video series, James Hart: The Dance Screen (Vancouver Art Gallery, and an Indigenous-women awareness video featuring Ellena Neel (BWSS).
Sharad is currently the President of TIE Vancouver, a global entrepreneur group that mentors and advises some of the most active entrepreneurs in the world.
3 words to describe Nature?
GREEN, BLUE, GOLDEN
3 things Nature taught you?
EVERYTHING HAS LIFE
WE MUST FEED THE EARTH AS WE FEED OUR OWN BODIES
THE SUN IS LIKE A GOD TO ME
3 most treasured Nature spots?
SANTA MONICA PIER
THE BEACHES OF GOA
DEER LAKE WHERE I GOT MARRIED
When you look at the ocean, it makes you feel...?
CALM AND RELAXED
When you see a forest, it makes you feel...?
LIKE EXPLORING
When you see a volcano, it makes you feel...?
LIKE I AM SO SMALL IN COMPARISON
When you see a sunrise or sunset, it makes you feel...?
LIKE I AM CLOSE TO GOD
When you hear thunder, it makes you feel...?
ANXIOUS FOR THE NEXT ONE TO COME
When you hear the wind howling, it makes you feel...?
LIKE THE AIR HAS LIFE
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 YOUNGER WE HAD A FOREST CLOSE TO OUR HOME. MY BROTHER, MY NEIGHBOURS, AND I WOULD EXPLORE IN THEIR WITH OUR BIKES AND PRETEND WE WERE CHARACTERS OF THE HOBBIT. WE WOULD ALSO SEARCH FOR ANIMALS THAT LIVED THERE BUT WE NEVER FOUND ANY.
Kid Carson
Originally from Toronto, Kid is one of Canada’s most notable radio personalities. He started as mid day host for KISS 92, then moved to Z95 in Vancouver, hosted the morning show for The Beat 94.5 and finally host at KISS Radio. Kid has been honored with the BC Award of Excellence Association of Broadcasters, has received on multiple occasions the TV Week Readers' Choice Awards and was nominated a few times for Canadian radio personality of the year by CMW (Canadian Music Week). Some of his favorites interviewed guests include Eckhart Tolle, Dr. John Gray, Dr. Joe Dispenza, Gary Chapman and Malcom Gladwell.
For the past couple of years, Kid has been fully dedicated at launching a new digital platform he co-founded that will disrupt the growing podcast industry. The launch is set for early 2019.
3 words to describe Nature?
Connected. Provider. Intelligent
3 things Nature taught you?
I read a book called “the hidden life of trees”. It taught me that trees have personalities and are able to learn. They make their own decisions and learn from their mistakes. A tree that kept its leaves too long during one year will never make this mistake again. It makes you wonder, without brains, where do trees save their experiences? Learning this…taught me that there is an intelligence in nature that we don’t fully grasp.
That WE are nature… and not separate from nature like we are taught.
That, as an energetic human being, the environments I spend time in, have an influence on me.
3 most treasured Nature spots?
I love the old growth around lighthouse park, the smell, the energy.
Standing at the top of a mountain holding my snowboard in Whistler.
Jet-skiiing around the local islands… it’s almost meditative. This summer I had the experience of a lifetime when I rolled up on a pod of whales! We just cut the engines and floated in silence listening to them talk and breach the water a few times. It was surreal how close we were.
When you look at the ocean, it makes you feel…?
Calm, dialed in
When you see a forest, it makes you feel…?
Curious!
When you see a volcano, it makes you feel…?
Tiny!
When you see a sunrise or sunset, it makes you feel…?
Excited for the day ahead, and reflective of the day passed.
When you hear thunder, it makes you feel…?
I like it… builds some anticipation…
When you hear the wind howling, it makes you feel…?
Annoyed
Are you an Ocean, Mountain, Forest, or Desert person?
Ocean all the way. It’s really important to me that I live within’ a few minute walk to the water.
On a scale of 1 to 10, how important is Nature to your well-being?
10
Share with us a childhood nature memory?
In elementary school, my friend’s family lived on a huge nursery. We spent hours and hours, running thought the forest, greenhouses, secret paths, tree forts, bush tunnels… it was epic and such a great memory
Michael Hebb
For the past 20 years Michael has been working to understand the secrets of human connection. His projects have turned into international movements and impacted millions. His second book "Let's Talk About Death" published by Hachette/Da Capo will be available in the U.S., U.K., and Australia in October of 2018. Michael recently became a Partner at RoundGlass to further expand his efforts to impact global well being.
Michael is the Founder of Deathoverdinner.org, Drugsoverdinner.org, EarthtoDinner.org, WomenTeachMen.org and The Living Wake. He currently serves as a Board Advisor at the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts; and in the recent past as Senior Advisor to Summit Series, Theo Chocolate, Learnist, Caffe Vita, CreativeLive, Architecture For Humanity, ONETASTE and Mosaic Voices Foundation.
In 1997 Hebb co-founded City Repair and Communitecture with architect Mark Lakeman, winning the AIA People's Choice Award for the Intersection Repair Project. In 1999 Michael and Naomi Pomeroy co-founded Family Supper in Portland, a supper club that is credited with starting the pop-up restaurant movement. In the years following they opened the restaurants clarklewis and Gotham Bldg Tavern, garnering international acclaim.
After leaving Portland, Hebb built Convivium/One Pot, a creative agency that specialized in the ability to shift culture through the use of thoughtful food and discourse based gatherings. Convivium's client list includes: The Obama Foundation, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, TEDMED, The World Economic Forum, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Clinton Global Initiative, X Prize Foundation, The Nature Conservancy.
Michael is the founding Creative Director of The City Arts Festival, the founder of Night School @ The Sorrento Hotel, the founder of www.seder.today and the founding Creative Director at the Cloud Room. He served as a Teaching Fellow at the Graduate School of Communication at University of Washington. His writings have appeared in GQ, Food and Wine, Food Arts, ARCADE, Seattle Magazine and City Arts. Michael can often be found speaking at universities and conferences, here is his TEDMED talk.
3 words to describe Nature?
Life, life, life…
3 things Nature taught you?
Human connection is the electricity we need to light up the human forest.
I don’t make a distinction between the “natural” world and the “human-built” world. So in essence nature has taught me everything I know. I do acknowledge the difference between high frequency, rich environments, and low-vibrational places and communities. I learn equally from both, but the lessons are different. A healthy forest is a perfect example of high vibration, high connection, forest's speak to each other, the forest community transmits information about threats and opportunities across miles in seconds. They speak across species, across class, even animal to plant. We are suffering from a crisis of connection- human connection - which is just a subset of nature connection. I believe that living a meaningful life will elude us until we build networks of higher connection, not just via digital networks, but inclusive of the “natural” world. Our culture is toxic, and I don’t mean that as a judgement, I just mean it is working against human vitality. Connection is the cure, forests and mountains and oceans need to be interwoven powerfully into the center of our lives.
Our lives will continue to be bereft of meaning if our connection patterns look like the electrical grid and not an ancient forest. Every indigenous culture has revealed wisdom that mesmerizes us with its modernity, timelessness and clarity, this is not on the shoulders of a personality, an exceptional genius, but exceptional insight within a forest of vitality. We can’t begin to answer life’s important questions until we are living in a deeply connected ecosystem.
3 most treasured Nature spots?
The Olympic National Forest, all of it.
The Oregon Coast, almost all of it.
Any glacial lake, anywhere.
When you look at the ocean, it makes you feel…?
Like we are more than just thoughts and things, the ocean makes me feel expansive.
When you see a forest, it makes you feel…?
If it is a vital, alive, thriving forest, I feel a deep sense of love.
When you see a volcano, it makes you feel…?
Awe
When you see a sunrise or sunset, it makes you feel…?
Sometimes sad, sometimes peaceful, sometimes excited.
When you hear thunder, it makes you feel…?
Powerful, connected to the earth and sky.
When you hear the wind howling, it makes you feel…?
A sense of the wild.
Are you an Ocean, Mountain, Forest, or Desert person?
All four. They all align with different parts of me.
On a scale of 1 to 10, how important is Nature to your well-being?
10
Share with us a childhood nature memory?
I spent much of my childhood in the woods, alone, building forts out of fallen branches and whatever I could find. It was a way of self-medication. There was heartache, pain and drama in my house and I was far too sensitive to be around it. I needed the woods, I needed to re-create a womb-like environment (the fort) because I wasn’t getting the nourishment I needed from my family. Later when I was a teenager and dealing with many existential crises, I climbed trees, massive Douglas Fir trees, 40, 50, 80 feet into the air. I would sit up in the trees for hours, and the pain would stop.
Denise Thomas
Denise is a proven and dynamic leader who has spent more than 20 years helping entrepreneurial companies develop breakthrough ideas. Her public and private company expertise spans the financial services, technology, healthcare, hospitality and online services industries, and she has led companies backed by leading venture capital firms, including Kleiner Perkins, Mohr Davidow and Sequoia Capital.
In the FinTech industry, Denise is considered a visionary and highly respected executive leader. She is one of the few women to receive venture funding for a FinTech startup. Denise founded ApplePie Capital to create a new, more efficient source of capital for franchise businesses.
Denise has founded three other companies, and held executive and management positions with SharesPost, Healthiest You, Navigenics, LesConcierges, OffRoad Capital, Onyx Microcomputer, Post Communications, Kao Infosystems, and National Semiconductor.
She has been a guest lecturer at both the Stanford Graduate School of Business and the Haas School of Business, University of California Berkeley.
3 words to describe Nature?
GROUNDING. INSPIRING. FEARSOME
3 things Nature taught you?
WE ARE NOT IN CONTROL
THERE IS MUCH TO LEARN
THERE IS WONDER AND FEAR
3 most treasured Nature spots?
HALEAKALA CRATER
YOSEMITE
WALDEN POND
When you look at the ocean, it makes you feel…?
EXPANSIVE
When you see a forest, it makes you feel…?
ADVENTURE
When you see a volcano, it makes you feel…?
SAD
When you see a sunrise or sunset, it makes you feel…?
INSPIRED
When you hear thunder, it makes you feel…?
EXCITEMENT
When you hear the wind howling, it makes you feel…?
LIKE RETREATING
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?
8
Share with us a childhood nature memory?
MY MEMORIES ARE NOT FROM MY CHILDHOOD UNFORTUNATELY. MY FAMILY DID NOT SPEND TIME IN NATURE.
Scott Carney
Photo credit: Jake Holschuh
Investigative journalist and anthropologist Scott Carney (scottcarney.com) has worked in some of the most dangerous and unlikely corners of the world. His work blends narrative non-fiction with ethnography. Currently, he is a senior fellow at the Schuster Institute for Investigative Journalism and a 2016-17 Scripps Fellow at the Center for Environmental Journalism in Boulder, Colorado. His books include the New York Times best seller "What Doesn't Kill Us" as well as "The Red Market" and "The Enlightenment Trap”.
Carney was a contributing editor at Wired for five years and his writing also appears in Mother Jones, Men's Journal, Playboy, Foreign Policy, Discover, Outside and Fast Company. His work has been the subject of a variety of radio and television programs, including on NPR and National Geographic TV. In 2010, he won the Payne Award for Ethics in Journalism for his story "Meet the Parents”, which tracked an international kidnapping-to-adoption ring. Carney has spent extensive time in South Asia and speaks Hindi.
3 words to describe Nature?
Stunning. Brutal. Fair.
3 things Nature taught you?
That there is no division between ourselves and nature.
That the outside world is also the inside world
How we think about the environment is also how we think about ourselves.
3 most treasured Nature spots?
The Nubble Westport, MA
Hampi, India
Outside Iquitos, Peru
When you look at the ocean, it makes you feel...?
Calm, like the horizon has no limits.
When you see a forest, it makes you feel...?
Like there will be something unexpected just around the next bend
When you see a volcano, it makes you feel...?
In awe of the power of the earth.
When you see a sunrise or sunset, it makes you feel...?
Like I'm at the beginning or end.
When you hear thunder, it makes you feel...?
Usually a little surprised. I count the seconds between the flash and the clap to try to figure out how far away it is. The other day I got stuck in a thunderstorm and the bolts crashed fifteen feet from me. It was pretty terrifying. My instinct was to lie flat on the ground.
When you hear the wind howling, it makes you feel...?
IT depends where I am. If I'm inside a house watching a storm pass it's a strangely comforting feeling. If I'm outside it can be brutal.
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?
I am nature. And so are you. 10
Share with us a childhood nature memory?
I remember climbing up the Nubble, a small but high rock that guards the Harbor in Westport, MA, while my mother yelled at me to get down. She was scared I would fall, but I just had to make it to the top.
Terry Giles
Terry Giles was born in St. Louis, Missouri. He received his Bachelor of Arts Degree from California State University at Fullerton and his Jurist Doctorate from Pepperdine University School of Law, where there is now a Terry M. Giles Honor Scholar. In 1975, he established what would become one of the largest and most successful criminal law firms on the West Coast. Some of Giles’ clients have included Richard Pryor, Kenneth Lay, J. Howard Marshall III and Martin Luther King Jr.’s remaining children. In 1983, Terry withdrew from the firm, disillusioned with the criminal legal system.
Starting over, he took a small Toyota dealership and built it into the fifth largest in the world. He then helped build a Canon copier distributorship into the third largest in the country and negotiated the sale of ComputerLand, a company with $2.5 billion in annual sales. He also reestablished his legal practice, but this time focused exclusively on civil trial matters and only for clients and causes that he believed in. In 2008 he was runner up for “National Jury Trial Lawyer of the Year” for his work in the Catholic predator priest cases in California.
Through the course of his career, he has bought/built 35 companies in a variety of industries. Today, his company, Giles Enterprises, has diversified interests in biotech, time management, European 5-Star hotels and restaurants, and financial portfolio investments. Part of his portfolio includes the Chateau Eza on the Mediterranean French Coast and Grand Hotel Son Net on Mallorca in Spain.
He is chairman of Landmark Worldwide Corporation, a San Francisco-based enterprise with 43 offices in 20 countries and Pacific Biomarkers, a diagnostic laboratory enterprise in Seattle. Additionally, Terry serves on the Boards of Horatio Alger Association of Distinguished Americans, the Pepperdine University Board of Regents, and The Giles O’Malley Foundation.
Terry has received the Medal of Honor Alumni Award from Pepperdine University, Alumnus of the Year from Pepperdine University School of Law, the Horatio Alger Association of Distinguished Americans Award, and the Distinguished Alumnus Award of California State University of Fullerton. He further serves as an adjunct professor of law at Pepperdine University School of Law.
3 words to describe Nature?
Beautiful. Powerful. Terrifying.
3 things Nature taught you?
Respect
Aloneness
Oneness
3 most treasured Nature spots?
Red Wood Forrest in California
The deserts of Arizona
The canyons and rock formations of Utah and Colorado
When you look at the ocean, it makes you feel...?
Small
When you see a forest, it makes you feel...?
Peaceful
When you see a volcano, it makes you feel...?
In awe
When you see a sunrise or sunset, it makes you feel...?
Happy
When you hear thunder, it makes you feel...?
Uneasy
When you hear the wind howling, it makes you feel...?
Nervous
Are you an Ocean, Mountain, Forest, or Desert person?
Mountain. The majestic nature of mountains inspires me.
On a scale of 1 to 10, how important is Nature to your well-being?
8, except when I am in it. Then it is definitely a 10.
Share with us a childhood nature memory?
Even as a kid, it occurred to me that we have a finite number of sunsets in our life. We do not know in advance how many that is, but I try to make sure to enjoy each one as much as I can.
Maria Jenson
Maria Jenson is recognized as a leader in the arts nationally for advancing innovative strategies to sustain creative communities in the midst of rapidly changing urban environments. As Creative and Executive Director of SOMArts, Jenson has deepened the organization’s commitment to racial equity, creating clear pathways for Bay Area artists to incubate new ideas and grow their careers. Through her leadership, Maria has expanded SOMArts’ educational and public programs, advanced new public-private partnerships, and fostered groundbreaking exhibitions such as The Black Woman is God, The Third Muslim: Queer and Trans* Muslim Narratives of Resistance and Resilience, and many more. These initiatives further SOMArts’ mission to engage the Bay Area’s diverse cultural communities in inspiring creative encounters at the intersection of art and social justice.
As an ardent advocate for the civic and democratic roles cultural institutions should play, Jenson has championed creative projects in community-based and DIY as well as more formal and institutional spaces. Prior to joining SOMArts, Jenson was a key member of the External Relations team in the Marketing and Communications Division managing the transition, rebranding and reopening of SFMOMA during the museum’s $300 million expansion. At SFMOMA, she worked across all departments as a lead project manager on marketing and engagement initiatives and she launched innovative community partnerships as the museum’s Cultural and Civic Ambassador. Jenson produced the museum’s Economic and Cultural Impact study in collaboration with the Boston Consulting Group, demonstrating the crucial role of cultural institutions in the civic and economic life of San Francisco.
Jenson was the Founding Director of ArtPadSF — an independent art fair launched in 2010 in partnership with Chip Conley. ArtPadSF transformed the Phoenix Hotel into an immersive and interactive platform to engage Bay Area artists, gallerists and art lovers, and enjoyed a successful three-year run that helped to launch the careers of many emerging artists.
A graduate of the 2018 Getty Foundation Executive Leadership Institute, Jenson is a sought-after speaker and thought leader on the role of cultural institutions in fostering a more democratic and equitable society. As the Bay Area continues to change, Jenson is leading SOMArts into its next iteration, strengthening and activating all parts of SOMArts' multivalent programming, including growing the organization's site-specific commissions and programs, as well as reinvigorating its artistic presence in the Bay Area.
3 words to describe Nature?
Solitude. Grace. Ancestral
3 things Nature taught you?
Resistance
Adaptability
Collaboration
3 most treasured Nature spots?
Leo Carillo Beach (Malibu, CA)
Multnomah Falls (Oregon)
Cadeques, Spain
When you look at the ocean, it makes you feel...?
At peace and whole
When you see a forest, it makes you feel...?
Mythic, rooted
When you see a volcano, it makes you feel...?
Powerful
When you see a sunrise or sunset, it makes you feel...?
Hopeful
When you hear thunder, it makes you feel...?
Sensual, alert, focused
When you hear the wind howling, it makes you feel...?
Edgy
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?
Planting a tree in my backyard and watching it grow over the years.
Ken Gart
Ken Gart has been a partner at The Gart Companies since its inception in 1992. Prior to that time he was Co-President and Chief Merchandising Officer at Gart Bros. Sporting Goods, a family-owned and operated corporation, from 1983 to 1992. Ken started Specialty Sports Venture, LLC (SSV) in 1994 and built it to over 140 stores and into the nation’s leading specialty ski and bicycle retailer. SSV included Aspen Sports, Telluride Sports, Boulder Ski Deals, Colorado Ski and Golf and roughly 30 other trade names. The company was sold to Vail Resorts in 2010.
Ken was chairman of the Board of Denver Bike Sharing (DBA B-Cycle) where he was appointed to the position by then Mayor and now Governor John Hickenlooper. Denver B-Cycle was the first major city-wide bike sharing to launch in the US. Ken is currently chair of the Board for RPM Events Group which owns the Colorado Classic and Velorama. The Colorado Classic is a global professional cycling competition and Velorama is a music festival. The goals of the RPM Events Group are around health & wellness & economic development for Colorado. Ken has been called by Governor Hickenlooper his “Bike Czar”. This is a voluntary position to make Colorado the most bicycle friendly state in America.
Ken has held various memberships, directorships and chairmanships with The Nature Conservancy, the Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce, Telluride Foundation, Colorado Conservation Trust, Denver Area Council Boy Scouts of America, Denver Metro Boys & Girls Clubs and the Denver Metro Convention & Visitors Bureau. Further, he serves on numerous other non-profit boards and committees.
Ken Attended Claremont Men’s College and graduated from Middlebury College and Stanford Graduate School of Business. He and his wife Rebecca have three children. Ken is an athlete, having climbed over 30 of Colorado’s 14,000-foot peaks, and is an enthusiast in the sports of skiing and cycling.
3 words to describe Nature?
Passion. Relief. Opportunity.
3 things Nature taught you?
Stop Breathe Relax Listen as you say so well
Instant change of perspective. It forces to think differently.
Self awareness and all the possibilities
3 most treasured Nature spots?
On any mountain with any of my 3 children. The time with my children in nature is priceless. The bond it creates is profound and so rewarding.
Any aerobic outdoor location. I love how exercising in the outdoors makes me feel. It is more than simply getting a shot of endorphins, it is more a full experience of feeling alive.
On a Colorado mountain, in winter, during a powder day, the rush is priceless
When you look at the ocean, it makes you feel…?
Inspired. Small. and refreshed. It brings me back to this balcony in Italy, 20 years ago, overlooking the sea. My wife and I had just gotten engaged. We were looking at the water and started to cry, thinking about both of our parents who had passed away. There is something about self reflection and the ocean.
When you see a forest, it makes you feel…?
Fresh and full of air. Climbing up a mountain, you pass a point where you loose the trees. It is too high for them to grow, not enough oxygen and moisture. So when you come down the mountain and reach the tree line, smelling the pine cones and all the different aromas, it is comforting and refreshing. It is like coming home after a hard day’s work.
When you see a volcano, it makes you feel…?
Reminds me of the smallness of the human species. How little we matter. How our impact on the world (in the big sense) is borderline insignificant.
When you see a sunrise or sunset, it makes you feel…?
It is a moment of reflection. It puts me in touch with the day that is ahead and the day that has passed. It reminds me of the cycle of life, the beginnings and the ends, the past and the future, what was, is and will be.
When you hear thunder, it makes you feel…?
I really like the thunder. It is a cool way to experience nature. Feeling the energy around you, this incredible force of nature that is so powerful. It is inspiring.
When you hear the wind howling, it makes you feel…?
