Climify Producer Cam Burkins rejoins Dr. Melinda Adams to go deeper into her life and work. In particular, this episode explores solastalgia (or climate anxiety) and soliphilia (cures or mitigation methods against that anxiety). Melinda shares Traditional Ecological Practices that provide hope for our collective future, which will surely be Matriarchal!

How do we learn from the land and its lineage? In this special bridge episode, Dr. Melinda Adams—Indigenous scholar, ecologist, and cultural fire practitioner—explores how place-specific, Indigenous-led practices are the key to stewarding and restoring our shared lands. Dismantling the rhetoric of Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK), Adams teaches a more actionable approach to controlled burning—Humble Fire—that reframes fire as a “more-than-human relative,” from which we must actively...

Our First Crossover Episode with TILClimate from MIT! As we are on hiatus this winter planning yet another amazing season of Climify, we thought it would be nice to continue to provide climate education and action through the work of some of our friends. So today, we invited a kindred spirit podcast produced at MIT - TILClimate to our platform to share what they know about materials. The host of TILClimate is Laur Hesse Fisher, the Program Director at the MIT Environmental Solutions...

What is Life-Centered Design? What is Life-Centered Systems Thinking? Are they different? Are they better than Human Centered Design? And most importantly, how do we design with all life in mind? Michelle Fehler, Charlene Sequeira, and Jeroen Spoelstra join Eric in this final “back-to-school” episode which we hope, inspires you to learn more about the merits of life-centered design. The guests today all argue that life-centered design and systems thinking are a needed transition away from...

What? I’m an amazing climate leader? Yes, you are. Lis Best (Girls Club Collective) and Nivi Achanta (Soapbox Project) join Eric to share their journeys as climate leaders empowering women to be their “own secret weapon” for change. Both Lis and Nivi understand that women are fantastic leaders when they can channel their frustrations, concerns, hope, creativity, culture, anxiety, and/or dreams to encourage action through collaboration and, in turn, elevate those involved into leaders as well....

How can you be a role model to inspire climate action amongst your friends, family, and neighbors? Does one positive action create a domino effect for more? What’s a surprising validator? Andrea Learned joins Eric to share her work being done at her consultancy and the Living Change Podcast to empower climate leaders into creating more climate action. Her initiatives help “name and fame” climate leaders to showcase how you can emulate them and also be a positive force in the climate movement....

What is cellular agriculture? Why are plant-based proteins so important in fighting climate change? How can designers play a bigger role in kicking our red meat eating habit and drawing down our carbon emissions? Bianca Drevensek joins Eric to enthusiastically share her work as a climate entrepreneur as CEO of Edge Foods where they create healthy climate-friendly and yummy agri-proteins that can replace our heavy meat and dairy diet. Beyond providing a deep dive into defining the industry of...

What is fast fashion and what are its impacts on our planet? How can design and business help solve this problem with our current waste stream? How do you define a climate entrepreneur? Climate entrepreneur Lauren Choi joins Eric to share her challenges and best practices for starting a business dedicated to helping mitigate the worst of our climate crisis. She also discusses what it's like being a female founder in the climate start-up world telling the inspiring story of her company The New...

Villa Sorgas. Villa Serena. Villa Utamaro. Escape to Indonesia’s Net Zero-Built Paradise. Paula Huerta Andrés, a sustainability architect and climate activist, founded Bambook Studio to achieve decarbonization through sustainable architecture and design. In a Decade of Action, their sustainability and circular economy projects take meaningful actions to reduce emissions, promote zero waste programs, implement net zero strategies and educate the public about climate change. On this episode of...

Hawaii makes up barely 0.3% of the nation's total land mass yet it is home to 44% of the country's endangered and threatened plant species. Making a name for itself as the “extinction capital.” On this episode of Climify, we are joined by Katie Kamelamela, an educator and researcher with the Global Discovery and Conservation Science, whose work gives a hot take on curated landscapes. Her own cultural, ancestral, and spiritual connection to Hawaii brings a human touch and hope to Project...

What would you do if climate change changed your life? Would you go back to what you were doing before or fight back as every fraction of a degree mattered? Mathilda D'silva joins Eric to share her journey from a TV celebrity and professional athlete to an ocean activist at her organization, the Ocean Purpose Project. She discusses how her illness from pollution gave her a new purpose in life to promote ocean conservation through bioremediation, plastic to fuel, and behavior change. All of...

