Thursday, March 28th
We are constantly inundated by attempts to influence our behavior, and we also often seek to persuade others on social and cultural issues, but how do we differentiate between authentic and manipulative persuasion? When do we give up in our efforts to persuade others? When do we stay engaged in persuasion even when it’s difficult? In this interactive session, facilitated by Joan Blades, entrepreneur, political activist and co-founder of Living Room Conversations; and Ricky Diaz, manager of the EngageNow National Youth Voting project at JETTIX.net, we’ll have a conversation that explores when persuasion is effective and when it isn’t, as well as what we think is worth the effort and why. This conversation is inspired in part by themes found in Anand Giriharadas’s book, The Persuaders.
March 28th | 3:00 pm to 4:15 pm | Skillful Means Center, Dharma College
Panelists
Joan Blades
Co-Founder | Living Room Conversations
Joan Blades, with a background as an attorney and mediator, is a co-founder of LivingRoomConversations.org, an open-source effort to build respectful connections across ideological, cultural and party lines while embracing our core-shared values. Joan previously co-founded MomsRising.org and MoveOn.org and is co-author of The Custom-Fit Workplace and The Motherhood Manifesto. (livingroomconversations.org)
Ricky Diaz
Manager of Disruptive Technologies Series and EngageNow National Youth Voting project | JETTIX.net
Ricky Diaz, whose parents are from El Salvador and who is the first in his family to attend college, is a UC Berkeley Senior graduating with a degree in Computer Science. He is currently managing the Disruptive Technologies Series and EngageNow National Youth Voting project at JETTIX.net, a Berkeley technology company developing products for the Multicultural GenZ Tech youth.
6:40 pm: Film Screening and Discussion: 2 Episodes in the Wild Hope Series
Conservation Storytelling: From Inception to Impact
Biodiversity loss is a global crisis, but success is out there. The new broadcast and YouTube series WILD HOPE aims to make these conservation stories accessible and engaging for a global, young audience. The key to that success? Focus on hope. Biodiversity decline is a local problem with local solutions – and the milestones for successfully reversing the crisis are everywhere. Produced by HHMI Tangled Bank Studios. Introduction and post-screening Q+A with Sarah Arnoff, Co-Executive Producer of the series; Alex Duckles, Senior Digital Media and Impact Producer, and Alexandra Pearson, Impact and Communications Producer.
—Vertical Meadows (7:11): As urban expansion quickly replaces natural habitats, façade engineer Alistair Law has created a radically new way to restore native ecosystems for pollinators and create natural spaces for us all within cities—by turning the walls of buildings and construction sites into meadows.
—Return of the Manatees (16:01): Today, manatees are experiencing what scientists call a UME — an unusual mortality event — some 1000 of them are dying each year, a major crisis for a population of only 7000, but citizens in the manatee stronghold of Crystal River have pioneered an approach to restore critical seagrass that now shows promise to help the gentle giants throughout their range.
March 28th | 6:40 pm to 8:10 pm | Goldman Theater, Brower Center
Panelists
Sarah Arnoff
Co-Executive Producer of the Wild Hope series | Tangled Bank Studios
Sarah Arnoff, a former zookeeper and widely traveled wildlife conservationist who has 12 years of experience producing, directing and shooting award-winning wildlife television series and specials, is currently the Co-Executive Producer of the Wild Hope series for Tangled Bank Studios. Previously a show-runner and Co-Executive Producer for several Emmy Award-Winning series with Jeff Corwin, she has produced wildlife documentaries with National Geographic TV, including a series on great apes with Jane Goodall.
Alex Duckles
Digital Media Specialist | HHMI Tangled Bank Studios
Alex Duckles, a digital media specialist at HHMI Tangled Bank Studios, has backgrounds in ecology, filmmaking and communication, including narrative models of science storytelling. He previously produced an award-winning documentary on destructive algae blooms and worked for PBS Education and PBS Digital Studios. Alex is currently focused on producing short-form video content that brings emotionally-driven science storytelling to platforms such as YouTube and Facebook, including the original YouTube series “I Contain Multitudes” about the human microbiome starring best-selling author Ed Yong.