On the other end, the wind howling makes me ominous. When I am hiking, biking, climbing, and its starts to blow, I get the feeling of being threatened.
Are you an Ocean, Mountain, Forest, or Desert person?
Mountain through and through
On a scale of 1 to 10, how important is Nature to your well-being?
9
Share with us a childhood nature memory?
Camping. Our family wasn’t too big on camping, but I remember the few moments we did, with my father and brothers. What I remember the most is the campfire. Being in the outdoors, around the campfire, hearing the fire crackle, smelling the wood burning, it is a powerful experiences that touches so many senses. It is extremely comforting yet threatening. As a child, it is life changing.
Kent Thiry
Kent Thiry is chairman and CEO of DaVita, a FORTUNE 200 company with 75,000 teammates and approximately $14 billion in revenues. The company operates in 11 countries globally, delivering clinically differentiated health care to nearly 2 million patients.
DaVita has been the subject of leadership and culture case studies written by both Harvard and Stanford, and taught in many other schools and programs. Kent sits on the Harvard Business School’s advisory board and is regularly invited to speak on leadership and culture at top business schools, companies and not-for-profit leadership groups.
In 2016 he led Let Colorado Vote, a group that passed two ballot initiatives, one that re- established the presidential primary in Colorado and a second that opens Colorado’s primaries to unaffiliated voters. He is currently leading a redistricting reform initiative, Fair Maps Colorado, as well as a statewide Path to Shared Prosperity blueprint process with a group of CEOs from most of Colorado’s largest companies. He also co-founded The Aspen Group with Senators Bill Frist and Tom Daschle.
Prior to joining DaVita, Kent served in several senior executive roles, including chairman and CEO of Vivra Specialty Partners, a specialty health care company; president and then CEO of Vivra, a NYSE health care service company; and partner at Bain & Company. Prior board seats include the non- executive Chairmanship of Oxford Health Plans.
Kent earned his B.A. in political science, with distinction, from Stanford University, where he also was elected to Phi Beta Kappa, in 1978. He earned his M.B.A., with honors, from Harvard Business School in 1983, where he was also elected to the Century Club.
3 words to describe Nature?
Awesome. Complex. Essential
3 things Nature taught you?
The power of rejuvenation
The power of fresh air
How everything is connected
3 most treasured Nature spots?
Our family cottage in Wisconsin
Colorado rockies
Any place with a mountain bike trail that is far away from the road
When you look at the ocean, it makes you feel…?
Small, in awe, & connected
When you see a forest, it makes you feel…?
Peaceful, hopeful, & it creates in me a higher level of energy
When you see a volcano, it makes you feel…?
Respect, timelessness, a sense of faith, power that is beyond our realm and reach
When you see a sunrise or sunset, it makes you feel…?
Fulfilled, calm, human
When you hear thunder, it makes you feel…?
Sense of anticipation, respect for the Universe, quiet
When you hear the wind howling, it makes you feel…?
Depends where I am and the clothes I am wearing. When backpacking I get a sense of excitement, that a challenge is coming. I need to know where safe ground is. It also reminds me the appreciation for the basics - being warm and dry.
Are you an Ocean, Mountain, Forest, or Desert person?
Forest first, mountain second, ocean third.
On a scale of 1 to 10, how important is Nature to your well-being?
9
Share with us a childhood nature memory?
Running through the forest in northern Wisconsin.
Chef Niki Nakayama
For Niki Nakayama, the art of cooking all comes down to feeling. Always one to follow her intuition, Nakayama’s instincts guide her path as a chef, and it continues to be the driving force behind every dish she creates. At n/naka, her highly acclaimed restaurant in West Los Angeles, Nakayama secures her place among the foremost chefs in the world of modern kaiseki—a traditional Japanese dining discipline based in gratitude and appreciation that balances taste, texture, and presentation through a progression of dishes served in a meticulous, thoughtfully curated order. For Nakayama, the kaiseki philosophy allows her to show a deep appreciation for the beauty of nature, with the purpose of, “highlighting natural flavors, presenting them in their purest way without over-complication, and serving them how they were meant to be in their peak season.”
Born and raised in Los Angeles, Nakayama began her career at the popular Takao restaurant in Brentwood, following her graduation from culinary school in nearby Pasadena. After embarking on a three-year working tour of Japan immersing herself in the deeply nuanced methods and flavors of both traditional and contemporary Japanese cuisine, including the art of traditional kaiseki, Nakayama returned to her hometown to open Azami Sushi Café on Melrose Avenue.
After eight years—during which she became known for her omakase menu—the chef branched out to host elaborate chef’s table dinners that resulted in Nakayama’s modernized kaiseki dining experience, which has become the signature cuisine of n/naka. As Nakayama describes, “I was ready to put my name on something, ready to take that leap and challenge myself—and ready to take the traditional kaiseki philosophy and make it my own.”
Today, n/naka serves as a global destination for modern kaiseki with a California twist, at which Nakayama serves world-class, artfully curated, and exquisite dishes in a progression designed to reflect the mood of season, time, and place. One of the toughest reservations to get in L.A., n/naka’s books typically fill up three months out, a testament to Nakayama’s resonance in the international culinary world. Critics also take note—the restaurant has appeared on Jonathan Gold’s “101 Best Restaurants” every year since opening in 2013, and continues to catch the attention of media including T Magazine (The New York Times), Eater, Vogue.com, and many more.
Nakayama’s devotion to sustainability also plays out at n/naka, with currently 70% of its ingredients sourced locally—a rarity in Japanese fine dining. At 2017’s Food on Edge symposium in Galway, Ireland, she explained how the pillars of kaiseki, to integrate your surroundings into the cuisine, find harmony with these sustainability initiatives.
Outside of the restaurant, the chef can be found at her Los Angeles home spending time with her wife and their three dogs—a golden retriever, a Chihuahua, and a terrier mix. One of her favorite pastimes, playing guitar, “allows for decompression,” she says, when she steps away from the kitchen.
3 words to describe Nature?
GIVING. VAST. BEAUTIFUL
3 things Nature taught you?
APPRECIATION
GRATITUDE
HUMILITY
3 most treasured Nature spots?
ALL OCEANS, MOUNTAINS, FORESTS
When you look at the ocean, it makes you feel…?
ALIVE AND SMALL
When you see a forest, it makes you feel…?
PEACE
When you see a volcano, it makes you feel…?
WONDER
When you see a sunrise or sunset, it makes you feel…?
LOVE
When you hear thunder, it makes you feel…?
SCARED
When you hear the wind howling, it makes you feel…?
WONDER
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?
THE FIRST TIME I EVER PLAYED IN THE SNOW AT BIG BEAR, I THOUGHT I’D FOUND MAGIC POWDER. EVERY TIME I SEE SNOW, IT REMINDS ME OF HAPPINESS AND HOLIDAYS.
Cherae Robinson
Cheraé Robinson is an entrepreneur, global development expert, DJ, and modern Pan-Africanist who is the founder and CEO of Tastemakers Africa, an experiences marketplace connecting curious travelers to local insiders in African cities. For nearly a decade, Cheraé sat at the nexus between science and partnerships raising visibility and support for large international nonprofit organizations. Her expertise centers on agriculture and public health with an emphasis on women-centered community programs. In this capacity she has spent time at the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center, and CARE. Cherae was a part of the team that created the Borlaug Institute for South Asia, a $100 Million USD Agricultural research institution in Delhi, India and the Carlos Slim Biotechnology Center, a $80 Million research facility in Texcoco, Mexico. She has traveled and worked in nearly 40 countries.
The winner of the inaugural “She Leads Africa” startup competition, Ms. Robinson has been named one of 10 Emerging Women Entrepreneurs in Africa by Forbes.com, one of 20 to watch by leading Silicon Valley trends group Culture Shift Labs, and a Woman to Watch by the United Nations Foundation and Innov8tive Magazine. Most recently she was named one of "50 People Changing The Way We Travel" by Conde Naste Traveller Magazine.
Cherae is a member Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Inc. and earned her Bachelor of Science in Biology from Morgan State University. She splits her time between Brooklyn, NY and city-hopping the African continent. When not tackling the demands of running a fast-moving startup she spends her time learning every meme she can from her 10 year old son “Trace”
3 words to describe Nature?
Peace. Open. Possibility.
3 things Nature taught you?
Life has a rhythm
The world is much bigger than me
There is a realm to be understood beyond the noise we create
3 most treasured Nature spots?
The Hudson River
When you look at the ocean, it makes you feel…?
At peace
When you see a forest, it makes you feel…?
Curious
When you see a volcano, it makes you feel…?
In awe
When you see a sunrise or sunset, it makes you feel…?
Alive
When you hear thunder, it makes you feel…?
Nervous
When you hear the wind howling, it makes you feel…?
On edge
Are you an Ocean, Mountain, Forest, or Desert person?
An Ocean person
On a scale of 1 to 10, how important is Nature to your well-being?
9
Share with us a childhood nature memory?
I fell in love with both reading and nature on a summer vacation where I was visiting a friend of the family on Lake Ontario. Each morning I would wake up, read Anne of Green Gables and look out the window at the lake. By sunset I was skipping rocks across the lake after my daily swim. It was a beautiful moment to have as a child
Kody & Kyler McCormick
Brotherly duo, Kody and Kyler McCormick, founder of The Outbound Life, have never been interested in following the crowd. At young ages they set out to live out their dreams of travel, filmmaking, and entrepreneurship. This non-traditional path lead them to learn from some of their biggest heroes on the planet, receive recognition and sponsorship by some of the top brands in their industries, produce content for Fortune 500 brands, and speak on stages all across the country inspiring youth to chase their passions. The brothers have been seen and heard on platforms ranging from TEDx to Forbes, and LinkedIn’s Official Blog.
3 words to describe Nature?
Adventure. Peace. Recalibration
3 things Nature taught you?
To relax
To push my body physically
To live with less
3 most treasured Nature spots?
BC Canada
Northern California
Colorado Rocky Mountains
When you look at the ocean, it makes you feel…?
Small and humbled
When you see a forest, it makes you feel…?
As alive as ever.
When you see a volcano, it makes you feel…?
Curious of the science behind it
When you see a sunrise or sunset, it makes you feel…?
Eager to explore
When you hear thunder, it makes you feel…?
God is in control
When you hear the wind howling, it makes you feel…?
Determined to push on.
Are you an Ocean, Mountain, Forest, or Desert person?
Mountain/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’ll never forget taking ski trips with my family as a kid to Colorado. Beyond the hours spent carving fresh powder, my favorite part has always been to ski to an area where I was alone on the mountain where I could sit down and take in the view. The sounds of the world seem to drown away in the surrounding snow and the crisp air has a way of recalibrating the soul. This has been one of my favorite past times and I make it a point to be alone for awhile on every ski trip.
Kevin Kelly
Kevin Kelly is Senior Maverick at Wired magazine. He was the founding Executive Editor for Wired in 1993, until 2000. His latest book is called The Inevitable, which is a New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestseller. He is also founding editor of the popular Cool Tools website, which has been reviewing tools daily since 2003. Every Sunday he and the Cool Tools team mail out Recomendo, a free one-page list of 6 very brief recommendations of cool stuff.
3 words to describe Nature?
Complex. Self-correcting. Flux.
3 things Nature taught you?
First nature taught me about the importance of constantly learning. Secondly, it also taught me about doing it my own way. Life is always hacking the rules and figuring out some solution. It is eternally surprising how every creature has figured out its own crazy livelihood by hacking the "rules" of biology. Each individual species is incredibly unique, even when they are related. Thirdly, it taught me that I am part of nature. I realized that there is only one life. Not in a poetic sense, but in an actual technical sense. That literally the lives of everybody and every living thing all go back, without interruption, to the very beginning of the first cell. There is just this one life that we keep replicating. Really there is only one life.
3 most treasured Nature spots?
I really enjoy Yosemite. There is something about the scale, the depth and proportions of Yosemite that is very special for me. It is a type of wilderness that is accessible and touchable.
I have a particular relationship with the Himalayas since I have I spent a lot of time there. There is something about that giant wall of snow stretching over the horizon as far as one can see. It affects me in a way that is hard to describe. These mountains have their own gravity and I can feel it the same way that I feel the Earth’s gravity. I am pulled to the Himalayas.
I am not a scuba diver, just a snorkeler, but the underwater is for me really an out-of-this-planet experience. I will never leave Earth but watching those sponges, corals and otherworldly creatures gives me the sense of exploring worlds that are beyond my reach. The underwater is an endless Star Trek movie for me.
When you look at the ocean, it makes you feel...?
Small. I see the ocean everyday. I am nothing, it is so huge, and powerful.
When you see a forest, it makes you feel...?
Comforted. I feel really comfortable in a forest. There is something about a kind of presence of trees. Those wooden beings have some sort of elder wisdom. Except though at night. I can get spooked walking in a forest in the dark. I know it is totally irrational but I do. Maybe because the trees are watching.
When you see a volcano, it makes you feel...?
Smart. I know it is bizarre to say. There is something primevally basic about volcanos and lava. Seeing them reminds me of how far we have come from rock. Billions of years separate us. Lava and rock is everything that I am no longer.
When you see a sunrise or sunset, it makes you feel...?
Time. I feel the cycle that happens every day, and every time I look at the sun's arrival or departure, I find something new and interesting. There is a childlike spell to it.
When you hear thunder, it makes you feel...?
Very excited. Thunder doesn’t come without lightning and I think lightning is just amazing.
When you hear the wind howling, it makes you feel...?
When the wind comes, my responsible mature home-owner mode kicks in. In my head, I am going through a checklist. Are the latches shut and locked? Is everything tied down? Are we secured? I am immediately thinking of safety and security.
Are you an Ocean, Mountain, Forest, or Desert person?
I am not a beach person or ocean person. I am most comfortable in the forest and mountains, but when I am in the desert, I am probably closer to my true self.
On a scale of 1 to 10, how important is Nature to your well-being?
To be honest it is probably an 8 for me personally. I am fortunate and have the privileged of living in a place that is right at the edge of a National Park. I mean literally our backyard touches it. The bobcats and mountain lions are right behind our house. We are also only less than a mile from the Pacific ocean. But we have a yard and garden and live only 9 miles from San Francisco. Wilderness is a tough place to be. I don’t think it is necessary that we live in wilderness, but it is important that it remains available. Like a bank we go to, to rejuvenate ourselves as a species. I think it is crucial that wilderness be there for humans. We need to protect it not just for its sake, but for ours. In the perspective of our human well-being, it is a 10.
Share with us a childhood nature memory?
I grew up in Northern New Jersey, and at that time, one block over from where we lived was a patch of trees that we called “The Woods”. In retrospect, it wasn’t very big, but as a kid, it was everything. We were free range kids. I mean our mom would send us out in the morning and we would ride our bicycles for miles away. I spent a whole lot of time in “The Woods”. We were doing all kind of stuff. I remember we were digging and looking for Native American arrow heads. I know now there are no Native American arrow heads out there, but we were looking for them, and then making our own bows and arrows. I also planted seeds in different patterns on the ground hoping that some day the plants would be growing in that pattern, creating some weird arrangement. People would wonder what was going on with those bizarre plants. “The Woods” was very important for me as a kid. At one point I made a nature museum. While the other kids were interested in kit models making planes and cars, I was making bird models so that I could identify them. It is hard to imagine how different my life would be had it not been for “The Woods”.
Candice Cook
Candice Cook Simmons is the Managing Partner at The Cook Law Group, a published writer, noted philanthropist, and business strategist in the technology, entertainment, and corporate sectors.
Her career began in private practice as a litigator where she represented luxury hotels, television and cable executives, real estate developers, technology companies, and an assortment of Forbes' and Fortune's notable business executives and corporate giants. Cook later expanded her experience beyond litigation to include a vast array of intellectual property, media, telecommunications, and social media issues. Her success in finding creative business-oriented solutions resulted in her invitation to join the Advisory Committee of several startups including music industry technology startup BlazeTrak, Para Music Group, and fashion industry pioneer, Fashion Advance. Today, Cook's firm has handled groundbreaking intellectual property matters—including the trademarking and strategy behind Dominique Ansel’s Cronut™ pastry—and business, entertainment, social impact/entrepreneurship, and talent issues for clients across the globe including Japan, China, Israel, Monaco, Mexico, France, U.S., UAE, and the UK.
Her success resulted in her being honored as a Pearl Honoree in 2009, selected as a finalist for Atlanta's Power 30 Under 30 Award, and a winner of the Celebration Award in Law in 2012. In 2013, she was selected as the Hollywood Power Player by Hollywood & Vine Magazine and in 2014 she was selected as the Barrier Breaker award recipient for her work in the field of law and for her vast hands-on philanthropic engagement addressing education, humanitarian matters, and social justice. She appeared in the HBO documentary "Good hair," the 2009 winner for Special Jury Prize for U.S. documentary at the Sundance Film Festival as well as the documentary Sag Harbor on the OWN network as part of the #Selma50 network campaign. She has also appeared in the American Bar Association Journal, O Magazine, Elle Magazine, The Today Show, and Sirius Radio. She was cited as one of the top interviews for the “Talentedly” platform of 2015 as well as one of the top-five podcast interviews for “Today’s Leading Women.” In 2015, she was the number 1 downloaded interview on the business podcast “Beyond The Business Suit”.
Cook is a contributing writer for the Levo League, Women 2.0, and Conscious Magazine and was a contributing author of the book Conquering The Bar Exam and Co-Editor of the Culture Shift Labs 20 People To Watch of 2015. She serves as an Advisory Executive Member for the United Way of New York's Young Professional Board, is an Advisory Board Member for TheHistoryMakers in Chicago, works to increase engagement as a Committee Member for Jazz at Lincoln Center, served as the Young Professional Board Member for both the Apollo Theater and New York Needs You and served on the Leadership Board for the Council of Urban Professionals. For the past two years, Cook has worked with the 12 Days of Christmas Organization in New York to provide necessities to families across the five boroughs in New York during the month of December and she has also worked to increase STEM awareness through her Advisory Board Work with the M.O.B. Accelerator and CultureShiftLabs. Most recently, Cook was proud to see her work with the rich history of TheHistoryMakers (the single largest archival collection of African-American oral history) rewarded via its acquisition by the Library of Congress. In 2014, Cook served as a Host for the Andrew Goodman Foundation Hidden Heroes Award. In addition to her legal practice, Cook is currently using her platform to aid the Ford Foundation via its Think Tank to assist with the “innovation economy” of Detroit.
3 words to describe Nature?
Calming. Authentic. Transformative.
3 things Nature taught you?
Nature has taught me to be patient; to respect life's process and the universe's unquestionable power; and to be reminded that all things are connected and each action has a direct consequence that affects things that are directly seen and also unseen by me.
3 most treasured Nature spots?
I am from Atlanta, Georgia. Although I live near the concrete jungle now, I am blessed to have a beautiful backyard at my childhood home that is deep green with rose bushes and honeysuckle. My yard had plum trees, muscadines, and figs and the trees provide a balance of beauty and strength.
In New York, I treasure spending time in Sag Harbor with my son by the pond under a tree near my husband's family home. This spot is perfect for aiding me in lulling my son to sleep, viewing animals in the wild without being intrusive, and engaging in quiet reflection.
I went dog sledding in Utah and forever understood the feeling of losing your breath because of the beauty of nature. I always considered myself a beach person. I love the white Driftwood on the beaches on the Georgia Isles and the white sand of Turks & Caicos. But there was something about the mountains, and the trees under the landscape of a flawless sky that brought me so much peace, serenity, and resolve.
When you look at the ocean, it makes you feel...?
Relaxed
When you see a forest, it makes you feel...?
Motivated
When you see a volcano, it makes you feel...?
In awe
When you see a sunrise or sunset, it makes you feel...?
Blessed (to see another sunset or sunrise is a blessing). There are people who woke up who didn't get to live to see the sunset and there are many who went to bed and did not live to see another sunrise...life is a gift).
When you hear thunder, it makes you feel...?
The need to keep things in perspective...storms come when they come and the only way to get through is to hold your own as best you can while it passes.
When you hear the wind howling, it makes you feel...?
The need to be "ready".
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?
8.5
Share with us a childhood nature memory?
My childhood was spent playing barefoot in the grass and grabbing honeysuckle from the vines while perfecting the art of tearing off the end of the honeysuckle and tasting the sweet nectar with friends until the sun went down.
Tina Wells
Tina Wells is the CEO and founder of Buzz Marketing Group, a marketing agency that creates strategies for clients within the beauty, entertainment, fashion, financial, and lifestyle sectors. For more than two decades, Tina has connected thousands of influencers and consumers to brand clients. Since founding her company, she’s developed and managed 30,000 “buzzSpotters” and 7,000 “momSpotters” –influencer and research networks for her clients that include Dell, The Oprah Winfrey Network, and American Eagle Outfitters.
Tina sits on the board of the Young Entrepreneurs Council, the United Nations Foundation’s Global Entrepreneurs Council (emeritus), and the Council of Emeritus Directors of the Philadelphia Orchestra Association. She currently chairs the Programs, Marketing, and Business Development committee of The Franklin Institute where she also serves on the Board of Directors and Executive Committee.
She is a member of the 2017 Class of Henry Crown Fellows within the Aspen Global Leadership Network at the Aspen Institute and the Academic Director (Practicum) of Wharton’s Leadership in the Business World program at the University of Pennsylvania. In 2018, Wells also joined the board of THINX. Her list of honors includes The Girl Scouts’ Woman of Distinction, Cosmopolitan’s Fun Fearless Phenom Award, Essence’s 40 Under 40, Billboard’s 30 Under 30, Inc’s 30 Under 30, and Fast Company’s 100 Most Creative People in Business.
Wells is the author of the best-selling tween fiction series Mackenzie Blue and the marketing handbook Chasing Youth Culture And Getting It Right. Wells’ writing has appeared in the Huffington Post,he Journal of the American College of Radiology, Inc, Black Enterprise, Media Post, and Retail Merchandiser Magazine.
