Susan Rockefeller
Susan Rockefeller is an award-winning documentary filmmaker, artist, and conservationist. Her latest endeavor, Musings is a digital magazine that curates ideas and innovations that pave the way for a more sustainable future. As the Founder and Editor-in-Chief of Musings, Susan offers a portal to vetted products and brands that are pioneers in health, environmental, and social consciousness.
Susan is a member of the Council of Foreign Relations and is additionally an advisor to Food Systems 6, MADE SAFE, Oceanic Global, and Ohana & Co. In her film work, Rockefeller is a Principal of Louverture films and a member of the Film Committee for the Museum of Modern Art. Her own original films include: Food For Thought, Food for Life, Striking a Chord, Making the Crooked Straight, and Mission of Mermaids, have aired on HBO, PBS, and the Discovery Channel.
A longstanding philanthropist, Susan sits on the boards of Oceana, Stone Barns Center for Food and Agriculture, We are Family Foundation, Southampton Arts Center, and Land and Garden Preserve.
3 words to describe Nature?
Powerful. Beautiful. Mysterious
3 things Nature taught you?
How to observe
How to listen
How to imagine my place in the cycle of living and dying
3 most treasured Nature spots?
Sagaponack Beach, Long Island, NY
Little Long Pond, Seal Harbor, MAINE
Kobuk River, Alaska
When you look at the ocean, it makes you feel...?
Mesmerized, in rhythm with life’s current and my own.
When you see a forest, it makes you feel…?
Like I want to lie down, feel the warmth of the sun, look at the sky, and smell the forest scents around me.
When you see a volcano, it makes you feel…?
Like I want to climb to the top of Stromboli again and glissade down the ash!
When you see a sunrise or sunset, it makes you feel...?
A sunrise gives rise to the promise of a new day and I yearn to feel that promise - a sunset is a reminder of the passing of another precious day and I feel reflective of whether I made the day count before retreating into a night slumber.
When you hear thunder, it makes you feel...?
Alert with anticipation of oncoming rain and the possibility of lighting.
When you hear the wind howling, it makes you feel...?
Like God’s voice is present
Are you an Ocean, Mountain, Forest, or Desert person?
Love them all. But more an Ocean person for the mermaid in me, a forest person for plants as medicine and the healer in me, a mountain person for vistas and wildflowers, and a desert person for the dry heat of the day in which to hike, and the deep dark blackness of a desert night sky.
On a scale of 1 to 10, how important is Nature to your well-being?
Scales don’t measure it - it is not linear and way beyond a scale; more like a kaleidoscope of delight, color, mystery, and vital to my well being and to all life.
Share with us a childhood nature memory?
Being on a sandy beach with my brother and sister, digging into the warm sand and mesmerized by the variety of colors in the sand itself, diving into the ocean waves and belonging and feeling at one with the waves, salt water, sun, and sand - delighting in the joy of it all. Pure imaginative, physical joy, and happy memories of being a child at play and in wonder with my family.
Melinda Moore
Melinda Moore is the founder of the impact fund, Moore Ventures and is the co-founder of TuesdayNights, a female networking organization. She is an entrepreneur, investor, advisor and global speaker with over 20 years of experience, and two exits (STV Communications and LovingEco). Melinda is the author of How to Raise Money: The Ultimate Guide to Crowdfunding and has raised over 100 million via equity crowdfunding. She served as the Senior Vice President for Entertainment Media Ventures. Her work has been widely recognized by Digital LA (Top 50 Digital Women in 2015), the Green Business Bureau and the National Association of Women Business Owners’ Hall of Fame. Melinda serves on the Board of A Sense of Home and has a B.A. from UCLA.
3 words to describe Nature?
Alive. Grounding. Calming
3 things Nature taught you?
To be more present in this fast paced world
To see creativity and inspiration in all the shades of green in nature
To find strength and beauty being immersed and isolated in nature.
3 most treasured Nature spots?
The coast of Big Sur
The jungles of Tikal, Guatemala
Floating along the rivers in Indonesia
When you look at the ocean, it makes you feel…?
Expansive
When you see a forest, it makes you feel…?
Small
When you see a volcano, it makes you feel…?
Alive
When you see a sunrise or sunset, it makes you feel…?
Connected
When you hear thunder, it makes you feel…?
Alert
When you hear the wind howling, it makes you feel…?
A little anxious
Are you an Ocean, Mountain, Forest, or Desert person?
I feel deeply connected to all but if I have to select one, 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?
When I was a little girl, I loved riding my bike to an open field in my neighborhood and I would just sit and listen for hours to all the sounds of nature...the birds, the wind, the butterflies, the sound of the trees, and the bees.
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.
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.