In the last installment of Women’s Green History Month we honor NYU Environmental Science Department’s very own, Dr. Ayana Johnson. A mentor to many in ES, the Brooklyn native attended Harvard then graduate school at Scripps Institution of Oceanography.
Dr. Johnson was not satisfied just seeking a career in marine biology (which is already a pretty cool job) but decided to amplify her skills and talent for public speaking and pursued the often frustrating effort to change policy.
During Women’s History Month we here at the Office of Sustainability want to celebrate the women from around the world fighting to save the world. This installment celebrates the decades of work and ongoing fight of Brazilian activist and politician Marina Silva.
Silva was born to a large family of rubber workers in rural Brazil. Because of the need to provide for her family she did not attend school until she was 16. Even then, she worked as a domestic worker to support her academic aspirations.
After earning a degree in History, she met the famous Brazilian environmentalist Chico Mendes and participated in “draw” protests where she joined rubber workers in forming a human chain to prevent deforestation.
Another week, another amazing environmentalist to celebrate. In honor of the second week of Women’s History Month I present you a truly inspiring young woman, Ta’Kaiya Blaney.
Blaney is from the Tla’Amin First Nation in Canada and witnessed firsthand the effects of deforestation. The British Columbian logging industry’s rapid pace made it so that her Nation’s elders could no longer build traditional canoes.
In honor of Women’s History Month, we’re celebrating four leading ladies of sustainability. Whether they are prominent in environmental activism, climate research or just plain awesome we want you to know the important and diverse faces of the modern green movement.
The first spotlight is activist Sunita Narain, one of India’s most respected environmentalists. She led the Centre for Science and Environment since 1982 where she’s been busy fighting for better air quality in one of the world’s most polluted cities, New Delhi.
In September of 2014, Naomi Klein published her soon-to-be-award-winning book, This Changes Everything: Capitalism vs. the Climate. What she refers to as “a book about climate change for people who don’t read about climate change,” This Changes Everything succeeded in, as promised, significantly changing the way the public eye focused in on climate issues. Read more