3 words to describe Nature?
Peaceful. Vibrant. Majestic.
3 things Nature taught you?
That there is something much bigger than me and any problem I think I might have. Also, there’s a rhythm to the world and things continue to move in their cycles and serve their purpose.
3 most treasured Nature spots?
Lancaster, PA - where I’m from. Gorgeous pastures, rolling hills, absolutely stunning.
Maasai Mara, Kenya - my first safari and trip to Africa, the most beautiful place I’ve ever been
Tuscany, Italy - my brother has lived here for almost 10 years with his wife. I visit often and fall in love all over again each time.
When you look at the ocean, it makes you feel...?
Calm. Just hearing the ocean calms me.
When you see a forest, it makes you feel...?
Safe and secure. I also feel in awe at the enormity of it all.
When you see a volcano, it makes you feel...?
Awestruck...but a little helpless and scared too.
When you see a sunrise or sunset, it makes you feel...?
Happy. A sunrise or sunset is an instant mood booster for me.
When you hear thunder, it makes you feel...?
Curious.
When you hear the wind howling, it makes you feel...?
Scared by the power of it.
Are you an Ocean, Mountain, Forest, or Desert person?
Mountain, for sure!
On a scale of 1 to 10, how important is Nature to your well-being?
9. When I purchased my home 11 years ago I planted some trees that are now enormous. Just seeing them every single day, in every season makes me feel so happy.
Share with us a childhood nature memory?
I’m the eldest of six children, and growing up my dad would take all of the kids in the neighborhood on nature hikes and trips to the park. I grew up in the part of southern New Jersey that is known for its farms. I still live there and see deer almost every night. Those park trips with all of my siblings and our friends were the best.
Greg Smith
Greg Smith is CEO of Icebreaker part of VF Corporation. Prior to this, Greg was General Manager for Icebreaker NZA (Australasia) having joined the company in 2013.
Greg has worked in a number of retail positions over the past 25 years and as GM for NZA was a key part of the Global Executive team spearheading the expansion of the traditionally wholesale led business into the new omni channel consumer led world we now live in.
Greg’s role gives him a unique opportunity to oversee the ongoing profitability and growth of wholesale and eCom side of the business along with retail.
His philosophy on success is simple. Recruit great people, give them clear responsibility and accountabilities and let them win.
Born and raised in New Zealand, when Greg is not in the market, he can be found catching the best surf breaks, playing football, or running around with his wife keeping up with the keen pursuits of their five children.
3 words to describe Nature?
Everything. Powerful. Beautiful.
3 things Nature taught you?
Humility
Appreciation
Perspective - it makes you realize how connected we are to something bigger, it helps you understand the role that we play in the Universe. We are One with the Universe.
3 most treasured Nature spots?
Cardrona, New Zealand
Mangawhai Heads, New Zealand
The Catlins, New Zealand
When you look at the ocean, it makes you feel…?
Energized
When you see a forest, it makes you feel…?
Calm
When you see a volcano, it makes you feel…?
Small
When you see a sunrise or sunset, it makes you feel...?
Satisfied
When you hear thunder, it makes you feel…?
Excited
When you hear the wind howling, it makes you feel...?
Scared
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, it brings me peace, wellness and happiness, but I also can cope without it. I just need to return to nature every time I need to replenish myself, after a lot of traveling or working for long periods in the city.
Share with us a childhood nature memory?
I was skiing with friends on Mt Ruapehu - the conditions were great, the weather superb and everybody was having fun. Then a series of small events led us into a really unfortunate situation and suddenly we found ourselves fighting for our lives. I didn’t know if I was going to survive, it was really scary, but it was also an extremely powerful experience. It taught me about humility and perspective, how you can enjoy nature one minute, feel like you are heaven, then within a blink of an eye, you struggle to survive. Never take anything for granted.
Jacqueline Raposo
Jacqueline Raposo has written over three-hundred interview-focused features articles for major food publications. Her stories center around the culture of food – how eating connects and disconnects us – as well as the challenges facing those in the hospitality industry today. She also pens essays on functioning in a busy world as an adult with lifelong chronic illness. Her first book – The Me, Without: A Year Exploring Habit, Healing, and Happiness – publishes in January.
Jacqueline finds humans fascinating, and believes everyone has a story to share. She walked barefoot in the New England woods often as a child of the early nineties, got Lyme disease, and lives with complications to this day. Jacqueline still goes camping, identifies trees and birds, and takes her dog (who’s had Lyme, too) out in the grass any chance she gets. She can’t go far, but she goes deep.
3 words to describe Nature?
Detoxifying. Fortifying. Unanswerable.
3 things Nature taught you?
Talk less, listen more.
Pay attention – a hawk can kill a junco in two seconds flat – don’t miss the moment.
Nothing I create will ever be as beautiful as a walk with my dog during a snowstorm.
3 most treasured Nature spots?
Overlooking the Atlantic from Sao Miguel in the Azores, where my father is from.
The honey locust, tree of heaven, and plants deskside on my windowsill in New York.
Any forest in New England I can go into with my best friend, Lyndsey.
When you look at the ocean, it makes you feel...?
Small and powerless and insignificant and humble. In the best possible way.
When you see a forest, it makes you feel...?
Ready for a very slow walk to make up stories, identify things, and whisper quietly so to not wake sleeping trolls.
When you see a volcano, it makes you feel...?
Like an upward adventure is about to happen.
When you see a sunrise or sunset, it makes you feel...?
Like I can almost see the ghosts of all those who have stood in that same spot before me, equally in awe.
When you hear thunder, it makes you feel...?
Like I should stop what I’m doing and observe the sky, so I’ll know how it’s changed later.
When you hear the wind howling, it makes you feel…?
Like it’s time to get out a notebook and fountain pen.
Are you an Ocean, Mountain, Forest, or Desert person?
Forest. I’m never more at home then when with the trees, nestled alongside water. If I can be in water surrounded by trees, even better. Hot springs? Never leaving.
On a scale of 1 to 10, how important is Nature to your well-being?
10. I live in a city, yet surround myself with Nature. I find it everywhere. I cannot live without it.
Share with us a childhood nature memory?
My favorite books in childhood were those about running away to live in the woods: The Boxcar Children, My Side of the Mountain, etc. I succeeded only in decorating an empty shed with plates made from broken floor tiles, building a fire pit in the woods behind our property and, eventually, trying to heal my dad’s poison ivy with a soak made from ferns. It was something.
April Vokey
Photo by Jeremy Koreski
April Vokey began fishing as a toddler. By the sixth grade she was saving her allowance for weekend visits to the local tackle shop where she eventually stocked her ‘hand-me-down’ Plano box with every lure and bait she could afford.
After discovering a passion for fly fishing in her late teens, April soon dedicated her entire life to the pursuit. She began her guiding career on the Fraser and Harrison rivers for sturgeon and salmon, but left after several season to found her own guiding operation, Fly Gal Ventures, in 2007 at age 24. The company was built on the basis of the promotion of education and encouragement to those who looked to chase their dreams. She has since established herself as a respected authority in the sport and has traveled the globe in pursuit of gamefish on a fly rod.
Her writing has appeared in numerous industry leading publications including Fly Fisherman, Fly Rod & Reel, and Fly Fusion magazines. In July 2012, April became the first fly angler to be featured in Outside magazine for their “XX-Factor” segment.
Also a popular TV personality, April has been featured on the Outdoor Channel’s Buccaneers and Bones series, 60 Minutes Sports, The Steve Harvey show, Discovery Channel’s Refined, Discovery’s/OLN’s Close Up Kings, and WFN’s Fly Nation TV.
Most recently, Vokey proudly wrote and hosted her own exclusive series, ShoreLines with April Vokey, as shown on the World Fishing Network. The series focuses on fly-fishing’s rich history and the people it consists of. Feeling limited by airtime, she has since branched out with her podcast, Anchored with April Vokey, an uncensored series dedicated to archiving the stories and personalities from some of fly-fishing’s most influential people. The show is one of the only fishing podcasts solely recorded in a face to face environment where April ensures to ask questions apart from the norm.
She now resides in Canada for six months of the year, and in Australia for the other six. Her dog, Colby, travels with her between countries, keeping her safe from grizzlies and kangaroos alike.
She is a FFF certified casting instructor, a fly-tying instructor, an active conservationist, traveling speaker and an eternal student of life and love.
3 words to describe Nature?
Beauty. Balance. Brutality.
3 things Nature taught you?
How small I really am.
That every day on this planet is a gift.
That predatory animals are more ruthless than an ethical human hunter/angler could ever be.
3 most treasured Nature spots?
BC’s north-west
Australia’s north-west coast
New Zealand’s South Island west-coast
When you look at the ocean, it makes you feel…?
Humbled
When you see a forest, it makes you feel…?
Complete
When you see a volcano, it makes you feel…?
Intimidated
When you see a sunrise or sunset, it makes you feel…?
Thankful
When you hear thunder, it makes you feel…?
Invigorated
When you hear the wind howling, it makes you feel…?
Eager to bunker down
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?
When I was around seven years old my parents took me to a nearby river. A large, chrome chinook salmon lay dead and washed up on the rocks. It hadn’t spawned yet, but had died from a head injury during its migration. My parents explained salmon and their lifecycles. It was an invaluable lesson. In that moment, I learned: how complex BC’s eco-systems are, how the inevitable death of the salmon had a bigger reward in the end, and that I could catch these enormous creatures if I just waited for them to enter the river. From there I became an angler.
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?
Jacques Andre Dupont
Considered by many to be an authority in marketing, sponsorship and the development of large-scale cultural projects, JACQUES-ANDRE DUPONT is the President of L’Équipe Spectra and 3 of the biggest Festivals in Montreal - the International Jazz Festival, the FrancoFolies, & Montréal en Lumière.
Dupont supports the musical development of the next generation of Québécois artists thanks, among other endeavours, to the creation of the Blues Camp for teens during the Festival International de Jazz de Montréal, and staging a series of concerts presenting high school, cegep and university students. In 2017, following the publication of a report by the Conseil des Montréalaises (Montréal Women’s Council), he launched the Hirondelles, an all-female safety team dedicated to maintaining the security and well-being of festival fans and vulnerable people. He is also responsible for many projects addressing the sustainable development of the group, including making the Festival International de Jazz de Montréal carbon neutral, an international first at the time.
He is also a passionate photographer whose work focuses on wildlife and nature. His images have been featured in several major medias like Canadian Geographic, National Geographic, Africa Geographic, Wildlife Photographic, Outdoor Photography, Paris Match, the London Telegraph, China News, La Pravda, etc. His pictures have been selected/or won several photo competitions internationally and have been been exhibited in several countries around the world. With is photography he only wants to achieve one simple goal: bring the beauty of nature into light.
3 words to describe Nature?
Grand. Fragile. Us
3 things Nature taught you?
The more I connect with it, the happier I am.
Even the ugliest animals are beautiful.
It is the best smelling thing ever.
3 most treasured Nature spots?
My three favourite nature spots so far (because I want to see them all!) are
The Serengeti plains of Tanzania because it was love at first sight for me;
Yellowstone National Park, because this where I knew right away I would become a nature and wildlife photographer;
And my own backyard forest in Bolton West, Quebec, because I am the luckiest man in the world to have this in my own backyard every day.
When you look at the ocean, it makes you feel...?
Peaceful. Probably the infinity of it, with the suiting sound of the waves
When you see a forest, it makes you feel...?
Curious! I want to explore it… Find an owl nest or a fox hole. And walk along a trustful moose (which happened to me this spring)
When you see a volcano, it makes you feel...?
Small and scared. Will my number come up today?
When you see a sunrise or sunset, it makes you feel...?
A sunrise? Alive, energized, happy to be up early in the day, and looking forward to what’s next. A sunset? happy, relaxed and looking forward to a glass of wine to celebrate the day that just ended so well.
When you hear thunder, it makes you feel...?
Hoping for a spectacle: the drums, the light show… It’s better than Cirque du Soleil!
When you hear the wind howling, it makes you feel...?
Wanting to snuggle with my wife, as usually it is winter and -20 celsius outside, at our home that we named Domaine des Vents (Field of Winds), for it is really the windiest place.
Are you an Ocean, Mountain, Forest, or Desert person?
I think I am an African plains person. That is why I love also so much the Serengeti AND Yellowstone (as it is called the Serengeti of America…).
On a scale of 1 to 10, how important is Nature to your well-being?
10, and then some! For the last 20 years I have been suffering from anxiety attacks on a regular basis… I guess that stress is my Achilles' heel… But since the last few years, nature photography has been the most amazing medicine for me…
Share with us a childhood nature memory?
It's the blue hour, just after the sunset. My dad took me fishing, north of Quebec city. And suddenly, for the first time ever, I hear the call of the loon. Wow! It sounds like a wolf. I am mesmerized by it. Since then, every time I hear a loon calling I go right back to that day, where I was so well, with my dad.
Felicity Aston
Felicity Aston is the first and only woman in the world to ski across Antarctica alone. The 1,744km, 59-day journey completed in January 2012 also made her the first person in the world to traverse the continent purely by muscle power without the aid of kites or machines. In 2015 she was awarded the Queen’s Polar Medal for services in Antarctica and was appointed MBE for services to Polar Exploration.
In 2009 she led the 38-day, 911km Kaspersky Lab Commonwealth Antarctic Expedition, the largest and most international women’s team ever to ski to the South Pole. The team included women from Brunei Darussalam, Cyprus, Ghana, India, Jamaica, Singapore, New Zealand. Felicity was responsible for selecting and training this diverse, multicultural team of novice adventurers for one of the most arduous journeys on Earth. Her book about the expedition, ‘Call of the White: Taking the World to the South Pole’ was published in March 2011 and was a finalist in the Banff Mountain Book Competition. She has written two further books, ‘Alone in Antarctica’ (with a foreword by Joanne Lumley) and ‘Chasing Winter: A journey to the Pole of Cold’.
Previously, Felicity has led several other notable expeditions including the first British women’s crossing of Greenland, a 700km winter crossing of Lake Baikal in a Siberian winter and an adventurous expedition in Iceland for young people with a brain injury. She was also part of the first, ever, all-female team to complete the Polar Challenge, a 500km endurance race to the magnetic north pole, and has completed the notorious Marathon Des Sables, a 150-mile foot race across the Sahara. More recently, Felicity led a 35,000km expedition in a Land Rover Defender to the Pole of Cold (the coldest inhabited place in the world) in the far northeast of Siberia. Felicity has been elected Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society (with IBG) in London and is a Fellow of The Explorers Club in New York.
Trained as a Physicist and Meteorologist, Felicity’s first polar experience was as a scientist with the British Antarctic Survey. Based for three years on a remote research station on the Antarctic Peninsula, her job was to monitor climate and ozone. In 2013 she co-presented a two-part series for BBC Science exploring atmospheric physics and cloud science called, ‘Operation Cloud Lab: Secrets of the Skies’ and in 2016 she co-presented a three-part series for BBC History called ‘Operation Gold Rush’ retracing the route of the 1898 Klondike stampede across the Yukon.
3 words to describe Nature?
Space. Joy. Relentless
3 things Nature taught you?
Resilience
Perspective
Humility
3 most treasured Nature spots?
Kentish Coast, UK
When you look at the ocean, it makes you feel…?,
Restless
When you see a forest, it makes you feel…?
Protected
When you see a volcano, it makes you feel…?
Small
When you see a sunrise or sunset, it makes you feel...?
Lucky/grateful
When you hear thunder, it makes you feel…?
Nostalgic
When you hear the wind howling, it makes you feel...?
Intrepid
Are you an Ocean, Mountain, Forest, or Desert person?
I'm a snow and ice person...be that on the ocean, in the mountains, within a forest or as a desert
On a scale of 1 to 10, how important is Nature to your well-being?
10
Share with us a childhood nature memory?
My childhood home backed onto woodland. When it snowed - a rare event in southern England - the woodland was transformed into a new and magical place. It was so exciting and even though I knew every inch of the woods I would rush to explore this 'new' environment. I was always very conscious it was temporary, that I had to rush to see everything before it all disappeared.
Lillie Hodges
Lillie Hodges graduated from Middlebury College with a focus in Geography and Global Health and is currently working as a Community Manager at RightPet, building community and content to help people find the right products and techniques to keep their animals happy and healthy. While in Vermont, Lillie worked at 1% for the Planet in its community development team. During her time there, she particularly enjoyed working on partner acquisition and engaging their global network of environmental non-profit organizations.
Lillie’s commitment to experience worlds beyond her own and to foster meaningful connections with people and organizations led her to work for the Aspen Institute in Colorado on their 2016 Aspen Ideas Festival team.
Additionally, she serves as a Vanguard Board Member for the Aspen Institute’s Society of Fellows and a Junior Council Advisor of the American Museum of Natural History. In 2018, she began working on a long-dreamed of personal project - Aspiring Roots. Aspiring Roots is my way of pairing my passion for food and creativity with the insights and lessons I’ve learned about nourishing recipes, self-love practices, and healing techniques.
3 words to describe Nature?
Centering. Alluring. Awe-inducing
3 things Nature taught you?
Perspective
Resilience
Peace
3 most treasured Nature spots?
More Mesa cliff trail, Santa Barbara CA
Roman Road in Grovely Wood, Wiltshire England
Jardin Publique, Bordeaux France
When you look at the ocean, it makes you feel…?
As if the waves can absorb any turbulence within me, challenged by the endless stretching horizon of possibilities, and ultimately relaxed and at peace with the moment.
When you see a forest, it makes you feel…?
Very small and young, and in awe of the resilience and energy within the vast organism of a forest.
When you see a volcano, it makes you feel…?
Humbled by the earth's ability to both destroy and heal, and by my youth and smallness in that moment.
When you see a sunrise or sunset, it makes you feel…?
A sense of opportunity to “reset” myself while feeling in sync with the natural world.
When you hear thunder, it makes you feel…?
Fascinated, thrilled by the suggested risk and power, and reverent for the scale and depth of nature.
When you hear the wind howling, it makes you feel…?
As if it proves nature’s whims can overpower any of New York City’s hum.
Are you an Ocean, Mountain, Forest, or Desert person?
Ocean - The ocean is not only where I seek joy and solace, but also where I’ve learned some important lessons about myself. Overcoming the fear of being past the chaos of the breaking waves, I would spend hours there swimming, floating and jumping with those I love. There is a spot just past the waves where your toes can still barely touch the sand, and where each passing swell challenges the notion that I’m able to control my own destiny, or alone in my journey. In its vastness, it can hold your experience and all the others all at once - often leaving me and anyone I’m with with no idea of the passing time other than being carried down the beach in the current and tides.
On a scale of 1 to 10, how important is Nature to your well-being?
10 - Growing up surrounded by it in Santa Barbara, nature was core to how I could reflect on my wellbeing and find purpose and peace. Now that I'm living in Brooklyn, I've brought the green to me - surrounding myself not only with plants at home and spending many hours in New York’s parks but also with my newest nature-loving family member - Simba, an adopted kitten.
Share with us a childhood nature memory?
As an only child growing upon a horse ranch surrounded by an avocado orchard, I often had wondrous adventures climbing the tree trunks and suspended in the canopies - a source of indepence, satisfaction, and calm. Once, around age 10, I convinced my friend to help me build a ropes course by borrowing my mom’s riding reins and lead ropes. We learned some key lessons about planning and physics that day; and the tree swing, our most stubbornly knotted rope, remained until that part of the orchard was cut down after dying in the CA droughts.
Nicole Davis-Bisnow
Nicole Davis-Bisnow is the founder of RedFlag.org, a 501c3 nonprofit dedicated to inspiring and supporting grassroots activism. Her passion for global activism started early in her career when she worked as an international vanguard journalist covering conflict and human interest stories for Current TV. Davis-Bisnow earned a Bachelor’s Degree in philosophy and a Master’s in Art History from New York University. She is also certified as a facilitator in Equine Therapy from Eponaquest in Southern Arizona. She is currently creating a “healing ranch” in Liberty, Utah as a meeting place for people of all ages, backgrounds and economic access to reconnect with nature and experience the healing power of horses.
3 words to describe Nature?
My. Best. Friend
3 things Nature taught you?
Unconditional Love
Self-Confidence
My Truth
3 most treasured Nature spots?
The American National Parks (a special mention for my hometown parks: The Florida Everglades and Biscayne Bay National Park)
“The Enchanted Forest” a secret spot on Powder Mountain, my current home in the Wasatch Mountains of Northern Utah.
Sarara Camp in Namunyak Sumburu Country, Northern Kenya—a place I consider my home away from home.
When you look at the ocean, it makes you feel…?
The presence of a great compassionate mother
When you see a forest, it makes you feel…?
Connected to ancient wisdom and magic
When you see a volcano, it makes you feel…?
The beating pulse of our Earth’s molten heart
When you see a sunrise or sunset, it makes you feel…?
In awe that no matter how many times I’ve seen a sunrise or sunset I still fill with the same delight and gratitude as the first one
When you hear thunder, it makes you feel…?
Nostalgic for my childhood in Florida
When you hear the wind howling, it makes you feel…?
A stir in my heart to play outside
Are you an Ocean, Mountain, Forest, or Desert person?
An Old Growth Forest and A High Alpine Meadow Person
On a scale of 1 to 10, how important is Nature to your well-being?
10 - My well being and the well being of nature are inextricable.
Share with us a childhood nature memory?
I grew up in a city without a night sky. When I was about five my parents sent me away to the mountains of West Virginia for summer camp. One night our counselors rustled us awake with hushed voices—beckoning us to follow them out into the forest surrounding our cabin. We walked bewildered in the cold night air through excited whispers, until we came to an open meadow. They laid a blanket on the ground for us and had us lay back and look up. My heart ceased. There was not a patch of that moonless sky that didn’t have a glittering star. Just remembering how stunned and enamored I was with that sky, that moment, that ageless understanding of truth, brings tears back to my eyes. Then came my first shooting star, and there was no turning back.