Alexandra Pearson
Impact and Communications Producer | HHMI Tangled Bank Studios
Alexandra Pearson leads impact-driven campaigns at HHMI Tangled Bank Studios, overseeing strategy development, key events and partnerships. An expert in social impact strategy and creative film distribution, she brings 10+ years’ experience in media and grassroots organizing. Previously, Pearson worked at Vulcan Productions, where she developed and managed impact campaigns for more than 15 films, TV shows and multimedia content, including the "Ghost Fleet" campaign, which supported the passage of congressional legislation improving the regulation of unsustainable and unethical fishing practices. Prior to Vulcan, she was an impact campaigns director at Picture Motion, where she contributed to more than 40 film and TV campaigns.
Friday, March 29th
We spend a lot of time talking about the ecological crisis, and not nearly enough talking about real, workable solutions. If the ultimate goal is to keep fossil fuels in the ground, how must we transform our economy to make that possible? Award-winning activist and innovative educator, Sage Lenier, one of the most impressive young leaders to emerge in recent years, takes to the stage to shed light on what a realistic and just transition looks like, and the role we can each play in leading us towards a more circular and equitable economy.
March 29th | 10:30 am to 10:41 am | Zellerbach Hall
Keynote
Sage Lenier – Youth Keynote
Founder and Executive Director | Sustainable & Just Future
Sage Lenier is an activist working to build an education system that enables the next generation to become climate solutionists. She got her start teaching her own program at UC Berkeley, which broke records for largest-ever student-led class. Her work has been featured in The New York Times, The World Economic Forum, and Teen Vogue, and has brought her to speak at public forums around the world. TIME Magazine named her a 2023 Next Generation Leader for her work with Sustainable & Just Future.
Saturday, March 30th
Introduction by J.P. Harpignies, Bioneers Senior Producer
A widely-traveled, brilliant conservation ecologist/wildlife biologist who has done cutting-edge work on apex predators in many remote and rugged locales around the world, Rae Wynn Grant is also one of the most captivating and inspiring science communicators of our time as well as a leading advocate for women and people of color in the sciences. In this talk, she will draw from her just about-to-be-released memoir, Wild Life, to share some of her experiences finding her way in a profession with very few scientists who looked like her as she embarked on a quest to study the ever-shifting relationship between humans, animals, and place and came to understand the vital roles we must each play not just as stewards for our land and water, but also for our communities, each other, and ourselves.
March 30th | 9:47 am to 10:09 am | Zellerbach Hall
Introduced by
J. P. Harpignies
Senior Producer | Bioneers
J.P. Harpignies, Bioneers Senior Producer, affiliated with Bioneers since 1990, is a Brooklyn, NYC-based consultant, conference producer, copy-editor and writer. A former Program Director at the New York Open Center and a senior review team member for the Buckminster Fuller Challenge from 2010 to 2017, he has authored or edited several books, including Political Ecosystems, Delusions of Normality, Visionary Plant Consciousness, and, most recently, Animal Encounters.
Keynote
Rae Wynn-Grant
Wildlife Ecologist and Conservation Biologist | University of California at Santa Barbara + Host of Wild Kingdom
Rae Wynn-Grant, Ph.D., a wildlife ecologist and conservation biologist who researches how human activity influences carnivore behavior and ecology and is passionate about science communication, is the creator of the award-winning podcast "Going Wild with Dr. Rae Wynn-Grant" (produced by PBS’ Nature) and has recently become the co-host of the just resuscitated revered TV show, Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom. Currently a Research Faculty member at the Bren School of Environmental Science and Management, she maintains a Research Fellow position with the National Geographic Society in partnership with the American Prairie Reserve and a Visiting Scientist position at the American Museum of Natural History. Dr. Grant, who also serves on the Board of Directors for NatureBridge, is a leading advocate for women and people of color in the sciences and is the author of many scientific papers, as well as her upcoming memoir, Wild Life.
Hosted by the Wildlife Conservation Network (a nonprofit dedicated to helping wildlife and people coexist and thrive).
We share our planet with many other animals, including some especially beautiful and captivating wildlife species, and tragically, our own species is taking up more and more space and consuming an ever-increasing share of the biosphere’s resources, so many wild animals are facing unprecedented challenges. Protecting these incredible creatures is a difficult and fascinating job, one that requires as many of us as possible to become engaged and support conservation efforts around the world. In this session, some leading experts in the field will share their insights, experiences and remarkable stories about their efforts to safeguard wildlife and wild places, and tell us how we can be more involved in this critically important work. Hosted by Paul Thomson, Senior Director of Conservation Programs, Wildlife Conservation Network (WCN). With: large-carnivore ecologist and a fellow with the National Geographic Society, Rae Wynn-Grant; Neal Sharma, California Wildlife Program, WCN; ; Zoliswa Nhleko, Ph.D., a wildlife ecologist and Senior Programs Manager at WCN.