The AIGA Design Educators Community (DEC) seeks to enhance the abilities of design educators and educational institutions to prepare future designers for excellence in design practice, design theory, and design writing at the undergraduate and graduate levels while supporting the fundamental mission of AIGA. Meet our Panelist and AIGA Design Educators Spotlight Rebeca Méndez, Founder and Director of CounterForcelab and Chair of the Design Media Arts program at UCLA, works with vulnerable...

Climate and social systems are profoundly connected. Interconnectedness, in turn, can be an overwhelming double-edged sword—an ‘infobesity’ that buries clear paths forward to act against the systemic climate inequities rippling across society. In Sage Lenier’s justice-oriented activism, she has come to find that environmental education is largely non-existent. Perhaps, the biggest stopgap is that no one knows about the problems that make up the larger problem. This is what Sage sees as a...

“All solutions are right here, they just have to catch on” is a conviction of Denise Baden, an ethical author and sustainability professor, that poetically resonates in all her stories: Habitat Man, No More Fairy Tales: Stories to Save Our Planet, Anthology of Short Stories for COP27, and The Assassin. Making a virtue of necessity, Denise illuminates us on how environmental literature connects people to climate change solutions by mobilizing our social awareness and conscientious into...

How do you best create positive impact in communities? What does environmental justice look like? In this eighth episode of season three, the multi-talented Sarah Ichioka joins Eric to share (not only) her five principles of regenerative design from her book Flourish: Design Paradigms for Our Planetary Emergency but also how Project Drawdown is the perfect example of a Possiblest Mindset where we understand our position in relation to both the realities on the ground and our desired...

How can design influence positive behavior change when it comes to climate action? Can the design of your energy bill or thermostat help you rethink how and when you use electricity? Karina van Schaardenburg joins Eric to share the work being done at Opower (Oracle) to create smarter energy use, customer behavior changes, and the renewable grid of the future.

Have you heard the terms sustainability, restoration, conservation, bioregionalism, or regeneration? What’s the difference between them? How can we apply each to design? Nisha Mary Poulose joins Eric to share the work being done at her organizations, Regenerative Rising and the Woven Design Collaborative. What these organizations have accomplished continue to help better define “regeneration” not only for her collaborators but for designers. In this episode Nisha argues why we must shift our...

How do you best create positive impact in communities? What does environmental justice look like? In this fifth episode of season 3, Pamela Fann joins Eric to share her journey from Corporate America to diversity, inclusion, integration, and climate activist and entrepreneur. She shares how she defines restorative design, environmental justice, and how best we use their principles to tackle both the entangled issues of racism and our climate crisis.

*How do best educate one another about climate change and climate action when the media is muddying the water? Furthermore, how can we change how the media reports on climate change so it is accurate, not sensationalized, or influenced by fossil fuel companies?* [Dr. Genevieve Guenther](https://www.genevieveguenther.com) joins Eric to share her journey from Renaissance scholar to climate communicator, consultant, and activist. The organization [End Climate...

What are the best strategies to co-design in a community to create positive change? How can the designers’ work better reflect the aesthetics, lifestyles, and values of a predominately BIPOC community? Anika Goss, from Detroit Future City joins Eric to share how her organization co-designs with the people of Detroit to tackle, in particular, the Drawdown Climate Solution Sector of Food, Agriculture, and Land Use. In addition, Anika details the history of Detroit, from its renaissance to...

Welcome to season three of Climify! This season, I'm talking to women across the globe who are at the forefront of climate science and climate action. Each guest is a thought leader in one or more of the Drawdown.org climate solutions sectors. What you may ask are the Drawdown.org solution sectors? Well, important topics like renewable electricity, soil and agriculture, architecture, oceans, health, education, and so much more.  The goal of this season is, of course, to continue to help...

How important are oceans to our climate? How vital are they to our general health? Did a video of an injured turtle really change the world? Marine Biologist and educator Carissa Cabrera joins Eric and explains it all through her work in media, science, and activism. You’ll learn from this episode that indeed there is an ocean of opportunity for designers for climate action; dive in.

What is it like to be a freelance designer who cares about the climate crisis? What are the challenges? What are the best practices to thrive? Recent graduates from the Univ. of Illinois graphic design (Michelle Nguyen) and SCAD industrial design (Gianna Romero) programs share their stories of trying to “design for good” while paying the bills. They also explain what ways their design education could have better prepared them for this journey.