Nathan Irons
Nathan Irons is a founding member of 1% For The Planet and the founder of Bluestone Life, a national insurance organization promoting change by inspiring people to align their values with their finances. Nathan was born and raised in Vermont. He served in the US Navy, is an avid reader and has a deep appreciation for how integrating family, community, and planetary health into decision-making can dramatically improve a family’s quality of life, and their positive impact. He has a long history of entrepreneurial activity in the financial services industry, and has increasingly gravitated toward business ideas and concepts that initiate systems change. Nathan lives in Vermont with his wife and daughter.
3 words to describe Nature?
Beautiful. Solemn. Interconnected
3 things Nature taught you?
Gratitude
Respect
Empathy
3 most treasured Nature spots?
Kauai
Vermont
Forests
When you look at the ocean, it makes you feel...?
Awe
When you see a forest, it makes you feel...?
Alive and respectful
When you see a volcano, it makes you feel...?
Grounded
When you see a sunrise or sunset, it makes you feel...?
Peaceful & Grateful
When you hear thunder, it makes you feel...?
Depth and power
When you hear the wind howling, it makes you feel...?
Like going outside
Are you an Ocean, Mountain, Forest, or Desert person?
Mountainous Forest
On a scale of 1 to 10, how important is Nature to your well-being?
10
Share with us a childhood nature memory?
Spending an entire day playing with rocks in a Vermont brook that ran through a forest where tree roots reached into the water and I could smell the evergreens.
Roz Savage
Roz Savage is an ocean rower, speaker, author, sustainability advocate, and thought leader on the big existential questions of the 21st century. Her feats have been described by Sir Richard Branson as “Heroic, epic, inspiring, historic.” Best known as the first (and so far only) woman to row solo across the world’s “Big Three” oceans - the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian - Rosalind Savage inspires audiences to think again about what is possible, and encourages them to step up fully into the potential of their highest selves.
She has spoken to tens of thousands of people across six continents, including Google, eBay, Hershey, Disney, Kaiser Permanente, National Geographic, the Royal Geographical Society, TED and TEDx, plus numerous schools, universities and corporations.
Roz has appeared on numerous TV channels including CBS, ESPN, Fox News, Channel Four and the BBC, and has been a frequent guest on various radio stations including NPR, BBC (Radio Four, World Service), and the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.
She has been featured in a wide range of newspapers including the New York Times, San Francisco Chronicle, The Daily Telegraph, The Guardian, The Sunday Times, The Observer, The Daily Mail, The Daily Express, The Financial Times and the Evening Standard. Magazine features include Sports Illustrated, Grazia, Red, Outside Magazine and Fortune Magazine. She has written for numerous magazines and websites including Forbes and the Huffington Post, and contributed to over a dozen books on conservation, adventure, lifestyle and women
A documentary based on her Atlantic voyage, “Rowing the Atlantic”, was screened in 32 countries as a finalist in the prestigious Banff Mountain Film Festival.
She has authored two books: “Rowing The Atlantic: Lessons Learned on the Open Ocean” (Simon & Schuster, 2009) and "Stop Drifting, Start Rowing” (Hay House, 2013).
In 2010 Roz was named Adventurer of the Year by National Geographic. In 2012 she was a World Fellow at Yale. In 2013 she was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire in the Queen’s Birthday Honours for services to fundraising and the environment. In 2017 she took up a position at Yale, lecturing on Courage in Theory and Practice.
3 words to describe Nature?
Awe-inspiring. Nourishing. Vital
3 things Nature taught you?
Respect
Humility
Confidence
3 most treasured Nature spots?
Holy Isle, Scotland
Californian Redwoods
The beaches of southwestern Australia
When you look at the ocean, it makes you feel...?
Sad, because they’re in such trouble
When you see a forest, it makes you feel...?
Happy – I love being around trees
When you see a volcano, it makes you feel...?
That the Earth is not as solid or as static as we like to pretend
When you see a sunrise or sunset, it makes you feel...?
Joy
When you hear thunder, it makes you feel...?
Excited
When you hear the wind howling, it makes you feel...?
Energised
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?
11!
Share with us a childhood nature memory?
My mother, sister and I walked the Sandstone Trail when we were living in Cheshire. I especially remember a stretch of the path near Alderley Edge, where there was a row of craggy and scarred Scots Pines fringing the top of a hill. I just loved those trees. They looked like they had experienced so much in their lifetimes. Even now I get that sense when I’m around an old tree – I wonder what changes they have already seen, and what further changes they will see in the future.
Andy Zaremba
ANDY ZAREMBA is a leader in the human consciousness and optimization communities. Located in Vancouver, B.C. In 2013, Andy and his brother Mike, partnered to create the Float House franchise, Canada’s leading flotation therapy centres, which now have eight locations across Western Canada.
In addition, Andy co-hosts (again with brother, Mike) the Vancouver Real podcast, a digital media leader in the human consciousness space. The podcast has produced over 125 episodes with incredible guests such as Dr. Gabor Mate, Graham Hancock, Rick Doblin, and Wim Hof to name just a few.
Personally, Andy is father to Ella Faith, his seven-year-old daughter, whose miraculous birth and survival have been key to Andy’s personal growth and dramatically changed the trajectory of his life. In fact, it was during her ten months’ post-birth in the NICU and following two years with full time home care when Andy began his practice of mindfulness meditation, yoga, and self-education through podcasts. This eventually led him to launch both Float House and Vancouver Real podcast.
Andy is living his vision helping to facilitate the expansion of human consciousness worldwide. His interests include traveling, fitness, martial arts, yoga, plant medicine, meditation, music, art, hiking, scuba diving, and stimulating conversation.
3 words to describe Nature?
Inseparable. Majestic. Chaotic.
3 things Nature taught you?
To accept the finite disposition of our existence.
To know we have very little control over our destinies.
To live in awe of our reality.
3 most treasured Nature spots?
Komodo National Park, accessed through Flores, Indonesia. The incredible marine biodiversity is more rich than I have seen in any other part of the ocean.
Mount Everest and the journey to its base camp. Beautiful mountain ranges, Sherpa villages, Buddhist temples, glacial moraines, and foothills are truly breath taking.
The Amazon basin and surrounding tributaries. The relatively quick life-cycles in and around the Amazon is a stark reminder of the balance between growth and decay, life and death and order and chaos.
When you look at the ocean, it makes you feel…?
In awe of the infinite array of possibilities.
When you see a forest, it makes you feel...?
The apprehensiveness of entering into unexplored territory.
When you see a volcano, it makes you feel...?
Uncertain about the future of humanity given the volatile Nature of our universe.
When you see a sunrise or sunset, it makes you feel...?
I feel a sense of peace or satisfaction in the transitory state between light and dark, with the hope of renewed beginnings.
When you hear thunder, it makes you feel...?
Alert to unexpected phenomena.
When you hear the wind howling, it makes you feel...?
An emptiness that haunts my soul.
Are you an Ocean, Mountain, Forest, or Desert person?
It’s a toss up between Ocean and Mountain.
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 favorite childhood memories in nature was a family visit to the Florida Keys and experiencing snorkeling in the shallow, warm, salty waters for the first time. I remember the ocean feeling very alien. I was curious yet cautious. I’d spent many hours snorkeling in the cold, freshwater lakes of Ontario but the salt water of the ocean threw me off at first. The warmth and extra buoyancy were very welcome. I remember swimming in the shallows over patches of sea weed that would open-up into sandy flats. While swimming across one of them I encountered a stingray. It wasn’t all that big but I remember being warned about stingrays and to avoid them for obvious reasons. At that moment I realized that I was completely out of my element and that the ocean was full of things that could sting and I needed to exercise more caution than I normally would in my day-to-day life. Then, we ventured further out into deeper waters. The vast openness of the water is felt freeing but at the same time a sense of vulnerability. You never know what could be lurking in the waters just out of sight.
I think the entire experience made me more awake to life. Being in new environments forces us to pay attention. It’s so easy to get lost in the mundane of the everyday. We get numb. We intentionally and necessarily ignore anything that’s not immediately useful to us. But once we go into unexplored territory, we pay attention in much more detail. To pay attention is to be awake. To make the unconscious conscious. Nature can provide an excellent opportunity for us to remember to do so.
Gaelin Rosenwaks
GAELIN ROSENWAKS is a marine scientist, explorer, photographer and filmmaker. She began her career working in Antarctica researching over-wintering patterns of Southern Ocean zooplankton after which she earned her Master’s Degree researching the migratory movements of Giant Bluefin Tunas. Alarmed by the changes happening in the oceans, Gaelin founded Global Ocean Exploration, Inc. to share her passion for ocean exploration, marine conservation, and fishing through powerful imagery, words and adventure. She now participates and conducts expeditions in every ocean to alert the public not only to the challenges facing the oceans, but also to what science is doing to understand these changes.
Gaelin is a US Coast Guard Licensed Captain, and a Fellow of both the Royal Geographical Society, the Explorers Club and the Society of Women Geographers. She has published articles in scientific journals, newspapers and magazines and has delivered lectures at many institutions including the Explorers Club, Patagonia, Inc and Yale University. She has also appeared as a scientific consultant and angler on the National Geographic Channel Series, Fish Warrior. Her photography has been displayed in many exhibitions, including solo exhibitions at Duke University, The Maritime Aquarium and the Patagonia Upper West Side Store in NYC. To Gaelin, there is nothing better than being in the open ocean surrounded by endless blue water and passing wildlife.
3 words to describe Nature?
Alive. Complex. Powerful
3 things Nature taught you?
Resilience, the fragility and robustness of life
Respect
How everything in life is interconnected
3 most treasured Nature spots?
Montauk, New York
Haida Gwaii, British Columbia
The Antarctic Peninsula
When you look at the ocean, it makes you feel...?
At ease, the ocean is where I belong.
When you see a forest, it makes you feel...?
Curious
When you see a volcano, it makes you feel...?
Respectful
When you see a sunrise or sunset, it makes you feel...?
Grateful
When you hear thunder, it makes you feel...?
Excited; there is nothing quite as powerful as watching and feeling a storm roll in. The first rumblings of thunder indicate that a storm is coming. When at sea, thunder takes on a different meaning as lightning is so dangerous when on a vessel, but on land, there are few things more rejuvenating than a thunderstorm.
When you hear the wind howling, it makes you feel...?
Like a small speck on the earth
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, if not more. Nature is everything.
Share with us a childhood nature memory?
When I was 8 years old, I snorkeled for the first time in Bali, Indonesia. When I put my head under the water, the colors and movement were overwhelming to my senses. I already loved the ocean, but I will never forget this moment. It opened my eyes to the magic and the mysteries below the surface.
Spencer Bailey
SPENCER BAILEY is the former editorial director of Surface Media and editor-in-chief of Surface magazine. He has contributed to The New York Times Magazine, Newsweek, and Bloomberg Businessweek, and worked at The Daily Beast, Vanity Fair, and Esquire. Bailey wrote and edited the book Tham ma da: The Adventurous Interiors of Paola Navone, which was published by Pointed Leaf Press in 2016.
At Surface, Bailey has interviewed hundreds of leading architects, artists, designers, and others, including David Adjaye, Tadao Ando, Thom Browne, Zaha Hadid, Frank Gehry, Ian Schrager, Philippe Starck, and Kanye West. Bailey was integral to the launches of the Design Dialogues live conversation series, of which he is a frequent moderator, and the Surface Studios brand marketing unit. As editorial director of Surface Media, he oversees the company’s content across a range of digital and print platforms. During three years of reporting for The New York Times Magazine, from 2011 to 2014, he interviewed authors, celebrities, politicians, and cultural figures such as Al Sharpton, Tony Hawk, Rodney King, and Cyndi Lauper for a “How To ...” column.
Bailey is a trustee of the Noguchi Museum in Queens, New York. He also serves on the New York honorary committee of the L’Ecole jewelry-making school, which is supported by Van Cleef & Arpels. He was on the juries of the 2016 James Beard Restaurant Design Awards, the 2016 Rado Star Prize, and the 2017 Swarovski Designers of the Future Award. Born and raised in Denver, Colorado, he is a graduate of Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism and Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania.
3 words to describe Nature?
Reflective. Relaxing. Restorative
3 things Nature taught you?
To appreciate it more.
To slow down.
The importance of quiet.
3 most treasured Nature spots?
Francie’s Cabin, in Breckenridge, Colorado.
Katsura Imperial Villa, in Kyoto, Japan.
The Noguchi Museum, in Queens, New York.
When you look at the ocean, it makes you feel...?
Meditative
When you see a forest, it makes you feel...?
Curious
When you see a volcano, it makes you feel...?
Anxious
When you see a sunrise or sunset, it makes you feel...?
Like I should probably take a photo of it with my iPhone.
When you hear thunder, it makes you feel...?
Excited
When you hear the wind howling, it makes you feel...?
Depends on the context.
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?
One night, when I was probably around age 8, my brothers and I decided to “camp out” in our family’s yard in suburban Denver. We read some scary stories that night. I remember hearing thunder in the distance. Shortly after falling asleep, we were awakened by a hail storm. A lightning bolt cracked above, and almost immediately we noticed that my twin brother’s hair was standing straight on end. The lightning had struck the tree next to us. We decided to wimp out and rush indoors. That was probably a wise decision.
Wim Hof
Known as the "Iceman", WIM HOF is a Dutch extreme athlete notorious for his ability to withstand extreme cold. He attributes his accomplishments to his breathing techniques based on the Tibetan Tummo meditation.
Hof holds 21 world records. In 2007, he attempted climbing Mt Everest wearing nothing but shorts and shoes. At the altitude of 24,500 ft, his ascent was cancelled due to frostbite on one foot. In 2008 he broke his previous world record by staying immersed in ice for 1 hour, 13 minutes and 48 seconds. In February 2009 Wim reached the top of Mount Kilimanjaro, again wearing only shorts and shoes. He ran a full marathon (26.219 mi) on sandals and in shorts, above the arctic circle in Finland with temperatures close to −4 °F. The challenge was filmed by Firecrackerfilms. In 2010 Hof again broke the ice endurance record by standing fully immersed in ice for 1 hour and 44 minutes in Tokyo, Japan. In 2011 Hof broke the ice endurance record twice, in Inzell in February and in New York City in November, setting a new Guinness World Record of 1 hour, 52 minutes, and 42 seconds. In September, Hof ran a full marathon in the Namibia Desert without water, under the supervision of Dr. Thijs Eijsvogels. Wim has officially swam under ice for 66 meters, unofficially swam under ice for 120 meters with one breath.
Hof is the founder of THE WIM HOF METHOD, a meditation routine that involves breathing exercises, and endurance to the cold. Download the app here, follow him on Instagram and Twitter.
3 words to describe Nature?
Happiness. Strength. Health - both inside and outside
3 things Nature taught you?
Nature is life
Purpose
Destiny
3 most treasured Nature spots?
Sierra de Guara, Spain
Ordesa National Park, Spain
Jokulsarlon, Iceland
When you look at the ocean, it makes you feel…?
Eternal
When you see a forest, it makes you feel…?
Mystical
When you see a volcano, it makes you feel…?
Powerful
When you see a sunrise or sunset, it makes you feel…?
Beautiful
When you hear thunder, it makes you feel…?
Humble
When you hear the wind howling, it makes you feel…?
That Mother Nature is talking
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?
There is nothing else
Share with us a childhood nature memory?
When I saw the Italian Alps for the first time as a seven year old boy, they were like strange entities - overwhelming.
Robert & Birgit Bateman
ROBERT BATEMAN is a Canadian naturalist and painter. Bateman started as a high school teacher of art and geography. In 1957-58, Robert travelled around the world for 14 months in a Land Rover with his friend Bristol Foster. As they made their way through Africa, India, Southeast Asia, and Australia, Bateman painted and sketched what he saw. His work started to receive major recognition in the 1970s and 1980s. Robert Bateman's show in 1987, at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC, drew the largest crowd for a living artist. After two decades as a high school teacher, he became a full-time artist in 1976. Over the years, the sale of his prints have raised millions of dollars for environmental causes.
His work is featured in many public and private collections including the HRH The Prince Charles, HRH The Prince Philip, HRH The late Princess Grace of Monaco and HRH Bernhard, Prince of the Netherlands
Books about his life and art have sold well over 1,000,000 copies. He has been the subject of several films and television programs. Three schools have been named after him. He has been awarded 14 honorary doctorates. In 1977, he received the Queen Elizabeth Silver Jubilee Medal, the Officer of the Order of Canada in 1984, the World Wildlife Fund Member of Honour Award in 1985, the Rachel Carson Award in 1996, the Queen’s Jubilee Medal in 2002, the Sir Edmund Hillary Foundation of Canada's President’s Medal in 2005, the Amnesty International Human Rights Defender Award in 2007, the Royal Canadian Geographical Society Gold Medal in 2013, and many others. In 1998, the National Audubon Society named Robert as one of 20th Century's 100 Champions of Conservation
In 2013 the Robert Bateman Foundation was established as well as The Robert Bateman Centre in Victoria, BC. He is widely regarded by the national and international conservation community as a “hero” for his lifelong support and clearly articulated perspective.
3 words to describe Nature?
Essential. Complex. Wonderful
3 things Nature taught you?
To pay attention
To go slowly
To care about the future
3 most treasured Nature spots?
Around my home on Salt Spring Island
Around my home in Toronto
East Africa
When you look at the ocean, it makes you feel….?
Peaceful and inquisitive (what is on it and what is in it?)
When you see a forest, it makes you feel…?
Also peaceful and inquisitive
When you see a volcano, it makes you feel….?
Not so peaceful and less to be inquisitive about
When you see a sunrise or sunset, it makes you feel…?
Visually stimulated
When you hear thunder, it makes you feel…?
Nostalgic for times past when I was sheltered and cozy in our house during a storm
When you hear the wind howling, it makes you feel…?
A bit unsettled and sinister
Are you an Ocean, Mountain, Forest or Desert person?
More forest, but I have positive feelings for all forms
On a scale of 1 to 10, how important is nature to our well being?
10
Share with us a childhood nature memory.
One day in May in the 1940’s, a warm front brought a mass of migratory birds into the Toronto area. They seemed to fill the ravine behind our house with their voices filling the air with song and their bodies gathering food everywhere. I did a painting of that day in 1944 titles, “Backyard Birds”. I was 14 years old at the time.
BIRGIT FREYBE BATEMAN is a retired high school art teacher. An accomplished artist in her own right, she is a published and exhibited photographer. She was for 10 years, the Director of the World Wildlife Fund Canada, and Friends of the Vancouver Island Marmot Foundation for 5 years. Since 1967 she has traveled throughout the world searching for images. After many exhibits around North America in both public and private galleries, her latest honour was an exhibit, Mindful Vision, sponsored by the State Russian Museum in the Stroganoff Palace in St.Petersburg, Russia in 2011. Her images have been published in the books of End of the Earth: Voyages to Antarctica by The National Geographic Society, Dangerous Beauty by Miramax, and Artists for Nature in Extremadura by Wildlife Art Gallery, as well as in Conde Nast Traveler, Outside Magazine, Northwest Travel, Geo Airone, National Geographic Adventure and Shambala Sun.
3 words to describe Nature?
Restorative. Comprehensive. Elaborate - “We are only part of nature!”
3 things Nature taught you?
No matter how destructive an event is to the environment, nature will come forth from the ashes.
That it is more complex than we can ever know.
Sometimes slow and steady wins the race and sometimes an all powerful thrust is needed to push through.
3 most treasured Nature spots?
Sitting on top of a 4 x 4 observing the African Savanna.
In a deep green mossy forest of very tall Red Cedars and Douglas Firs as at our place on Salt Spring Island and in Helliwell Park on Hornby Island.
On a beach up the BC coast with waves crashing on the shore as on Hornby Island.
When you look at the ocean, it makes you feel...?
Insignificant and curious
When you see a forest, it makes you feel...?
Impressed and protected
When you see a volcano, it makes you feel...?
Full of awe
When you see a sunrise or sunset, it makes you feel...?
Calm and at peace, but also emotional
When you hear thunder, it makes you feel...?
Intrigued, since I didn’t hear it usually while I was growing up.
When you hear the wind howling, it makes you feel...?
Afraid that some of our big firs and cedars will fall on the house!
Are you an Ocean, Mountain, Forest, or Desert person?
All! Whatever setting I am in, I look all around, take a deep breath and am overwhelmed by the magnificence of all around me. The deep breathing immediately calms me. It is as if my genes are rejoicing.
On a scale of 1 to 10, how important is Nature to your well-being?
10
Share with us a childhood nature memory?
The youngest of 3 children, I was 8 when my family immigrated to Vancouver in 1955. Living in the West End we were latch-key kids. My parents usually were at work, so we didn’t have regular weekends the way others did. But one of the first special outings was going to Stanley Park. I had never seen such towering giants of trees. But the most impressive was the hollow tree, which was a Western Red Cedar about 700 years old. My uncle, who had immigrated years earlier and now had a car, had driven us there. He drove the car into the hollow and took a photo of the car with all of us in it. I felt protected by the giant cedar walls wrapped all around us.
Farhoud Meybodi
Farhoud Meybodi is an award-winning writer, director, and executive producer focused on storytelling projects that inspire social change. Over the past decade, he has collaborated on a variety of television and digital projects that have been seen over two billion times, raised millions of dollars for terminal illness research, and even helped overturn an unjust Presidential Executive Order. At his core, Farhoud believes in the power of mainstream storytelling to entertain and help heal the political-social divide of the present day.
3 words to describe Nature?
Hallowed. Life-giver. Muse.
3 things Nature taught you?
Resilience
Inner-peace
Patience
3 most treasured Nature spots?