March 30th | 3:00 pm to 4:15 pm | Freight & Salvage
Panelists
Rae Wynn-Grant
Wildlife Ecologist and Conservation Biologist | University of California at Santa Barbara + Host of Wild Kingdom
Rae Wynn-Grant, Ph.D., a wildlife ecologist and conservation biologist who researches how human activity influences carnivore behavior and ecology and is passionate about science communication, is the creator of the award-winning podcast "Going Wild with Dr. Rae Wynn-Grant" (produced by PBS’ Nature) and has recently become the co-host of the just resuscitated revered TV show, Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom. Currently a Research Faculty member at the Bren School of Environmental Science and Management, she maintains a Research Fellow position with the National Geographic Society in partnership with the American Prairie Reserve and a Visiting Scientist position at the American Museum of Natural History. Dr. Grant, who also serves on the Board of Directors for NatureBridge, is a leading advocate for women and people of color in the sciences and is the author of many scientific papers, as well as her upcoming memoir, Wild Life.
Zoliswa Nhleko
Senior Programs Manager | Wildlife Conservation Network
Zoliswa Nhleko, Ph.D., a wildlife ecologist and Senior Programs Manager at the Wildlife Conservation Network (WCN), with 10+ years’ experience working with threatened and endangered species, particularly rhinos in South Africa, focuses at WCN on conservation prioritization and providing support services for conservation start-ups around the world. Previously Dr. Nhleko worked for the South African National Parks as a junior scientist in world-renowned Kruger National Park.
Neal Sharma
California Wildlife Program | Wildlife Conservation Network
Neal Sharma, Senior Manager of the California Wildlife Program at the Wildlife Conservation Network, focuses on connectivity conservation, incorporating experience with protected area planning and implementation, habitat restoration, land management, and linear infrastructure. Prior to his work with WCN, he was with Peninsula Open Space Trust (POST), where he focused on the organization’s efforts to establish a protected network of resilient ecosystems that enable wildlife to persist and adapt in a rapidly changing landscape and climate.
Paul Thomson
Senior Director of Conservation Programs | Wildlife Conservation Network
Paul Thomson, Senior Director of Conservation Programs at the Wildlife Conservation Network (WCN), specializes in highly threatened and endangered species, incubating conservation startups, and building leadership capacity in the environmental field. In addition to his work with WCN, Paul runs Save Pangolins, a project he co-founded to address threats to the little-known pangolin, the world’s most illegally trafficked mammal, and he serves on the board of the Emerging Wildlife Conservation Leaders program (of which he is an alum).
The ravages inflicted on ecosystems and human communities, especially those of frontline First Peoples, by the brutally exploitative extractive system that dominates the global economy, threaten to unravel the entire web of life. The challenge of our time is to quickly reverse that ecocidal trajectory, and one of the best places to look for effective alternative models is in the deep wisdom of traditional Indigenous cultures who learned over millennia to work with the natural world with an attitude of reverent and respectful reciprocity to meet human needs while ensuring the environment’s ongoing health. In this session three inspiring leaders working to implement various forms of Indigenous ecological science in partnerships with university, state and local partners share their perspectives and experiences. With Nina Simons, author of Nature, Culture & the Sacred and Bioneers’ co-founder; deeply respected longtime activist and educator Jeannette Armstrong, Ph.D., Syilx Okanagan Nation, cofounder Enowkin Centre; dynamic young leader in salmon restoration/dam removal struggles on the Klamath River, Sammy Gensaw III, Yurok, co-founder, Ancestral Guard; and Niko Alexandre, co-founder of the Shelterwood Collective, which brings together Black, Indigenous and LGBTQ people in a land-based, community-building project that is implementing TEK methods in their fields and forests.