Hot Springs, Arkansas
Astara, Iran
Delphi, Greece
When you look at the ocean, it makes you feel…?
A sense of deep reverence and gratitude
When you see a forest, it makes you feel…?
Like I’m in divinity’s sacred cathedral
When you see a volcano, it makes you feel…?
Humbled yet resilient, like Frodo taking in the awesomeness and fiery peril of Mount Doom after a long long journey through darkness.
When you see a sunrise or sunset, it makes you feel…?
Older
When you hear thunder, it makes you feel…?
Microscopic
When you hear the wind howling, it makes you feel…?
Like I’m hearing the whispers of my ancestors
Are you an Ocean, Mountain, Forest, or Desert person?
Jungle
On a scale of 1 to 10, how important is Nature to your well-being?
10 - My happiness, balance, well-being, and sense of self are deeply and intrinsically connected with Mother nature. She is EVERYTHING.
Share with us a childhood nature memory?
When I was a little kid, maybe five or six years old, my parents would take us to Yosemite, CA every year for an epic camping trip with friends and extended family. Over the course of a week, twenty of us would swim in Yosemite Falls, hike the Muir Trail to Half Dome, and roast marshmallows around the campfire, telling ghost stories while taking the grandeur of the seemingly limitless starry night. These trips are some of the most magical memories of my youth, and we didn’t have mobile phones, personal computers or WIFI to get in the way of the experience.
This was also around the time I was obsessed with the film, The Karate Kid. One time, I remember hiking down to the river with my friends — and while they ran around, having fun, I opted instead to sit on the banks of the roaring river by myself. I remember feeling the urge to close my eyes, breath deeply in and out, and move my hands up and down out ala my hero at the time, Daniel Larusso, just like he before his big championship match in the film. When my friends finally found me, sitting there doing my Karate Kid breathe-work, they laughed at me like I was some confused weirdo. In hindsight, I think I was just a little ahead of the curve — recognizing the beauty of nature and tapping into the stillness within to savor the special moment. Also those kids who mocked me are now probably spending tons of money each month on yoga and Qi Jong breathe work classes. :)
Simon Beck
SIMON BECK is the world’s first and most famous "Snow Artist". He graduated in Engineering from Oxford University but decided later on to leave his office job in order to become a cartographer. In December 2004, after a day of skiing, he got the idea to draw a star on the small frozen lake in front of his place. His sense for orientation in combination with his passion for outdoor and physical activities inspired him to complete a snow creation. The day after, looking down from the ski lift; he was impressed by the result. After the next snowfall, he repeated the exercise by creating an even more complex drawing. Snow Art was born.
During his childhood, Simon Beck drew mostly geometrical forms. The geometrical drawings were inspired by Koch's snowflake and became more complex over time. Simon’s drawings cover an area of 1 to 4 hectares (corresponding to 2 to 8 soccer fields - 2.5 to 10 acres) and take up to 12 hours to complete and demand a walk of 20 to 30 kilometers in the snow - wearing snowshoes. Hence, his creations are both artistic and athletic performances – truly unique creations shaped by the varying and challenging conditions of the environment.
Simon's creations gather thousands of fans from all around the world with over 270 000 fans on Facebook. He has also created and accomplished Snow Art performances for world-renowned brands. As he is always looking for new experiences, with the desire to raise awareness of the environment, Simon Beck continues to provide beautiful creations and wonderful photos of his fascinating art form.
3 words to describe Nature?
Beautiful. Unforgiving of human error. Uncaring
3 things Nature taught you?
Always be mindful for your own safety
Nature does not play by human rules
Nature can never be predicted, unexpected is its nature
3 most treasured Nature spots?
Mont Blanc
Grand Canyon
Big Basin
When you look at the ocean, it makes you feel...?
The terror of shipwreck, movies eg Das Botte
When you see a forest, it makes you feel...?
Memories of when I was a competitive orienteer, I look at it from that viewpoint, how easily can one run through it and what is the terrain like
When you see a volcano, it makes you feel...?
Hard work climbing them because of the loose stones
When you see a sunrise or sunset, it makes you feel...?
Another day of my life has gone for ever
When you hear thunder, it makes you feel...?
Threatened by the lightening (when I'm on a mountain)
When you hear the wind howling, it makes you feel...?
Thank God I'm indoors
Are you an Ocean, Mountain, Forest, or Desert person?
Either mountain or forest
On a scale of 1 to 10, how important is Nature to your well-being?
10
Share with us a childhood nature memory?
Seeing the sunset light lighting up the mountains in North Wales
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.
Jean-Daniel Petit
JEAN-DANIEL PETIT is the Co-Founder of abitibi & co., a Canadian canoe and kayak company that inspires great adventures and protects the great outdoors. He is also the founder of Beside, a media who aims to bridge the gap between humans and nature—with high-quality editorial content and immersive experiences.
Petit is the Former Creative Director at N/A Montréal, a new kind of marketing agency with a singular goal: to connect people and brands in ways that affect positive social change. Jean-Daniel has worked on several local and international accounts such as: RISE Kombucha, McDonald's Canada & U.S, Paramount Picture and more. Previously, Petit worked at SID LEE for over three years as an Art Director for New Era, Coca-Cola, Bacardi, Square Enix, Georges St-Pierre and more.
3 words to describe Nature?
Welcoming. Interconnected. Resilient
3 things Nature taught you?
To be humble
That life is a circle
To keep using all of my senses
3 most treasured Nature spots?
The Abitibi-Témiscamingue Region, in Northern Quebec, and its 15 000 lakes and rivers.
The Bonaventure River in Gaspésie, Quebec. Probably the most beautiful river in the world.
Anticosti Island, also in Quebec.
When you look at the ocean, it makes you feel...?
Grounded
When you see a forest, it makes you feel...?
Small
When you see a volcano, it makes you feel...?
Powerless
When you see a sunrise or sunset, it makes you feel...?
Alive
When you hear thunder, it makes you feel...?
Excited like a kid
When you hear the wind howling, it makes you feel...?
Fragile
Are you an Ocean, Mountain, Forest, or Desert person?
A Lake
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 Northern Quebec surrounded by lakes, rivers and forests. Most of my childhood was spent outside, building tree houses, exploring the woods and observing small wildlife.
That said, there’s one memory that has a lot to do with who I am now. From the moment I was 11 until my late teenage years, I spent my entire weekends on a small island with two of my best friends. We would borrow a small boat from a relative and navigate our way there every Friday after school. This unnamed island felt like it was ours, like no one else had ever been there except us.
We learned to be on our own, to make good use of simple tools and to analyze our surroundings. We learned friendship and solitude through laughter and silence. We learned to fish, to make a fire and to leave as little trace as possible. We learned to be creative, independent and brave, but also silly once in a while.
During the day, we would fish and swim. And before nightfall, we would head to the mainland on a treasure hunt, to collect enough deadwood to sustain our campfire all night.
I never realized back then how important these little getaways were… until now.
Michelle Young
MICHELLE YOUNG is the founder of Untapped Cities, a web magazine and tour company about urban discovery. She is a graduate of Harvard College in the History of Art and Architecture and holds a master’s degree in urban planning from Columbia University Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation, where she is an Adjunct Professor of Architecture. She is also a graduate of the Juilliard School of Music, Pre-College Division. She is the author of Secret Brooklyn: An Unusual Guide, New York: Hidden Bars & Restaurants, and Broadway. Michelle appears regularly as a guest speaker in documentaries, on television, and at conferences on urban issues. Originally from New York, she has traveled to over forty countries and is always looking for the next adventure.
3 words to describe Nature?
Calm. Colorful. Casualty
3 things Nature taught you?
No matter how wide your imagination, nature is often the most creative and stunning. As a result, once it's gone, it is easy to forget what was once there. At the same time, nature has an incredible way of adapting around human behavior, taking over in the cracks and crevices when we're still around, and completely taking over when we're not.
3 most treasured Nature spots?
L'île Marquer (in Brittany, France);
Shelter Island;
Prospect Park (Brooklyn)
When you look at the ocean, it makes you feel...?
At peace
When you see a forest, it makes you feel...?
Surrounded
When you see a volcano, it makes you feel...?
In awe
When you see a sunrise or sunset, it makes you feel...?
In the city. New York City has some of the most amazing sunrises and sunsets!
When you hear thunder, it makes you feel...?
Cozy
When you hear the wind howling, it makes you feel...?
Wintry
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?
9, although as a city person I only realized in the last few years the importance of it for my own sanity!
Share with us a childhood nature memory?
Walking up through a river in Vermont with camp friends, none of us having a map but perfectly content at having no particular destination. At the end, it turned out to be a gorgeous waterfall and big swimming hole.
Eric Termuende
ERIC TERMUENDE is on a mission to change the way we talk about work. A bestselling author, speaker, and entrepreneur, Eric is co-founder of NoW Innovations and has been featured in Forbes, Inc., Thrive Global, the Huffington Post and many others. In 2015, Eric was recognized as a Top 100 Emerging Innovators under 35 globally by American Express. Eric sat as Community Integration Chair for Global Shapers Calgary, a community that functions under the World Economic Forum. He is a former Canadian G20 YEA Delegate, representing Canada in Sydney in 2014. Eric is currently signed by the National Speakers Bureau and travels the world talking about the future of work and multiple generations in the workplace. In 2016, Eric spoke at TEDxBCIT in Vancouver giving his presentation entitled ‘Bigger than Work’. Eric has worked and spoken with clients across the world. His new bestselling book, Rethink Work is now available on Amazon and in bookstores across Canada.
3 words to describe Nature?
Peaceful. Untouched. Alive
3 things Nature taught you?
Patience
Appreciation
Calmness
3 most treasured Nature spots?
Mackenzie Mountains,
Kootenay Lake
Deep Cove
When you look at the ocean, it makes you feel...?
Small
When you see a forest, it makes you feel...?
Refreshed
When you see a volcano, it makes you feel...?
Insignificant
When you see a sunrise or sunset, it makes you feel...?
Relaxed
When you hear thunder, it makes you feel...?
Exhilarated
When you hear the wind howling, it makes you feel...?
Energized
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?
This is a photo I took in the Mackenzie Mountains, Northwest Territories. This is a perfect example of how small I felt in a part of the world that had never been seen or touched by humans. Ever.
Phil Boissiere
PHIL BOISSIERE is an accomplished executive coach, cognitive performance expert, and Silicon Valley entrepreneur. He brings his zest for life, professionalism, humor, and love of the natural world to all aspects of his work. He has dedicated himself to helping business leaders and entrepreneurs excel with purpose and passion. He believes that when motivated people are given the tools to succeed they will reach their goals and live a life that is rich with meaning. He brings education and an understanding of neurology and it’s role in optimal performance to his clients. Phil holds a certificate in functional nutrition, which allows him to provide valuable education and insights into the role of nutrition in optimal brain performance.
Phil’s lectures and trainings have been well received by many institutions, including: Northwestern University, University of San Francisco, The American Family Therapy Academy, and TEDx.
He also works with organizations, educational institutions, and businesses to create custom curriculum, trainings, and lectures.
Phil co-founded the Elite Focus Clinic in the Silicon Valley specializing in the treatment of adult ADHD, especially amongst entrepreneurs, business professionals, and attorneys connected to the tech world.
He also founded Beyond Focused a web-based video learning series providing simple and proven methods for improving focus and performance.
3 words to describe Nature?
Grounding. Powerful. Wise
3 things Nature taught you?
That the noise of the world in my head is just that, noise.
That we are inseparable from the natural world and our arrogance as humans has tricked us into thinking we can and therefore leading us to destroy it.
What living really is.
3 most treasured Nature spots?
A mushroom shaped reef on the backside of Buck Island off of St. Thomas USVI (if it still exists post hurricanes of 2017).
The “Salt Caves” in Purisima Creek Preserve, in San Mateo County.
Salmon Hole, a swimming hole in Butte Creek outside Chico, CA
When you look at the ocean, it makes you feel...?
Alive, unbelievably alive. The ocean has always had the power to make me run, jump, swim, cry, and laugh all at the same time. My little ones have the same experience. Our shoes are off rain or shine before we even hit the sand.
When you see a forest, it makes you feel...?
The forest makes me feel healthy and calm. I tend to have the feeling that I want to curl up under a decaying log or fern in a redwood grove and become one with the cool and damp earth.
When you see a volcano, it makes you feel...?
I’ve only seen an active volcano in my dreams. I dreamt often of them when I was a child. Maybe I’ll call a therapist to find out what it means ;)
When you see a sunrise or sunset, it makes you feel...?
Frozen, in a good way. I tend to stop everything and look, look, look, and comment on the beauty. Doesn’t matter if I am in mid conversation. My daughter used to say “Daddy, you are always talking about how pretty the light is.” Now, she is able to identify in advance when the clouds are in just the right place for a great sunset. I do prefer sunrise though. The feeling of optimism of the new beautiful day is incredible.
When you hear thunder, it makes you feel...?
Excited! Very excited. I love the rain that comes with thunder and lightning.
When you hear the wind howling, it makes you feel...?
Anxious. Wind has always had a weird effect on my mood. Makes me cranky. Unless I am on a sailboat, then bring it on!
Are you an Ocean, Mountain, Forest, or Desert person?
I spent most of my life as an ocean person. I still am, but have developed a deep love for the mountains. Snow or no snow, the power of a mountain top cannot be beat.
On a scale of 1 to 10, how important is Nature to your well-being?
Does the dial go to 11? If it does, turn it up.
Share with us a childhood nature memory?
One of my fondest nature memories as a kid is holding my mom’s hand as little guy on the beach as the surf buried out feet in the sand. I feel like growing up before the zombie era of technological distractions was a gift. A gift of mindful connection to nature and myself. I try to give my kids the same. No TV in our house, and we are out and about exploring the coastline and urban forests of San Francisco rain or shine.
Annie Griffiths
One of the first women photographers to work for National Geographic, ANNIE GRIFFITHS has photographed in nearly 150 countries during her illustrious career. She has worked on dozens of magazine and book projects for National Geographic, including stories on Lawrence of Arabia, Galilee, Petra, Sydney, New Zealand, and Jerusalem.
In addition to her magazine work, Griffiths is deeply committed to photographing for aid organizations around the world. She is the Founder and Executive Director of Ripple Effect Images, a collective of photographers who document aid programs that are empowering women and girls in the developing world. In just five years, Ripple’s work has helped 24 non-profits raise over ten million dollars.
Griffiths has published 4 books, is an accomplished speaker and a regular guest on NPR, The Today Show and other media outlets.
Annie has received awards from the National Press Photographers Association, the National Organization of Women, and the White House News Photographers Association.
3 words to describe Nature?
ESSENTIAL. COMFORTING. ENDURING
3 things Nature taught you?
TO PAUSE
TO GASP
TO BE HUMBLE
3 most treasured Nature spots?
MY CABIN IN NORTHERN WISCONSIN
MY LITTLE HOME ON A LAKE IN VIRGINIA
ANY NATIVE PRAIRIE
When you look at the ocean, it makes you feel…?
SMALL, PEACEFUL
When you see a forest, it makes you feel…?
SAFE
When you see a volcano, it makes you feel…?
HUMBLE
When you see a sunrise or sunset, it makes you feel…?
GRATEFUL
When you hear thunder, it makes you feel…?
THAT ALL LIVING THINGS ARE ABOUT TO GET A DRINK
When you hear the wind howling, it makes you feel…?
CAUTIOUS
Are you an Ocean, Mountain, Forest, or Desert person?
I’M A LAKE PERSON
On a scale of 1 to 10, how important is Nature to your well-being?
10
Share with us a childhood nature memory?
SO MANY. THE MIRACLE OF FIREFLIES, CATCHING TOADS AND FROGS, CREATING A FORT OUT OF AN OLD SNAG, CATCHING CRAYFISH WITH A PIECE OF CORN ON A STRING. MARVELING AT SPIDER WEBS.
Dave Brownlie
Born and raised in British Columbia, DAVE BROWNLIE is a graduate of the University of British Columbia Bachelor of Commerce (1985), an FCPA, and Whistler Community member since 1989. Dave began his career in the ski industry with Blackcomb Mountain rising to the position of President & CEO of Whistler Blackcomb Holdings Inc. and then working as COO for Vail Resorts through the ownership transition. Accomplishments include the integration of Whistler and Blackcomb mountains, the implementation of the Peak2Peak gondola, leading the very successful run of Whistler Blackcomb as a public company and securing new 60 Year Master Development Agreements for both Whistler and Blackcomb mountains with the province of British Columbia and the Squamish and Lil’wat Nations.
A passionate skier, hockey player, biker and golfer; Dave enjoys everything the Sea to Sky corridor has to offer with his wife and three kids.
3 words to describe Nature?
Beautiful. Inspirational. Powerful
3 things Nature taught you?
Life’s true pleasures are not based on material things
There is so much to learn
How something so powerful can also be so extremely vulnerable.
3 most treasured Nature spots?
Top of Blackcomb or Whistler Mountain
The sandy beaches of the West Coast (e.g. Tofino)
The British Virgin Islands.
When you look at the ocean, it makes you feel...?
Adventurous
When you see a forest, it makes you feel...?
Strong
When you see a volcano, it makes you feel...?
Vulnerable
When you see a sunrise or sunset, it makes you feel...?
Peaceful, calm, relaxed
When you hear thunder, it makes you feel...?
Alert
When you hear the wind howling, it makes you feel...?
Alive
Are you an Ocean, Mountain, Forest, or Desert person?
It is so hard to pick one! If I had to ……. Mountain.
On a scale of 1 to 10, how important is Nature to your well-being?
It is the foundation …… 10.
Share with us a childhood nature memory?
Living in Whitehorse, Yukon at the age of 11, me and my buddy back packed into a small lake and camped for the night! Two 11 year old’s experiencing life and nature on our own ………… very cool.
Kate Williams
KATE WILLIAMS is CEO of 1% for the Planet, a global movement inspiring businesses and individuals to support environmental nonprofit solutions, through annual membership and everyday actions. Kate stepped into her role at 1% for the Planet in May 2015 bringing a strong track record as a leader, including roles as Board Chair of the National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS), as Executive Director of the Northern Forest Canoe Trail, as founder and owner of a farm business enterprise, and as an elected political leader in her community.
Kate also brings a deep passion for and commitment to the power of collective action, which is at the core of 1% for the Planet’s model and approach. “When people come together across traditional boundaries to solve complex problems, they create stronger, more ethical, and more lasting solutions,” she says. “It is my best hope that I can lead by creating and supporting these kinds of powerful connections.”
Kate earned a BA at Princeton University where she majored in history, and an MS at the MIT Sloan School of Management where she focused on organizational systems. Kate is a master’s distance runner, kitchen gardener, and always wants more time to read and write.
Kate lives in Vermont with her husband and two children.
3 words to describe Nature?
Complex. Simple. Vital
3 things Nature taught you?
Humility
Strength
Patience
3 most treasured Nature spots?
Great Pond, Maine
Northern Wind River Range, Wyoming
San Pedro Park, New Mexico
When you look at the ocean, it makes you feel...
Small in a good way, and connected to things greater than myself and humans in general. I also feel curious about both the horizon and what is below the surface
When you see a forest, it makes you feel...?
Small in a good way, alive, surrounded by wise elders
When you see a volcano, it makes you feel...?
A little frightened, but also awestruck in a positive way
When you see a sunrise or sunset, it makes you feel...?
At peace and reminded to pause for beauty. Also a sense that while science can explain most things, even the colors in a sunset, it can’t explain the breathtaking feeling of seeing vast natural beauty.
When you hear thunder, it makes you feel...?
If I’m in a safe place, I feel curious and compelled to count between lightning strike and thunder boom. If I’m in the mountains, I feel duly respectful of the power and kick into risk management mode.
When you hear the wind howling, it makes you feel...?
Very presently aware of the power of nature. I live at the dead end of a dirt road with a forested hill sloping up behind our home. When the wind blows, I feel both connected to those trees that bend but also sometimes fall in that wind.
Are you an Ocean, Mountain, Forest, or Desert person?
I am a mountain person. I love nothing more than being in, looking at, hiking in, living in, finding beauty in mountains…. Mountains are what most fill my heart.
On a scale of 1 to 10, how important is Nature to your well-being?
10. I’ve chosen to live in, work on behalf of, recreate in, and draw inspiration from nature. I find both peace and strength in nature, whether it’s in wilderness or in my kitchen garden.
Share with us a childhood nature memory?
Some of my earliest memories are of the lake in Maine where our family has a small cabin. I have memories of all seasons on the lake – skinny dipping on hot summer nights and skiing in the fading light as the frozen lake cracked and popped. While I have many specific memories, what I love about these early lake memories in general is how they incorporate every sense: I can taste the lake water on my lips as I dry off after a morning swim, smell the pine needles baking in the August sun near the rocky shore, feel the lichen rock under my toes before jumping into the deep, hear the waves pushing against the shore under a strong Northwest wind, and see the golden light of sunset reflecting on the underside of the leaves shading our cabin porch. I’m grateful to my parents for knowing the value of immersing us in nature as a central part of our childhood – it’s certainly shaped me.
Karla Ballard Williams
Karla Ballard Williams is co-founder and CEO of YING, a peer to peer skill sharing and global time sharing platform (IOS /Android App) engaging consumers and brands in a complimentary currency that supports community and individual benefits. Ms. Ballard Williams was formerly SVP of Participant Media’s TAG division, a social-action agency working with brands, foundations and the public sector to ignite compelling campaigns that drove impact in vulnerable communities. Prior to joining Participant Media she was with Ogilvy & Mather as the SVP and lead for The IMPACT Studio working on projects that ranged from the State of California to Sony Pictures Television. Previously Karla worked at One Economy Corporation where she led a vital division of a $51 million BTOP grant focused broadband adoption and became and appointee to the Federal Communication's Committee on Diversity in Media. In addition, she created and led corporate relationships with partners such as Comcast/NBC, Verizon, Participant Media, Sprint, City Year and others.
She is a current board member of Alliance for Women in Media and Co-Chair of the Gracie’s Awards Gala, the Marcus Graham Project, Hashtaglunchbag, A Sense of Home, and USC’s Next Gen Council for Stephen Spielberg’s SHOAH Foundation. She's been a visiting speaker at Harvard, UCLA and Georgetown University and is a former board member of the nation’s second largest Community College, Northern Virginia Community College. Karla is also the co-founder of the first Urban League in the state of Delaware, The Metropolitan Wilmington Urban League, and served as the first female national president of the National Urban League Young Professionals.
In 2012 Karla was awarded in NYC the Keeper’s of the Dream award from the National Action Network.
3 words to describe Nature?
Peaceful. Complex. Systematic
3 things Nature taught you?
To listen
To be seen
To observe the flow
3 most treasured Nature spots?
Point Dume, California
St. John's Parrish in Barbados
McKenna Beach, Maui, Hawaii
When you look at the ocean, it makes you feel...?
Renewed
When you see a forest, it makes you feel...?
Introspective
When you see a volcano, it makes you feel...?
Overwhelmed
When you see a sunrise or sunset, it makes you feel...?
Romantic and connected to God
When you hear thunder, it makes you feel...?
Well Exxxxxcuse me!
When you hear the wind howling, it makes you feel...?
Grandma and the Big Bad Wolf
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?
11
Share with us a childhood nature memory?
On the school grounds at Germantown Academy I had a secret place to escape along a little creek path on our 152 acres property. I would create mystical stories around what this play was and the creatures that lived there. The play was so imaginative yet so real. I could never in a million years recreate the love I had for this spot in the woods but going back to the memories takes me back instantly.
H.E. Maguy Maccario Doyle
Her Excellency Maguy Maccario Doyle is Monaco’s Ambassador to the United States and Canada. She was appointed by His Serene Highness Prince Albert II on November 12, 2013 and presented her letters of credence to President Obama at The White House on December 3, 2013.
She also serves as the Principality’s Ambassador to Canada having presented her credentials to Canada’s Governor General, H.E. David Johnston, in December 2014, and as the Principality’s Permanent Observer to the Organization of American States (OAS).
Ambassador Maccario Doyle is the vice president of the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation (for the environment) and the president of the US chapter of the Princess Charlene of Monaco Foundation (launched in May 2016 in California). She was Monaco’s long-serving consul general in New York as well as the director of the Monaco Government Tourist Office for North America. In June 2017, Ambassador Maccario Doyle was appointed to the board of Grace-Penn Medicine: a new strategic alliance between Penn Medicine and Monaco's Princess Grace Hospital.
A committed advocate for children and women’s issues and a tireless worker on behalf of charitable and philanthropic endeavors, she is a long-standing member of both the Professional Advisory Board and the International Professional Advisory Board of St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.
In recognition for her services to the Principality of Monaco and the Princely Family, she was presented by His Serene Highness Prince Rainier III of Monaco in 1996, with the prestigious “Chevalier de l’Ordre de Saint-Charles” distinction.
3 words to describe Nature?
Nurturing. Rejuvenating. All-powerful.
3 things Nature taught you?
Never take things for granted.
Seasons come and go.
Be prepared for (good and not-so-good) surprises.
3 most treasured Nature spots?
New Mexico’s wilderness
Half Moon Bay’s (CA) majestic coastline
Monaco’s Mediterranean magnificence
When you look at the ocean, it makes you feel...?
At home
When you see a forest, it makes you feel...?
Like going for a walk.
When you see a volcano, it makes you feel...?
I never saw a volcano eruption in person, except in films : The power of a mountain coming to life – I saw dormant and extinct volcanoes and it felt like a lunar landscape.
When you see a sunrise or sunset, it makes you feel...?
Serene and happy to have made it through another night/day!
When you hear thunder, it makes you feel...?
Like seeking out an umbrella.
When you hear the wind howling, it makes you feel...?
Music to my ears… and of course like making sure the windows are properly closed!
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?
When one really thinks about how all-encompassing Nature is in our daily lives, it is pretty much a 10.
Share with us a childhood nature memory?
My parents would never buy me a pet. So I decided as a small girl to collect snails from around my garden near Monaco. But to my great disappointment found out they are asexual. No mama. No papa! See what I mean about Nature’s surprises!
Kelly Lund
Kelly is an avid outdoorsman, photographer, and owner of Loki. A few years ago, he started an Instagram account for Loki, his adventure dog, playfully logging their everyday life.
A photo of the two sleeping in a hammock together landed on the front page of Reddit, shortly thereafter it was picked up by Bored Panda and BuzzFeed.
Loki shot to Instagram fame and hasn’t showed signs of slowing down.
Kelly shares photos of the two traveling across North America, often taking their favorite brands with them along the way. Kelly and Loki can be found backcountry snowboarding in Colorado, on a mountaintop in Canada, or roaming the deserts of Utah. They want to push the limits in the great outdoors of what a human-dog relationship can be, all while capturing photos to share with the world.
3 words to describe Nature?
Home. Beauty. Life
3 things Nature taught you?
That we are just one small thing in this world, it gives me perspective.
To slow down and appreciate the sun when it’s out and the rain, and all the senses that come with them both.
It has taught me to have a hunger for what is out there, a hunger to keep exploring to see everything we can.
3 most treasured Nature spots?
Crescent city, CA
Brooks Range, AK
Cedar mesa, UT
When you look at the ocean, it makes you feel…?
Calm and peaceful.
When you see a forest, it makes you feel…?
Like I’m wrapped up in something - enveloped by the trees.
When you see a volcano, it makes you feel…?
Like i have an expiration date.
When you see a sunrise or sunset, it makes you feel…?
Like a something is starting or ending - it’s the next thing coming.
When you hear thunder, it makes you feel…?
Mischievous
When you hear the wind howling, it makes you feel…?
Surrounded by nature
Are you an Ocean, Mountain, Forest, or Desert person?
Ocean - it’s in my blood
On a scale of 1 to 10, how important is Nature to your well-being?
100
Share with us a childhood nature memory?
Building forts in the Redwoods outside of my hometown, Crescent City.
Jacob Marshall
JACOB MARSHALLis a multisensory artist and the Executive Director of Constellation; a new organization founded by the first international coalition of astronauts seeking to address global challenges from their perspective of having seen the Earth from the vantage point of space.
Jacob started the acclaimed rock band MAE (Multisensory Aesthetic Experience) and has sold over 500,000 records worldwide and performed over 1600 concerts on 4 continents.
He worked to help launch the Global Citizen Festivalwhich brought 60,000 music fans to New York's Central Park on September 29th, 2012. The festival leveraged $1.3 billion in new commitments to the world's poor and became the largest charity concert broadcast in history with a confirmed number of impressions surpassing 2 billion.
In 2013, 2014, and 2015 he served as a Producer of Global Citizen Festival and built a broad variety of strategic partnerships.
Jacob serves as a member of the advisory board for Future of Story Telling (FoST) where he launched and leads the social impact initiative "FoST for Good" in partnership with HP and Facebook. He also serves as an artist mentor at the New Museum's NEW INC.
He also recently conceived, produced and performed the world’s first large scale collective virtual reality concert experience from inside Jerusalem’s 3000 year-old Tower of David for the Forbes30 Under 30 Summit. Jacob was a featured artist at the United Nations General Assembly in 2017.
3 words to describe Nature?
LIVING. INTERDEPENDENT. WISDOM.
3 things Nature taught you?
PERSPECTIVE ON TIME - THAT ALL LIFE IS A SYMPHONY AND I AM A MELODY IN THAT LARGER MUSIC - TO LISTEN WITH MY WHOLE BODY
3 most treasured Nature spots?
PLACES WHERE THE OCEAN MEETS THE MOUNTAINS - HAWAII, BIG SUR, ICELAND
When you look at the ocean, it makes you feel...?
LIKE RELIGION IS TO GOD WHAT A GLASS OF OCEAN WATER IS TO THE OCEAN.
When you see a forest, it makes you feel...?
LIKE THE TREES WANT TO TELL US THEIR SECRETS.
When you see a volcano, it makes you feel...?
LIKE THE TRUTH IS BOTH ANCIENT AND PRESENT.
When you see a sunrise or sunset, it makes you feel...?
LIKE THE THING I USED TO CALL MYSELF IS SLOWLY DISAPPEARING INTO EVERYTHING
When you hear thunder, it makes you feel...?
LIKE ITS TIME TO BE STILL.
When you hear the wind howling, it makes you feel...?
LIKE MY CERTAINTY SHOULD BE REPLACED WITH CURIOSITY.
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. WE ARE NATURE. OUR WELL-BEING IS ONE AND THE SAME. MOST OF OUR PROBLEMS BEGIN WHEN WE FORGET THAT SIMPLE TRUTH.
Share with us a childhood nature memory?
I’LL ALWAYS TREASURE THE FEELING OF BEING IN THE OCEAN DURING SEPTEMBER. THE BEACH WAS EMPTY, THE SKY WAS LUMINOUS, AND THE WATER WAS EVER SO SLIGHTLY WARMER THAN THE AIR. WE WOULD TRADE WAVES ALL DAY AND TRADE STORIES AROUND THE FIRE ALL NIGHT. WE BASKED IN THE FEELING OF PURE ALIVENESS.
Zach Rabinor
ZACH RABINOR was seduced early on by Mexico's vibrant cultures, towering peaks, thundering surf and intoxicating cuisine. As the Founder, President and CEO of award winning travel company Journey Mexico, Zach oversees all aspects of the company’s operation and takes special interest and delight in the details of product development, marketing, and business development. Under Zach’s leadership, Journey Mexico has achieved dynamic growth as evidenced by their inclusion as an Inc. 5000 Company consecutively from 2009 through 2016, and has earned top honors and recognition including: National Geographic's Best Tour Operators on Earth, National Geographic “50 Tours of a Lifetime”, Travel & Leisure Best Adventure Trips, Travel & Leisure Best Adventure Outfitters, and The New York Times Adventure Guide. Zach has been personally recognized as a top expert by leading luxury travel publications: Conde Nast Traveller Top Travel Specialist 2010-2017, Conde Nast Traveller Top Villa Specialist 2011-2013; and Travel & Leisure A-List 2010-2017 as well as being named a Trusted Travel Expert on Wendy Perrin’s inaugural Wow List 2014 and each year subsequently (2015-2017). Zach is a Regional Member of the World Travel and Tourism Council, and Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Oceanic Society; he has been sought out in the press on matters relating to Mexico, tourism, and travel including interviews in: Forbes and NPR and a host of other prominent publications.
When not designing new itineraries or leading exploratory expeditions, Zach can be found searching for waves and Mexico’s best ceviche on his beloved Pacific Coast. He lives in Puerto Vallarta with his wife Rebecca and their two sons Sam and Nat.
3 words to describe Nature?
Vast, Powerful, Awe-inspiring
3 things Nature taught you?
Humility, Self Reliance, Faith, Respect
3 most treasured Nature spots?
Ocean, Mountains, Rivers
When you look at the ocean, it makes you feel...?
Alive, Small, Respectful, Hopeful, Dreamy, Spiritual, Complete
When you see a forest, it makes you feel...?
Peaceful, Quiet, Ephemeral
When you see a volcano, it makes you feel...?
Alert, Curious, Wondrous, Ambitious
When you see a sunrise or sunset, it makes you feel...?
Inspired, Peaceful, Contemplative, Romantic
When you hear thunder, it makes you feel...?
Excited, Suspenseful, Small
When you hear the wind howling, it makes you feel...?
Desolate, Watchful, Pensive
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?
The first time I surfed through a blizzard I was thrilled, humbled, elated, and terrified; I knew I would never live anywhere far from the sea.
Mark Tercek
MARK TERCEK is president and CEO of The Nature Conservancy, the global conservation organization known for its intense focus on collaboration and getting things done for the benefit of people and nature. He is the author of the Washington Post and Publisher’s Weekly bestselling book Nature’s Fortune: How Business and Society Thrive by Investing in Nature.
A former managing director and Partner for Goldman Sachs, where he spent 24 years, Mark brings deep business experience to his role leading the Conservancy. He is a champion of the idea of natural capital — valuing nature for its own sake as well as for the services it provides for people, such as clean air and water, productive soils and a stable climate.
In 2012, Mark was appointed by New York Governor Andrew Cuomo to serve on the New York State 2100 Commission, which was created in the wake of Superstorm Sandy to advise the governor and the state on how to make the state’s infrastructure more resilient to future storms. In 2016, Mark was appointed by President Barack Obama to the president's Advisory Committee for Trade Policy and Negotiations.
Mark is also a member of several boards and councils, including Resources for the Future, the Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions, the China Council for International Cooperation on Environment and Development (CCICED),Harvard Business School's Social Enterprise Initiative, and SNAPP, TNC's science joint venture with UC Santa Barbara and the Wildlife Conservation Society.
Drawing on his professional background in the financial sector, Mark is leading TNC’s impact capital initiative and serves as board chair of NatureVest.
3 words to describe Nature?
Inspiring. Spiritual. Valuable
3 things Nature taught you?
Interconnectedness. Shortcuts don’t work. We’re all (all species) in this together.
3 most treasured Nature spots?
Very difficult - I lead The Nature Conservancy, so it is like asking me who is my favorite child. So I will answer: Mountains, Jungles & Oceans.
When you look at the ocean, it makes you feel...?
At peace
When you see a forest, it makes you feel...?
Happy
When you see a volcano, it makes you feel...?
Respectful
When you see a sunrise or sunset, it makes you feel...?
Calm, happy
When you hear thunder, it makes you feel...?
Like rain is coming.
When you hear the wind howling, it makes you feel...?
Like I'm outside
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?
Early in my TNC days and for various reasons, I was feeling stressed about my new job. I had to go to the Great Bear Rain Forest in British Columbia. My anxiety and stress vanished as soon as I arrived and took in the majesty, beauty and glory of the area. I also realized that I had myself a very good job!
Photograph by Emiliano Granado
Max Stossel
MAX STOSSEL is an award winning poet + filmmaker, and one of the leaders of Time Well Spent, a movement to align technology with our humanity. His work has spanned across 14 languages, has won two Webby Awards, multiple film festivals, consistently goes viral, and influenced the way digital media organizations tell the stories of mass murder in the news.
Before entering the worlds of poetry, film & digital activism, Max was a media strategist with an extensive background in social. He ran social for Budweiser, where he drove a 3,400% increase in average engagement, before being trained by Gary Vaynerchuk and creating social strategies for Dove and several Fortune 100 brands. He has written on the subject for Quartz and The Huffington Post.
The merging of these fields allows Max to provide a fascinating perspective on modern content and culture. He is currently helping select brands tell their stories in his style via video, speaking at schools, corporations, & events and helping content-focused brands stop wasting their money and start focusing their content resources effectively.
3 words to describe Nature?
Beautiful, Peaceful, Evolution
3 things Nature taught you?
Balance, Adaptation, that everything has it's opposite
3 most treasured Nature spots?
Kauai, Inca Trail, San Blas Islands
When you look at the ocean, it makes you feel...?
Calm
When you see a forest, it makes you feel...?
Breath-y
When you see a volcano, it makes you feel...?
Awe
When you see a sunrise or sunset, it makes you feel...?
Small
When you hear thunder, it makes you feel...?
Alive
When you hear the wind howling, it makes you feel...?
Warm
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?
5
Share with us a childhood nature memory?
When I was at summer camp as a kid a skunk got caught in the baseball batting cage net. My friend and I went to try and free it and SURPRISE! It sprayed us. We had to bathe in tomato juice and every room I went in before that smelled for the rest of the summer.
Christine Mason
CHRISTINE MASON is the author of Indivisible, Love in the Face of Everything, & her upcoming Bending the Bow. She's the co-founder of New Earth, a farm-based retreat center for Integral Activism on Hawai'i. She convenes, hosts and facilitates conferences, salons, and events at the intersection of science and tech, spirituality, human optimization, society and institutions. She serves as Editor in Chief of Enter Magazine, sits on the board of GRIP, and is chairman of Now Labs, Inc. She's a mom, grandmother, and a long time practitioner and teacher of yoga, meditation and tantra. Follow her at xtinem.com, or on Amazon.
3 words to describe Nature?
Creative. Destructive. True.
3 things Nature taught you?
All things are interconnected.
We are always provided for.
How elegantly things adapt.
And more!! The resonance of beauty and that an ecosystem in balance sounds a harmonic chord, (out of balance there is dissonance - as in all systems).Humility and Awe.
3 most treasured Nature spots?
The golden sunrise rocks in the high desert at Joshua Tree, Southern California.
The long slung white sand beach at Stinson, in Northern California.
The round stone beach at Washington Harbor, on Washington Island in Lake Michigan, surrounded by White Birch forest.
And more!! The ice caves above Aspen, Colorado and the giant rolling dunes in southern Morocco.
When you look at the ocean, it makes you feel…?
Surrendered. Integrated. Rebalanced.
When you see a forest, it makes you feel…?
Peaceful. Quiet. Curious.
When you see a volcano, it makes you feel…?
Alive. Creative. Urgent.
When you see a sunrise or sunset, it makes you feel…?
Grateful. Potentiated. Connected to all beings.
When you hear thunder, it makes you feel…?
Like a child in the summer rains.
When you hear the wind howling, it makes you feel…?
Lonely
Are you an Ocean, Mountain, Forest, or Desert person?
I’m a planet earth person.
On a scale of 1 to 10, how important is Nature to your well-being?
11
Share with us a childhood nature memory?
Cresting a ridge at sunrise on snowshoes, my father next to me, deep fresh snow; the morning light catching the crystalline crust just so, a thousand rainbow prisms refracting in every direction, against a crisp cold bright blue sky; cheeks red, legs strong, eyes wide open; a suspended indelible moment of pure beauty.
Brooke Garnett
BROOKE GARNETT is the founder of MAYAMAYA, which specializes in tailoring seamless, premium journeys around the world. MAYAMAYA is a small boutique company and they work intimately with a select group of loyal and discerning clients. With expansive destination knowledge covering over 50 countries and some of the most remote parts of the globe, Brooke has been recognized as a world leader in the travel industry and recently celebrated her fifth consecutive year on Travel + Leisure’s A-List. While Brooke’s travel adventures would take pages to relate, some of her more recent memorable experiences include learning to fish with an Aboriginal community in the Kimberley, a private weeklong helicopter tour of the Scottish Highlands, trekking with the Gorillas in Rwanda, and exploring the secret treasures of Jordan and Egypt. Brooke loves to cook, paint, and any sort of outdoor adventure. She has worked as a divemaster in Thailand and Honduras and is an accomplished photographer. Many of you have likely seen her GoPro video of an orphaned pelican flying over Lake Tanganyika, Tanzania which has gone viral with almost 6 million views on YouTube.
3 words to describe Nature?
Powerful, fragile, harmony
3 things Nature taught you?
Resilience, respect, true beauty
3 most treasured Nature spots?
Great Bear Rainforest, Canada
Hartmann’s Valley, Namib Desert, Namibia
Tasmanian Coast, Australia
When you look at the ocean, it makes you feel...?
Tiny
When you see a forest, it makes you feel...?
Clean
When you see a volcano, it makes you feel...?
Nervous
When you see a sunrise or sunset, it makes you feel...?
Calm
When you hear thunder, it makes you feel...?
Excited
When you hear the wind howling, it makes you feel...?
Alive
Are you an Ocean, Mountain, Forest, or Desert person?
30% desert, 25% Mountain, 25% Ocean, 20% Forest
On a scale of 1 to 10, how important is Nature to your well-being?
8
Share with us a childhood nature memory?
My grandfather had a large piece of land in the middle of nowhere in Western Pennsylvania. As a child, I went here for every school holiday and it was the best – playing outside all day catching frogs with no structures in sight. There were some buffalo on the property and one day we found a baby buffalo that was left in a ditch. We rescued the buffalo and bottle fed it back to health.
John Montalbano
JOHN MONTALBANO recently served as Vice Chairman of RBC Wealth Management and Head of RBC Global Asset Management during the period of 2008 to 2016. RBC Global Asset Management ranked among the largest 50 asset managers in the world, with more than $375 billion is assets under management. John is a Trustee of the Killam Trusts, and is a director on many community boards, including the foundations of St. Paul’s Hospital, The Vancouver Police, Take a Hike Youth at Risk, Junior Achievement of BC and also chairs the capital campaign for The Vancouver Public Library. Recently appointed to the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board and the Asia Pacific Foundation, John holds a finance degree from the University of British Columbia and an Honorary Doctor of Letters from Emily Carr University of Art & Design.
3 words to describe Nature?
Miraculous
Precious
Vulnerable
3 things Nature taught you?
1. Whenever I am in nature, it always re-educates me that there is so much more to life than my urban reality.
2. Nature has taught me to be respectful of it, to relish in it and to rediscover myself with it.
3. Nature has taught me that it rarely lies. If it looks distressed, then it is likely distressed.
3 most treasured spots?
1. Haida Gwaii
2. A savanna in Botswana
3. The tidal pools off Sonora Island
When I look at the ocean, it makes me feel…?
Whole
When I see a forest it makes me feel…?
The need to get into the trees.
When I see a volcano, it makes me feel…?
Wondrous of what lurks within it.
When I see a sunrise, it makes me feel…?
Renewed; when I see a sunset, it makes me feel… that I have lived to have seen another day in my children’s lives.
When I hear thunder, it makes me feel…?
Unsettled
When I hear the wind howling, it makes me feel…?
Concerned for those who do not have shelter.
Am I an Ocean, Mountain, Forest or Desert person?...?
Vancouver is deep within me, therefore, I am an Ocean, Mountain and Forest person. One is not complete without the others.