March 30th | 4:45 pm to 6:00 pm | Crystal Ballroom, Hotel Shattuck Plaza
Panelists
Nikola Alexandre
Co-Creator & Stewardship Lead | The Shelterwood Collective
Nikola Alexandre, Co-Creator & Stewardship Lead of the Shelterwood Collective, is a Black queer forester with MA degrees in both Forestry and Business Administration from Yale who founded Conservation International’s Ecosystem Restoration Program. After attending a nature-based healing gathering following the Pulse massacre, Nikola committed his life to tending the earth and reclaiming land stewardship as a way of nurturing a future for the communities he belongs to, which led to his co-founding the Shelterwood Collective in Sonoma County.
Samuel Gensaw, III – Youth Keynote
Founding Director | Ancestral Guard
Sammy Gensaw III is a leader in environmental and cultural preservation in his Yurok community. Director of the Ancestral Guard, a nonprofit focused on teaching traditional fishing and farming methods to Indigenous youth, his approach is deeply rooted in food sovereignty, cultural preservation, community resilience, and self-sufficiency. Gensaw's activist journey began in his early teens with the Klamath Justice Coalition, the largest dam removal and river restoration project in history, and his contributions to restoring Native American foodways are featured in the documentary film, Gather.
Jeannette Armstrong
Co-Founder | Enowkin Centre
Jeannette Armstrong, Ph.D. (lax̌lax̌tkʷ) from the Penticton Indian Band, a fluent speaker and knowledge keeper of Syilx Okanagan and its oral histories, is an Associate Professor and the Coordinator of Interior Salishan Languages programs at the University of British Columbia Okanagan. She collaborates with other Salish-speaking groups to re-establish Indigenous languages and historical relationships through food harvesting ceremonies, gatherings, and the protection of water and land practices. A recipient of the Eco Trust USA Buffett Award in Indigenous Leadership, Jeannette serves on the Aboriginal Traditional Knowledge Subcommittee of Canada’s Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife and is a lifetime Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada and an officer of the Order of Canada.
Nina Simons
Co-Founder and Chief Relationship Strategist | Bioneers
Nina Simons, co-founder of Bioneers and its Chief Relationship Strategist is also co-founder of Women Bridging Worlds and Connecting Women Leading Change. She co-edited the anthology book, Moonrise: The Power of Women Leading from the Heart, and most recently wrote Nature, Culture & The Sacred: A Woman Listens for Leadership. An award-winning social entrepreneur, Nina teaches and speaks internationally, and previously served as President of Seeds of Change and Director of Strategic Marketing for Odwalla.
4:45 pm: Mapping, Protecting and Harnessing the Mycorrhizal Networks that Sustain Life on Earth
Merlin Sheldrake and Toby Kiers in Conversation
In this session, two leading researchers seeking to understand the critically important but long overlooked and understudied role of fungal networks in supporting life and regulating climate will discuss their work with the groundbreaking, visionary Society for the Protection of Underground Networks (SPUN), an organization at the forefront of studying and protecting fungal networks all over the world and driving innovation in underground climate and biodiversity science. With: biologist Merlin Sheldrake, Ph.D., author of Entangled Life: How Fungi Make our World; and Toby Kiers, Ph.D., Professor of Evolutionary Biology and Executive Director and Chief Scientist at SPUN. Moderated by J.P. Harpignies, senior producer, Bioneers Conference.
March 30th | 4:45 pm to 6:00 pm | Freight & Salvage
Panelists
Merlin Sheldrake
Biologist and Writer | Entangled Life: How Fungi Make Our Worlds, Change Our Minds and Shape Our Futures
Merlin Sheldrake, Ph.D., a biologist and writer with a background in plant sciences, microbiology, ecology, and the history and philosophy of science, received his doctorate in tropical ecology from Cambridge for his work on underground fungal networks in tropical forests in Panama, where he was a predoctoral research fellow of the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute. He is currently a research associate of the Vrije University Amsterdam, works with the Society for the Protection of Underground Networks (SPUN), and sits on the advisory board of the Fungi Foundation. Merlin’s research ranges from fungal biology, to the history of Amazonian ethnobotany, to the relationship between sound and form in resonant systems. He is also a keen brewer and fermenter fascinated by the relationships that arise between humans and more-than-human organisms, and a musician.
Toby Kiers
Executive Director and Chief Scientist | Society for the Protection of Underground Networks (SPUN)
Toby Kiers, Ph.D., is the Executive Director and Chief Scientist of SPUN (the Society for the Protection of Underground Networks) and a Professor of Evolutionary Biology at VU, Amsterdam, where she runs a lab studying flows and structures in plant-fungal networks. Globally-recognized for her scientific work and named by the UN as one of the 22 scientists making a difference in biodiversity research and an ‘Innovator to Watch’ by Smithsonian Magazine, Toby has won numerous prestigious awards, including a SPINOZA prize (known as the ‘Dutch Nobel’) and an E.O. Wilson Award for Natural History.
J. P. Harpignies
Senior Producer | Bioneers
J.P. Harpignies, Bioneers Senior Producer, affiliated with Bioneers since 1990, is a Brooklyn, NYC-based consultant, conference producer, copy-editor and writer. A former Program Director at the New York Open Center and a senior review team member for the Buckminster Fuller Challenge from 2010 to 2017, he has authored or edited several books, including Political Ecosystems, Delusions of Normality, Visionary Plant Consciousness, and, most recently, Animal Encounters.
4:45 pm: Stewardship For All
Hosted by Bay Nature
Almost 50% of lands in California have some level of protection, but how do we best take care of these lands and steward them responsibly in the face of rapidly increasing climate instability, development pressures, and the urgent need for far more inclusive access to the natural world by hitherto disenfranchised groups? Bay Nature is an independent nonprofit publication and website with a vision that all people have a close relationship with nature. It has been one of the leading organizations helping connect the people of the Bay Area to the natural world and motivating society to seek to solve problems with nature in mind. In this session leaders in local conservation will share their insights into how to engage specific communities and the broader public through wide ranging volunteer programs, green jobs initiatives and policy innovations to ensure vibrant ecosystems with equitable access to all. Moderated by Kate Golden, Bay Nature’s Digital Editor. With: Annie Burke, the Executive Director of TOGETHER Bay Area, a leading regional voice for resilient lands and watersheds for all the people around the Bay; Yakuta Poonawalla, Associate Director of Community Stewardship and Engagement at the Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy; Jessica Sloan, Volunteer Program Supervisor at East Bay Regional Park District; Steven Addison, Conservation Program Manager at Civicorps.
March 30th | 4:45 pm to 6:00 pm | Golden Bear Room, Hotel Shattuck Plaza
Panelists
Steven Addison
Conservation Program Manager | Civicorps
Steven J. Addison, who has 25+ years’ experience in the conservation field, is currently the Manager of Civicorps’ Conservation Program where he facilitates transformational job training and outdoor experiences for young adults. Steven previously worked for the California Conservation Corps (CCC) in many capacities; for the National Park and U.S. Forest services; and for California State Parks.
Annie Burke
Executive Director | TOGETHER Bay Area
Annie Burke is the Executive Director of TOGETHER Bay Area, a regional coalition of organizations working for climate resilience and social equity, and also serves as the co-chair of California's 30x30 Partnership Coordination Committee.
Yakuta Poonawalla
Associate Director of Community Stewardship and Engagement | Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy,
Yakuta Poonawalla, the Associate Director of Community Stewardship and Engagement at the Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy, works to create programs and community partnerships that support stewardship, volunteerism, recreation, conservation and community science efforts. Yakuta, who also serves on the California Landscape Stewardship Network’s JEDI Roundtable and on the board of TOGETHER Bay Area, has written extensively for the National Recreation and Parks Association, the Children & Nature Network, the Center for Humans and Nature, and Bay Nature, and was recently a recipient of Bay Nature’s 2024 Local Community Hero Award.
Jessica Sloan
Volunteer Program Supervisor | East Bay Regional Park District
Jessica Sloan draws on her academic background in Geography and her passion for parks, conservation, and stewardship in her work as the Volunteer Program Supervisor for the East Bay Regional Park District for the last 4 years. She previously spent 6 years with the National Park Service.
Kate Golden
Digital Editor | Bay Nature
Kate Golden is digital editor of Bay Nature, a nonprofit that connects Bay Area residents with nature through environmental journalism. She leads BN's Wild Billions reporting project, exploring the local impact of transformational federal money for nature. She has a background in investigative environmental and data reporting. Her work has appeared in Sierra, The Atlantic, Hakai, the Washington Post and on KQED. She's also a sailor, swimmer, angler, and artist: obsessed with all things water-related.