On a scale of 1 to 10, how important is Nature to your well-being?
9- being near an ocean, mountain or forest is important for me to feel grounded.
Share with us a childhood nature memory?
Growing up in a working class family did not afford us an opportunity to see the world very often. The anticipation of my first overseas vacation had me all excited about the destination, only to find that it was the journey that I remember most. Flying through the clouds, for the first time, at a window seat, left me in awe and feeling like I was flying along side the angels…ok, in truth, I thought I was on a magic carpet, flying above earth and into space; but being raised Catholic, I quickly found myself becoming consumed with guilt because of my indulgent thoughts and, therefore, traded the carpet in for wings. Until that trip, I could never have imagined how beautiful clouds were, or how big, how broad and how bumpy. I have flown over 3 million miles and every take off would bring me back to that magic carpet ride.
David Labistour
DAVID LABISTOUR is a Board Member for Aritzia and former Chief Executive Officer of Mountain Equipment Co-op (MEC), Canada’s leading outdoor retailer.
With a professional experience spanning over 30 years working with companies such as Adidas, Woolworths, one of South Africa’s most successful retailers, and Aritzia - David’s diversified international experience has covered Design and Product Development in apparel, gear and food, retail product management, Brand management and complex Strategic planning and execution. His Management and Leadership experience has developed in Private, Public, Co-op and military environments.
David is MEC’s first CEO to have been appointed from within the 46-year-old organization. In his former capacity as the Senior Manager of Buying and Design, David was part of the Executive team that transformed the MEC Brand and shaped MEC’s award-winning recognition as Canada’s Best and Most Trusted Brand whilst equally encompassing sustainability initiatives operation wide.
David lives in Deep Cove with his wife Lianne, sons Liam and Felix, and indulges in a “jack of all trades, master of none” approach to a range of activities including such things as skiing, snowboarding, mountain biking, kite surfing.
3 words to describe Nature?
We. Are. Nature
3 things Nature taught you?
Consider the bigger system of things.
Nothing is simple or linear
Nature is a part of us and we are a part of nature
3 most treasured Nature spots?
Too many to pick one. The world is full of wonder. From your front door to the wildest and remotest of places
When you look at the ocean, it makes you feel...?
Like riding a wave
When you see a forest, it makes you feel...?
Like climbing a tree
When you see a volcano, it makes you feel...?
I have never seen a live volcano up close
When you see a sunrise or sunset, it makes you feel...?
Sunrise = new possibilities. A beautiful sunset on a warm evening = tranquility/ relaxation
When you hear thunder, it makes you feel...?
Depends on what my situation is. In the wild = batten the hatches. At home = energy
When you hear the wind howling, it makes you feel...?
Depends on my situation. On the beach = time to kite.
Are you an Ocean, Mountain, Forest, or Desert person?
Ocean first, then mountain.
On a scale of 1 to 10, how important is Nature to your well-being?
See question 1
Share with us a childhood nature memory?
I grew up on a farm in the foothills of the mountains, went to school on a nature reserve and holidayed on the ocean. That was my childhood.
Casey Hanisko
From starting her travel career at a space voyage division of well respective Zegrahm Expeditions to launching new events and business solutions at ATTA (Adventure Travel Trade Association), CASEY HANISKO has spent over 20 years taking bold steps and pushing the boundaries of comfortable. Over the years she has marketed countless new innovative travel itineraries from deep sea submersible trips to in depth expeditions to countries such as Brazil, Japan, and Namibia. A creative and results driven executive, Casey’s roles have included business strategy and development, marketing, communications, and innovative product development.
As president of the business services and events division of the ATTA, Casey manages the strategic direction and dynamic team delivering an ecosystem of events and business solutions for destinations and adventure travel brands around the world. Former head of the ATTA’s marketing and communications efforts, Casey was responsible for communicating the place global adventure travel has in the context of the greater tourism industry. As president, Casey will lead the success of long term partnerships that are built to advance destinations’ efforts to support economic- and community-based initiatives. A speaker at industry events around the globe, Casey shares her expertise on adventure travel trends, branding, and travel’s evolving role in the future of communities, culture, environment, and wildlife around the world.
3 words to describe Nature?
Unexpected, Beautiful, and Necessary
3 things Nature taught you?
To be introspective, respectful, and wild
3 most treasured Nature spots?
My most treasured nature spots are close by because access to nature daily makes me a happier person - so first is a park just down the street in Seattle because I go there daily for walks with my dog, second is the Cascade Mountains in Washington, and third is the Puget Sound because there are small pocket beaches that can be accessed across the city and then also South and North. For years I would scuba dive those waters looking for octopus, ling cod and nudibranchs.
When you look at the ocean, it makes you feel...?
Calm
When you see a forest, it makes you feel...?
Alive
When you see a volcano, it makes you feel...?
Honored
When you see a sunrise or sunset, it makes you feel...?
Peaceful
When you hear thunder, it makes you feel...?
Excited
When you hear the wind howling, it makes you feel...?
Alert
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?
I lived in rural New Hampshire when I was young. I used to explore the woods in the back of our house for hours on my own. There were trees back there with vines and I loved to find them and swing on them. It always felt like a treasure because I never remembered where they were. I felt like a female Tarzan swinging in the wild jungle.
Megan Harrison
MEGAN HARRISON is an artist who works in a variety of media and exhibits her work nationally. Most recently she was included in the exhibition Geomagic at NMSU, funded by the National Endowment for the Arts. Her artwork depends on images and insights from geology, architecture, astronomy and Nature. She explores the complexity of the world around her wherever she is. Watch the video, the Complexity of Scale, made by Walley Films.
3 words to describe Nature?
Compounding complexity
Transformative
Penetrating
3 things Nature taught you?
You don’t have to be lucky enough to travel to exotic places to interact with Nature. Nature is a constant and creative force that pushes itself into every aspect of our world, from the remote and distant wilderness to cracks in the sidewalk.
No matter how big, the drama and story of our individual life pales in comparison to the scale, history and complexity of the world that we belong to.
We are shaped, physically and psychology, by natural forces. Our neurological landscape mirrors that of our physical one, complete with domesticated centers, rural outposts and untouched wilderness.
3 most treasured Nature spots?
Rocky Mountains of Colorado, where I grew up.
The North-East coast of the United Stated and into Canada. Instead of sandy beaches you will find huge slabs of ancient granite facing off against a dynamic and pristine ocean.
The wilderness of northern Minnesota (minus the mosquitos). Through all of the water channels and tiny islands you can go and go and go until it feels like you are a million miles away.
When you look at the ocean, it makes you feel...?
Salt water, sun kissed, wind-blown - when I look at the ocean I can sense for a brief moment the scale of the planet we live on.
When you see a forest, it makes you feel...?
I feel like I could spend all day there, listening to the sound of my steps, watching the light through the trees, finding a spot have a snack. I am so at home there.
When you see a volcano, it makes you feel...?
When I see a volcano, it feels like all of my Earth Science textbooks have come to life. I can imagine the Earth’s crust, the lithosphere, the mantle and all of the tectonic plates bobbing around.
When you see a sunrise or sunset, it makes you feel...?
Seeing the sunset is an experience that usually comes to you. You are moving through your day and look up, and there it is.
When you hear thunder, it makes you feel...?
After a flash of lightning, the feeling of anticipation, waiting for that thunder to follow, is so satisfying.
When you hear the wind howling, it makes you feel...?
Cozy and happy to have a good roof over my head.
Are you an Ocean, Mountain, Forest, or Desert person?
Today I feel like a Forest person.
On a scale of 1 to 10, how important is Nature to your well-being?
A 10. In fact, just thinking about nature has positive effects; the idea of wilderness shapes such a large part of the human psyche.
Share with us a childhood nature memory
My dad took me on a short camping trip when I was 7 or 8. It was the first time I experienced hiking into a natural space with a pack as opposed to camping next to a car. It felt like we walked for a very long time, though it was probably less than a mile. It was just far enough to feel really surrounded by the landscape. I remember green everywhere, cold mornings, and the smell of the tent. I was amazed watching my dad; he knew all sorts of tricks - how to set up a tent, start a fire, hook a fishing line, cook outside, brush your teeth and clean dishes without running water. I would love to go find that spot again. I am curious to see how my memory has interpreted that space.
Christiana Moss
CHRISTIANA MOSS is managing principal and a founding partner of Studio Ma, the current AIA Arizona Firm of the Year and a recent Architectural Record Design Vanguard Firm. Her interests in advanced environmental design and the relationship between natural and cultural systems inform her design philosophy. She is one of fiveStudio Ma principals and practices collaboratively with Christopher Alt, Dan Hoffman, Jason Boyer and Tim Keil. The hallmark of studio is a commitment to sustainability and research, seen most recently in Princeton University’s net-zero ready 715-bed Lakeside Graduate Student Community.
As part of the firm’s mission of advancing the practice of sustainable design, Studio Ma has recently developed a “triple net-zero” concept for higher education research buildings and practices using an integrated design process, for its campus, cultural and urban infill projects. Their work on university campuses focuses on student residential life, academic and research projects. Other notable recent projects include Scottsdale’s Museum of the West, a Smithsonian affiliate, Arizona State University’s Manzanita Hall, Northern Arizona University’s Native American Cultural Center, the Cranbrook Institute of Science addition, master planning and cabin prototypes for Summit Powder Mountain, PRD845 and artHAUS, an urban infill development. Studio Ma has received significant recognition for their work, including AIA Arizona Honor awards, the Chicago Athenaeum and SCUP/AIA National Honor for Building Design. Their buildings have been featured in Metropolis, Architectural Record and The New York Times.
Christiana received her Bachelor of Architecture from Cornell University's College of Architecture, Art and Planning.
3 words to describe Nature?
Essential
Integral
Threatened
3 things Nature taught you?
Humility
Awe
Self-reflection
3 most treasured Nature spots?
Fire Island
Oak Creek Canyon, AZ
My back yard
When you look at the ocean, it makes you feel...?
When I’m looking out to the ocean I feel small and infinite at the same time.
When you see a forest, it makes you feel...?
When I’m in a forest I feel sheltered, embraced and connected to the earth.
When you see a volcano, it makes you feel...?
I haven’t seen a volcano yet.
When you see a sunrise or sunset, it makes you feel...?
Thankful for its rising and anxious for its return when it sets.
When you hear thunder, it makes you feel...?
Hearing thunder makes me want to seek shelter.
When you hear the wind howling, it makes you feel...?
I enjoy feeling the wind on my face and prefer to be in it instead of hearing it from the indoors.
Are you an Ocean, Mountain, Forest, or Desert person?
This is a difficult question. I love them all and they are all connected, perhaps some at different times. I began as an ocean person. The desert was once an ocean and I now enjoy the expanse of sky of both, the silhouette of mountains and the unique life water’s absence creates in the desert. The forest is a place I go to be immersed in the smells and sounds of the earth and I long for this too, perhaps I will become a forest person.
On a scale of 1 to 10, how important is Nature to your well-being?
1 (being most important)
Share with us a childhood nature memory?
I lived as a child on Fire Island without cars, free to run and swim in the ocean, walking in sand barefoot all summer long, picking blueberries and chasing rabbits. I lost this when I moved to New York when I was 12 and I’ve been longing to return to life without a city ever since.
Ardy Sobhani
ARDY SOBHANI is an entrepreneur and business strategist, energized by ideation, iteration, and systems design. After earning an MBA in Design Strategy from California College of the Arts in 2012, Ardy helped launched Oru Kayak via Kickstarter with his two co-founders. The response to the project was incredible, with over 700 backers supporting the folding kayak company. In three years since, Oru Kayak has grown quickly, from a weekend hobby to young and scrappy startup to international brand. all under the guidance of Sobhani, Oru Kayak's CEO.
Today the company markets and sells through a wide variety of channels, has a robust and efficient manufacturing and fulfillment process in Southern California, and has developed key partnerships with , and many other major distributors. Looking forward, the company--which has doubled in growth each year since its founding--is poised for rapid expansion, riding a wave of good fortune and a dedication to the aggressive strategies put forth by Ardy and the rest of the executive team. Oru Kayak's dream of changing the way people experience the outdoors is closer than many believe.
As a leader, Ardy is motivated by a desire to use human-centered design to make the outdoors more accessible for all. He believes that clever, forward-thinking solutions will soon create game-changing products and services in the outdoor industry, and that Oru Kayak is position well to be a catalyst for this change. Ardy uses design thinking frameworks to inspire innovative thinking, merging design and business to create and deliver value to the customer and faster growth for the company.
3 words to describe Nature?
Freedom
Fresh
Recharge
3 things Nature taught you?
Ecosystem - Everything has a purpose and nothing is wasted.
Flow - the easiest path forward. Nature always finds it.
All the answers we are looking for are in nature, but they are hard to find.
3 most treasured Nature spots?
The waters that surround the cities. We need to utilize these natural water parks!
The Beautiful North of Iran " Shomal"
My favourite tree in the neighbourhood
When you look at the ocean, it makes you feel...?
Calm and at the same time strong. Always there to take care of you and never let go.
When you see a forest, it makes you feel...?
Respect. Our elders with much wisdom
When you see a volcano, it makes you feel...?
Never seen a volcano in person but it is very powerful. It's time for the earth to breathe.
When you see a sunrise or sunset, it makes you feel...?
Another day about to start or end :) Future or the Past. Both are very powerful.
When you hear thunder, it makes you feel...?
Love it! Louder, please!
When you hear the wind howling, it makes you feel...?
Something is about to go down! We need to listen closely to what the wind is telling us.
Are you an Ocean, Mountain, Forest, or Desert person?
I grow up in Tehran, Iran mountains city but lived in California for the most of my life. I love the desert for it vastness and its honesty. I love the ocean as it takes care of us. Mountains for their powerful stand and they are fun to play in. Forest for the oxygen the make. How about mountain forest next to ocean or lake.
On a scale of 1 to 10, how important is Nature to your well-being?
10. I need more of it.
Share with us a childhood nature memory?
Camping in the forest of Iran. I LOVED it!
Brian MacKay-Lyons
BRIAN MACKAY-LYONS received his Bachelor of Architecture from the Technical University of Nova Scotia in 1978 where he was awarded the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada Medal. He received his Master of Architecture and Urban Design at U.C.L.A., and was awarded the Dean’s Award for Design. In 1985, he founded the firm Brian MacKay-Lyons Architecture Urban Design in Halifax. Twenty years later, Brian partnered with Talbot Sweetapple to form MacKay-Lyons Sweetapple Architects Limited.
The firm has built an international reputation for design excellence confirmed by over 125+ awards, including the Royal Institute of British Architects International Fellowship in 2016, the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada Gold Medal in 2015 and Firm Award in 2014, six Governor General Medals, two American Institute of Architects National Honor Awards for Architecture, thirteen Lieutenant Governor’s Medals of Excellence, eight Canadian Architect Awards, four Architectural Record Houses Awards, eight North American Wood Design Awards and in 2017 the firm received the Global Award for Sustainable Architecture. Also in 2017, the firm has been shortlisted for the prestigious Moriyama Award (result pending). A fellow of the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada (FRAIC), and the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts (RCA), Brian was named Honorary Fellow of the American Institute of Architects (Hon FAIA) in 2001 and International Fellow of the Royal Institute of British Architects (Int. FRIBA) in 2016.
He is a Professor of Architecture at Dalhousie University where he has taught for over thirty years and has held seventeen endowed academic chairs and given 200+ lectures internationally. In 2004 he was visiting professor for the Ruth and Norman Moore Professorship at Washington University in St. Louis.
Ghost (1994-2011) was a series of international Architectural Research Laboratories that took place on the MacKay-Lyons farm. Ghost was founded by Brian as a meeting place for an international ‘school’ of architects who shared a commitment to: landscape, making, and community. The final installment of Ghost took the form of a three-day historic gathering where the twenty-five invited guests and speakers commiserated over these shared values and their ‘resistance’ to the globalization of Architecture.
The work of the firm has been recognized in 330+ publications including six monographs: Seven Stories from a Village Architect (1996); Brian MacKay-Lyons: Selected Works 1986-1997 (1998); Plain Modern: The Architecture of Brian MacKay-Lyons by Malcolm Quantrill (2005); Ghost: Building an Architectural Vision (2008); Local Architecture: Building Place, Craft, and Community (2014); and Economy as Ethic: The Work of MacKay-Lyons Sweetapple Architects, authored by Historian Robert McCarter, published April 2017. In addition to these monographs, the work of the firm has been featured in 100+ exhibitions internationally.
3 words to describe Nature?
As a fellow Canadian, Nature is IMMENSE. But, as a Nova Scotian, all Nature is a mixture of both CULTURAL and natural landscapes. As an architect, Nature is the ultimate design MODEL.
3 things Nature taught you?
NATURE WINS. Any attempt to beat nature loses.
ELEGANCE = economy of means.
RYTHM of the seasons.
We learn our manners at home, then take them out into the world. As a child, I have been imprinted by the landscape where my ancestors have dwelled for thousands of years.
3 most treasured Nature spots?
EDGE, where the land meets the sea.
ACADIE, the local Micmac word for the ecologically rich tidal estuaries around the Bay of Fundy, where I hunted and fished as a youth.
DRUMLIN, a hill that points in the direction of the retreating glaciers in the last ice age.
When you look at the ocean, it makes you feel...?
I feel connected to the INFINITE. (Prospect)
When you see a forest, it makes you feel...?
I am ALONE. (Refuge)
When you see a volcano, it makes you feel...?
I see a PORTAL to the center of the earth.
When you see a sunrise or sunset, it makes you feel...?
A sunrise or sunset is a seasonal CLOCK.
When you hear thunder, it makes you feel...?
Thunder, universally inspires TERROR.
When you hear the wind howling, it makes you feel...?
The wind is the weather FORECAST.
Are you an Ocean, Mountain, Forest, or Desert person?
Clearly an OCEAN person.
On a scale of 1 to 10, how important is Nature to your well-being?
Nature connection is essential to my/our well-being, or GROUNDING, so it is a 10.
Share with us a childhood nature memory?
Dip netting spawning gaspereaux at dusk on spring evenings with friends, in the rapids, where the fresh water from the forest drops into the salt tidal estuary water. This is only one of the seasonal RITUALS that marked my PLACE in the world.
Jennine Cohen
JENNINE COHEN is a the Managing Director of the Americas for GeoEx. A trusted adventure, luxury and travel expert, Jennine also supports travel conservation efforts. She is a member of the Board of Directors for the International Galápagos Tour Operators Association (IGTOA) and has been featured in Travel & Leisure, Afar, Conde Nast Traveler, Vogue, YahooTravel, Fortune, Forbes, ABC, CBS, Travel Weekly, TravelAge West, Recommend Magazine, SmartMeetings, Travel Alliance Media and beyond. Besides sending people traveling around the world, Cohen advises, coaches and helps small businesses, women entrepreneurs, healers, and business leaders to uncover their everyday magic.
3 words to describe Nature?
Peace, Pachamama, Purity
3 things Nature taught you?
Like nature, I am a force;
Hitting the reset button in nature = clarity;
No regrets for going bigger
3 most treasured Nature spots?
The South Yuba River, Nevada City,
Wrangell Saint Elias National Park – Alaska,
Dead Horse State Park - Utah
When you look at the ocean, it makes you feel...?
I want to be out there, in the waves instead of sitting on the shore
When you see a forest, it makes you feel...?
Like everything is right in the world
When you see a volcano, it makes you feel...?
Mother Earth is amazing
When you see a sunrise or sunset, it makes you feel...?
Like the days are precious – and we should appreciate and have gratitude for each uniquely beautiful day.
When you hear thunder, it makes you feel...?
At home
When you hear the wind howling, it makes you feel...?
Intrigued
Are you an Ocean, Mountain, Forest, or Desert person?
Mountain – but love them all deeply
On a scale of 1 to 10, how important is Nature to your well-being?
10
Share with us a childhood nature memory?
I didn’t have much exposure to the wilderness as a child, and my first real introduction was in college through UCLA’s Outdoor Leadership Program. My first backpacking trip with UCLA was through Sequoia National Forest – it was how I fell in love with the West.
I was surrounded on that trip by much more experienced peers who had spent their childhoods enjoying frequent family camping trips. I on the other hand, didn’t even know how to set up a tent – let alone use topo maps and a compass. Despite this, as we hiked through the mountains and under some of the largest trees on the planet, I felt a deep sense of satisfaction, calm, sense of purpose. Though I was an absolute beginner, but my unbounded excitement for my new found passion over time led to my competence in and eventual addiction to the outdoors. My life was forever changed after that trip, and my career in the adventure travel industry born.
Coincidentally, that same trip happened to fall over 9/11. We had been in the wilderness and seemed to be the last ones on the planet to find out about the terrorist attacks to the World Trade Center – emerging from the woods a full week after the tragic event. Not being surrounded by news all week likely shielded us from the high levels of stress and anxiety that the rest of the country was suffering from.
It is a good reminder about the importance of disconnecting from the noise of today’s anxiety inciting media – in order to intuitively return to the abundance of calm and clarity.
Bruce Poon Tip
Entrepreneur, leader and philanthropist BRUCE POON TIP is the founder of adventure travel company and social enterprise G Adventures, the world’s largest small-group adventure travel company, with 23 offices worldwide offering more than 650 tours on all seven continents and serving 150,000 travellers a year.
Bruce is also the founder of the nonprofit foundation Planeterra in 2003, which harnesses the power of the tourism industry to direct travel dollars into vulnerable and underserved communities around the world. His work with organizations such as the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), the Multilateral Investment Fund (MIF), like-minded companies and indigenous people has supported more than 40 unique community development and relief projects around the world, with another 50 in development.
In 2012, Bruce was inducted into the Social Venture Network Hall of Fame, joining celebrated entrepreneurs such as Richard Branson (Virgin Airlines), Anita Roddick (The Body Shop), and Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield (Ben and Jerry’s Ice Cream). He was also awarded a Queen Elizabeth II’s Diamond Jubilee Medal, recognizing significant contributions to society, and was named Entrepreneur of the Year in 2016, 2006 and 2002.
Bruce’s first book, Looptail: How One Company Changed the World by Reinventing Business, a New York Times bestseller, was the first business book to be endorsed by His Holiness the Dalai Lama, who penned the book’s foreword. In 2015 Bruce released his second book, Do Big Small Things, a gorgeously designed journal about life and travel that takes readers on a journey and invites them to share their own inspiration and creativity.
G Adventures has been named one of the 50 Best Managed Companies for over 10 years and is repeatedly recognized as a “best place to work” in Canada, the US, the UK and Australia.
3 words to describe Nature?
Happiness
Peaceful
Beauty
3 things Nature taught you?
Being humble,
Importance of stillness
Awareness that we’re surrounded by beautiful things
3 most treasured Nature spots?
Serengeti, Galapagos and the Geelong Bird Sanctuary
When you look at the ocean, it makes you feel...?
Free
When you see a forest, it makes you feel...?
Small
When you see a volcano, it makes you feel...?
Curious
When you see a sunrise or sunset, it makes you feel...?
Invincible
When you hear thunder, it makes you feel...?
Excited
When you hear the wind howling, it makes you feel...?
Light
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?
9
Share with us a childhood nature memory?
Growing up in Calgary I spent a lot of my spare time in ponds after school, knee-deep in mud. I lost track of time catching frogs and observing tadpoles in transition. I was fascinated by natural biology.
Gary Turk
GARY TURK is an award-winning filmmaker and spoken word artist best known for his viral film ‘Look Up’, attracting over 500 million views worldwide. Through poetry and film, Gary explains how overuse of smartphones and social media can disengage us from real relationships, human interactions and living in the real world.
‘Look Up’ is currently the most viewed Spoken Word film on YouTube, and went on to win Best Viral Film at Cannes. Scroll down to watch his latest video - IN OUR NATURE
Gary’s work, which has explored our relationships with money, politics and nature has gone on to inspire masses across the globe and gained worldwide coverage including BBC News, Fox News and TIME.
Gary has appeared on The Today Show, Good Morning Britain, BBC Breakfast, Sunrise (Australia), among many others.
Gary continues to make short independent films, as well as performing live around the world. He can also be found giving talks, workshops & performances at schools, universities, and corporate events.
3 words to describe Nature?
Boundless
Magnificent
Inspiring
3 things Nature taught you?
To travel
To take my time
To appreciate the little things
3 most treasured Nature spots?
Looking Glass Rock, Appalachian Mountains, NC.
Cuckmere Haven, South Downs National Park, England.
Beneath the Redwoods, Mendocino CA.
When you look at the ocean, it makes you feel...?
Calm
When you see a forest, it makes you feel...?
Protected
When you see a volcano, it makes you feel...?
Inconsequential
When you see a sunrise or sunset, it makes you feel...?
Like everyone and everything is connected
When you hear thunder, it makes you feel...?
Like looking for lightning
When you hear the wind howling, it makes you feel...?
Like there's no point standing still
Are you an Ocean, Mountain, Forest, or Desert person?
Mountain person - I love being able to take in my surroundings from up high (especially if I can see Oceans, Forests or Deserts from there).
On a scale of 1 to 10, how important is Nature to your well-being?
An easy 10 - If I ever don't feel 100%, I know that being in Nature will always make things better, put things into perspective, and provide the answers I need.
Share with us a childhood nature memory?
After a long day of trail hiking with my cub-scout, we went to sleep under the stars in our sleeping bags on the forest floor. What I did not realise as we went to sleep was that I still had a cereal bar in the pocket of my shorts. When I woke up I noticed there were lots of tiny pieces of foil wrapper in my sleeping bag. I climbed out to find that my shorts now had a large hole in them leading to my pocket, which had clearly been chewed, and inside my pocket was the remaining foil wrapper and the crumbs of a cereal bar that I had not eaten.
I became immediately certain that I had been attacked by a bear in my sleep, and that I must have somehow slept through the encounter.
Our group leader then reassured me that considering the size of the hole in my shorts, and the fact my sleeping bag and limbs remained intact, it was most likely a mouse that attacked me during the night.
I often remember this moment in nature as a child, as part of me still likes to believe it could have been a bear.
Scott Sampson
SCOTT SAMPSON was born and raised in Vancouver, BC. He is a dinosaur paleontologist, science communicator, and passionate advocate for reimagining cities as places where people and nature thrive. He serves as the President and CEO of Science World British Columbia.
Scott’s scientific research has focused on the ecology and evolution of Late Cretaceous dinosaurs, and he has conducted fieldwork in many countries, including Kenya, Zimbabwe, South Africa, Madagascar, Mexico, the United States, and Canada. He has published numerous scientific and popular articles, and regularly speaks to audiences of all ages on topics ranging from dinosaurs and education to sustainability and connecting kids with nature.
Sampson has appeared in many television documentaries and served as a science advisor for a variety of media projects, most recently the BBC movie, Walking With Dinosaurs. He has authored multiple books, including Dinosaur Odyssey: Fossil Threads in the Web of Life, and How to Raise a Wild Child: The Art and Science of Falling in Love with Nature. However, he is perhaps best known as “Dr. Scott,” host and science advisor of the Emmy-nominated PBS KIDS television series Dinosaur Train, produced by the Jim Henson Company.
3 words to describe Nature?
Interwoven, Nested, Evolving
3 things Nature taught you?
Wonder, Deep Connection, Humility
3 most treasured Nature spots?
While I have had the pleasure of traveling to a number of countries around the world, my most treasured nature spots have been those that I have been able to return to again and again. They are the ones I know the best, and that resonate with me most deeply.
Long Beach (Tofino area), Vancouver Island
Marin Headlands, California
Red Rock Country, southern Utah
When you look at the ocean, it makes you feel...?
Awe (in its vastness)
When you see a forest, it makes you feel...?
Wonder (in its deep, mostly unseen interconnections)
When you see a volcano, it makes you feel...?
Humbled (by the sheer power it represents from within the Earth)
When you see a sunrise or sunset, it makes you feel...?
Tiny, and a little off balance (sitting, as I am, on the side of a giant, rolling sphere)
When you hear thunder, it makes you feel...?
Resonance (it is as if I feel the thunder more from the inside out, than the outside in)
When you hear the wind howling, it makes you feel...?
A deep appreciation for shelter
Are you an Ocean, Mountain, Forest, or Desert person?
Growing up in Vancouver, BC, I was raised at the intersection of ocean, mountain, and forest, so for me they are interwoven. But if I had to pick one only, it would be the ocean.
On a scale of 1 to 10, how important is Nature to your well-being?
10
Share with us a childhood nature memory?
While still a child, camping with my family in the interior of British Columbia, I went off on my own (as usual) in search for interesting rocks and (hopefully) fossils. I spent a joyous hour or two on the side of a steep, boulder-strewn slope, turning over rocks and hunting for whatever wonders might be revealed. (I may have rolled a few rocks down the hillside as well.) Eventually I stopped and sat for a long while on a flat rock with a view of the valley below. When I finally headed back to our campsite, I wanted to show my parents where I had been. Late in the day, we walked back to the spot, to find a rattlesnake lounging on the very same flat rock I had sat on just hours earlier. I presume that it was soaking in the last rays of sun before a night of hunting. Although my first reaction was a twinge of fear, my lasting sense was one of interconnection—with the snake, the rock, and that place.
David Nihill
DAVID NIHILL is the author of the best-selling book Do You Talk Funny? and the Founder of FunnyBizz, a community, writer platform, and conference series, where business meets humor to abolish boring content. His work has been featured in Inc., Lifehacker, The Huffington Post, Fast Company, The Irish Times, WSJ, and Forbes. A graduate of the UCD Michael Smurfit Graduate Business School he calls San Francisco home when immigration officials permit, and was named on the 2017 Irish America 100 List, which recognizes the accomplishments of the best and the brightest Irish-American and Irish-born leaders.
3 words to describe Nature?
Inspiring, awe, wonder
3 things Nature taught you?
Patience, appreciation, fear
3 most treasured Nature spots?
Annanpurna Nepal, Tofu Mozambique, Salt Flats Bolivia
When you look at the ocean, it makes you feel...?
Like kiteboarding or swimming
When you see a forest, it makes you feel...?
Like running but also like stopping
When you see a volcano, it makes you feel...?
In awe
When you see a sunrise or sunset, it makes you feel...?
Grateful
When you hear thunder, it makes you feel...?
Alive
When you hear the wind howling, it makes you feel...?
Like kiteboarding
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?
9..but why not 10, it should be 10 :)
Share with us a childhood nature memory.
When I was 7 years old I went fishing for tadpoles by a small river. I urinated without surveying my surroundings and had an argument with an electrical fence. Exactly as memorable...and painful as it sounds :)
Anique Coffee
ANIQUE COFFEE grew up in the US where she studied Marketing + Entrepreneurial Ventures. After a four-year stint working with Creative Services at the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Anique started her own agency, providing a range of services to companies, with a focus on corporate identity and branding. After selling the agency, Anique moved to California and joined the Silicon Valley life in the San Francisco Bay Area, where she helped launch and grow various startups. Anique is driven by relationships and results, and loves connecting with others through shared ideas and celebration of unique differences. Stemming from a love for travel and new cultures, Anique recently relocated to Barcelona, Spain and runs The Collective remotely, embracing the digital nomad lifestyle, enabling her to connect with people and brands all over the globe.
3 words to describe Nature?
Vast. Organic. Expansive.
3 things Nature taught you?
To breathe. To wander. To be open to the things nature shows you when you wander.
3 most treasured Nature spots?
The Chuckawalla trail inside Red Cliffs Desert Reserve, near St George Utah
Dipsea Steep Ravine Loop Trail near Stinson Beach, just over the Golden Gate Bridge, north of San Francisco
Monterosso al Mare along the Cinque Terre trail in Italy
When you look at the ocean, it makes you feel...?
Calm. I had my energy read a few times and every single reader immediately said that water was my element - the natural element that I use when I'm seeking calming. It's true.
When you see a forest, it makes you feel...?
Grateful. Trees are so amazing. They are living, breathing network of organisms that provide oxygen for us to breathe and work WITH each other to survive. I highly recommend this radio lab podcast to understand how amazing forests and trees really are: http://www.radiolab.org/story/from-tree-to-shining-tree/
When you see a volcano, it makes you feel...?
Cautiously optimistic.
When you see a sunrise or sunset, it makes you feel...?
Renewed.
When you hear thunder, it makes you feel...?
Homesick. I grew up in Central Florida where thunder and lightning storms are almost a daily occurrence. I used to love sitting on the front porch watching the storms, and when a hurricane was on the way, it would be fun to watch some of the natural debris like Spanish moss whipping around in the huge oak trees in our yard.
When you hear the wind howling, it makes you Feel?
Nostalgic for Florida. I have many memories of stormy days and hurricanes there.
Are you an Ocean, Mountain, Forest, or Desert person?
Can I be all of them? I love the ocean, but frequently crave the quiet mountain life. I love the lush bright green varieties you can find in the forest. I also lived in the desert in St George Utah for a bit and while I won't live there again, I really miss the red rocks and gorgeous succulents.
On a scale of 1 to 10, how important is Nature to your well-being?
11. Given our current tech-obsessed culture (which I am often guilty of as a business owner), I find myself craving a hike or a quiet sit on beach weekly. I try to give in to these cravings as much as possible to hit the reset button on myself.
Share with us a childhood nature memory?
Camping as a family was a big part of my childhood. We'd often pack up the car and caravan with some other friends to a campsite. I specifically remember one evening at dusk - my favorite time of the day - where I found myself in a field, surrounded by fireflies. I had seen and caught them before, but this time was different. Its one of those moments in my life that's frozen in my memory and was also some kind of out-of-body experience. I can almost see myself swirling around the field, delicately touching the fireflies one by one. Magical bugs. I love them!
Richard Titus
RICHARD TITUS was named one of the Wired 100 in 2010. Serial entrepreneur and executive, Richard has a passion for technology & innovation. His startups include Razorfish, Schematic & Videoplaza. Titus's most recent startup, Prompt.ly, was co-founded in 2013 and sold in 2016 to Breezeworks.
More recently, until February 2017, Richard led customer experience for Samsung Electronics Visual display division globally. While there he led User experience & design globally, and portions of its product planning & new product development functions for Consumer Electronics & Digital Appliance divisions. Richard has been an active blockchain investor & advisor for 5+ years, his most recent ICO’s include Hive and 2030.
Richard previously he held senior leadership roles at the British Broadcasting Corporation (Future Media Controller) where he launched iPlayer and the BBC mobile service and subsequently served as CEO of Associated Northcliffe Digital, the digital holding company of DMGT’s (Daily Mail) digital holding company. He is based in San Francisco, California.
3 words to describe Nature?
Warm (even when cold), Calm, Home
3 things Nature taught you?
Respect for my limitations
Humility around our role on earth
Awe of the complexity, grandeur and ingenuity
3 most treasured Nature spots?
Iceland - the whole damn thing
Atacama desert, Chile
Yosemite Valley, California - which is magical even now after 10+ visits
When you look at the ocean, it makes you feel...?
Mediative effect of the waves
Longing to escape wherever I am (swim away).
Eagerness to jump on a wave.
When you see a forest, it makes you feel…?
I love the forest for the organic.
The surprise that the bed of pine needles could be so rough, prickly and yet simultaneously soft and welcoming.
When you see a volcano, it makes you feel…?
It’s funny I just saw one in Nicaragua this week. A melding of fear, awe and fascination with the danger & power + warmth of what lies beneath the surface.
When you see a sunrise or sunset, it makes you feel…?
My house is in the hills and faces east. I watch the sunrise every day its part of my meditation routine. I feel a sense of rebirth, beginning, but also quiet contemplation. Happiness. No sunrise has ever made me feel sad.
Sunset, I always feel a mix of sadness about those things left incomplete and relief from the same burden.
When my daughters were younger, I used to wake them up to watch the sunrise. We pretended we could conduct it! "ok over there lets get a little more opacity on the water now. People work with me there’s too much bloody purple.. " that kind of thing. They loved it. They still describe those memories as some of their favorites.
When you hear thunder, it makes you feel...?
Tumultuous Excitement
Expectation
Occasional dread
When my daughters were young, and somewhat afraid of thunder & lightning, I used to lay in their room (high on a hill where we felt on par with the storm) and I would pretend I could “speak storm” - translating the sounds into funny conversation.
When you hear the wind howling, it makes you feel…?
Anxiety. Its the only storm sound I don’t like. Years of danger rock climbing and camping. Wind was something that could cause significant distress.
Are you an Ocean, Mountain, Forest, or Desert person?
Mountain for sure. though ocean gets a strong 2nd mention.
On a scale of 1 to 10, how important is Nature to your well-being?
Nature is where I go to recharge - even nature photos help me center myself.
Share with us a childhood nature memory?
As a child we drove from Orange County CA to Washington DC across the country. Twice. I remember being astounded at the diversity of landscape, the way it evolved and iterated. I found the land and nature would reflect themselves in the people. The Stoicism of the montana’ians. The Friendliness of the midwest farmers…
Julie Pointer Adams
JULIE POINTER ADAMS is an artist, floral designer, and most recently, author and photographer of a book on hospitality called Wabi-Sabi Welcome: Learning to embrace the imperfect and entertain with thoughtfulness and ease. She lived in Portland, Oregon for a number of years where she developed and directed the international community events for Kinfolk magazine alongside Editor Nathan Williams. Julie currently resides in Santa Barbara, California with her husband, Ryan.
3 words to describe Nature?
Healing, calming, worshipful
3 things Nature taught you?
To let go of worry; to be still and listening; to find beauty in unsuspecting places.
3 most treasured Nature spots?
Sauvie Island, Oregon; St. John River, New Brunswick, Canada; beaches along the Santa Barbara, California coastline
When you look at the ocean, it makes you feel...?
Powerless and grateful
When you see a forest, it makes you feel...?
Quiet
When you see a volcano, it makes you feel...?
Small and temporal
When you see a sunrise or sunset, it makes you feel...?
Happy-sad and hopeful
When you hear thunder, it makes you feel...?
Grounded
When you hear the wind howling, it makes you feel...?
Alive and reflective, as if a change is coming.
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?
Most summers as a child were spent visiting my mother’s extended family in New Brunswick, Canada along the St. John River. I remember long days spent outside swimming, canoeing and exploring, but I particularly recall one day sitting hidden in the midst of tall grasses on a sloping hillside, shaded by birch trees. I felt in that moment that nature would always be a safe hiding place—a place to retreat to and be cradled by.
Davis Smith
DAVIS SMITH is the founder and CEO of Cotopaxi, an outdoor gear brand with a humanitarian mission. He is also a member of the eight-person United Nations Foundation's Global Entrepreneurs Council. Davis is a serial entrepreneur who previously started Baby.com.br, Brazil’s Startup of the Year in 2012. Davis holds an MBA from the Wharton School, an MA from the University of Pennsylvania, and a BA from BYU. Davis is an adventurer who has visited 70 countries. He has floated down the Amazon on a self-made raft, camped in the Sahara Desert, kayaked from Cuba to Florida, and explored North Korea.
3 words to describe Nature?
Raw, Fragile, Inspiring
3 things Nature taught you?
I began spending time in the outdoors before I can remember, but some of my first lessons learned while adventuring with my father are that:
1. Nature needs to be respected because while infinitely beautiful, it will eat you alive.
2. In my lowest moments, nature has lifted me up and inspired me.
3. I’ve always felt that nature has shown me that there is something bigger than myself. Spending time in the outdoors connects me with things that are truly important.
3 most treasured Nature spots?
1. The red rock canyons of Southern Bolivia, where I lived for a number of years as a young adult.
2. Cotopaxi national park in Ecuador, where I spent some of my childhood and early teen years.
3. The Wasatch Mountains that tower above Salt Lake City, where I currently live.
When you look at the ocean, it makes you feel…?
Small and vulnerable.
When you see a forest, it makes you feel…?
Safe, overwhelmed with beautiful sounds, smells and sights.
When you see a volcano, it makes you feel…?
Humbled and melancholy (I grew up in the Andes surrounded by amazing volcanos which I often summited with my father).
When you see a sunrise or sunset, it makes you feel…?
Overwhelming joy. Is there anything that can fill a heart or bring a smile faster?
When you hear thunder, it makes you feel…?
An urge to run and duck for cover!
When you hear the wind howling, it makes you feel…?
Somewhat intimidated, but I love the sound when I’m in a tent.
Are you an Ocean, Mountain, Forest, or Desert person?
I’ve spent eight years living in the Caribbean, so I’m obsessed with the ocean. I love kayak touring, diving, snorkeling, spearfishing and camping on the beach. That said, I’ve lived in Utah for a number of years now and have really grown to love the mountains.
On a scale of 1 to 10, how important is to your well-being?
8. I love the outdoors, but I own an outdoor gear brand and have a small family, both which keep me indoors quite often. I’ve found that surrounded by people I love, I can also get immense joy even when not outdoors.
Share with us a childhood nature memory?
Some of my fondest memories as a child were spending time adventuring with my dad. We once built our own raft and floated down the Amazon river fishing for piranha. We also survived on uninhabited islands in the Caribbean, spearing fish with home-made spears. My brother and I spent hours every day exploring and building forts in the jungle behind our home when we lived in Puerto Rico. My childhood is full of memories in nature. Most incredibly pleasant, but some memories are of times that were terrifying and scary. It was those moments, however, that gave me such a deep respect for nature and taught me to respect it and always be prepared for the worst.
My mother
Families are complicated. After 15 years of tumultuous and often absent communication, my mother and I have mended our differences and picked up where we left off, back to a time when our relationship was what one of a mother-son should be. A lot of who I am today is because of her, even my love of nature. As a young boy, she always made sure that we spent as much time exploring the shores of the St-Lawrence river or roaming the local woods. I am really grateful for the values and skills she taught me. Thank you mother.
3 words to describe Nature?
Beauty, Respect and Strength
3 things Nature taught you?
That beauty doesn’t cost a thing. That it is the best place for your mind to wander and meditate. That we need to respect it because, simply, we are part of it.
3 most treasured Nature spots?
Close to water so that I can hear the sound of waves or the sound of a running creek. Leaning against a tree so that I can feel its energy. Walking under the rain, even better when it is warm.
When you look at the ocean, it makes you feel...?
In peace, meditative, and small.
When you see a forest, it makes you feel...?
If alone, I am a bit worried. If I am with others, I feel in harmony, I feel the energy.
When you see a volcano, it makes you feel...?
In awe... from far away. But also insecure.
When you see a sunrise or sunset, it makes you feel...?
Happy, calm, mesmerized by the perfect beauty. I am fascinated by how it changes, how it evolves - the colors, shades and forms.
When you hear thunder, it makes you feel...?
I simply love hearing thunder! It is so delightful! It is exciting! I want to run outside and watch the storm... from sitting on a chair on a veranda though!
When you hear the wind howling, it makes you feel...?
I love falling asleep to the sound of the wind whistling. That said, I wouldn’t want to be in a hurricane or tornado - terrifying!
Are you an Ocean, Mountain, Forest, or Desert person?
Water!! Whether the ocean, a river, or a creek.
On a scale of 1 to 10, how important is Nature to your well-being?
10. But at the same time, I am not dependant on it to be happy.
Share with us a childhood nature memory?
One memory I have is at my grand parents’ chalet, there was a vast field nearby where we gathered wild berries. Another one is by the St-Lawrence River where I spent countless hours playing in tide pools looking for little fish and shells. I also remember loving relaxing in a hammock, looking up to the sky and the top of trees, just letting my imagination run free.