Brian Falcon has always been passionate about sustainable living and design. He is a registered architect in Pennsylvania, and became a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design Accredited Professional (LEED®AP) in 2004, to focus professionally on sustainability and energy efficiency. In 2008, he founded the Berks/Lancaster Green Building Association to help local, like-minded professionals collectively expand their green building skills at the grass roots level. Most recently, Brian has...

I've made it past the 50 episode mark, and there are some minor changes I'd like to make to the format of the show. Find me online: This Sustainable Life: Solve For Nature Podcast: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://anchor.fm/solvefornature⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Blog: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://verdantgrowth.blog/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠YouTube: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.youtube.com/c/verdantgrowth⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Twitter: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://twitter.com/VerdantGrowth⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Facebook: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.facebook.com/realverdantgrowth⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram:...

Environmental activist and renowned neuroscientist, George Paxinos has identified and named more brain areas than anyone in history and published 57 books. His atlases and concepts of brain organization are used by most scientists working on the relationship between the brain and cognition, emotion, motivation and thought, including neurologic or psychiatric diseases such as Alzheimer’s and depression. His latest book took 21 years to develop and publish. His new book, A River Divided, is a...

Alarmed by the surge in climate-related disasters, a growing number of Americans are asking “What can I do to help?” Lawrence MacDonald’s new book, Am I Too Old to Save the Planet? A Boomer’s Guide to Climate Action offers unexpected answers for the 70 million boomers--people born from 1946-1963--who are still America’s most powerful generation. A former foreign correspondent and vice president of the World Resources Institute, the world’s largest environmental NGO, MacDonald tells how...

When ecologist Carl Safina and his wife, Patricia, took in a near-death baby owl, they expected she’d be a temporary presence. But Alfie’s feathers were not growing correctly, requiring prolonged care. As Alfie grew and gained strength, she became a part of the family. Carl and Patricia began to realize that the healing was mutual; Alfie had been braided into their world and was now pulling them into hers. Alfie & Me: What Owls Know, What Humans Believe, by Carl Safina, Ph.D., is the...

Sara Turner, Sustainability Manager at Nexii Building Solutions is back to talk about how her challenge went that she decided to take on during our first recording. Was she able to take the plunge? Listen in and find out! Find Sara Turner and Nexii online: ⁠Nexii Homepage⁠ ⁠Sara Turner on LinkedIn⁠ Find me online: This Sustainable Life: Solve For Nature Podcast: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://anchor.fm/solvefornature⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Blog: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://verdantgrowth.blog/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ YouTube:...

First, the tadpoles and frogs disappeared; then the bats and the songbirds left. Dr. Elizabeth Hilborn, a honey bee veterinarian and environmental health scientist, soon realized the bees—the vital pollinators of fruits, plants, and vegetables—were dying. Everything was still and silent. In 2017, after a large flood, most of the teeming life on her beloved family farm in North Carolina had vanished in a matter of weeks. As a scientist and a naturalist, Hilborn set about to get answers:...

Following a February 10, 2022, court order, gray wolves in the contiguous 48 states and Mexico – with the exception of the Northern Rocky Mountain population – are now protected under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) and listed as threatened in Minnesota and endangered in the remaining states. After being nearly eradicated in the 1990s, the gray wolf has made an astonishing comeback in Washington state, delighting conservationists but infuriating ranchers. Eli Francovich is a journalist who...

Sara Turner is a Sustainability Analyst at Nexii Building Solutions, a company dedicated to innovating and creating breakthrough building systems that prove that planet-friendly solutions aren’t a sacrifice — they’re an improvement in every way over the status quo. Sara has been contributing to the green building industry since 2017, through previous roles that include building science engineering, energy modeling, and renewable technology analysis. At Nexii, Sara leads annual carbon...

Buffy Cushman-Patz is the founder and executive director of SEEQS (School for Examining Essential Questions of Sustainability) Charter School, where students are learning to become stewards of planet Earth and healthy, effective citizens of the world. On top of standard core learning in math, science, social studies, English, and the arts, students combine concepts with project-based experiences that allow students to apply what they have learned to real-world situations. "Everything we do...

Tim Sperry, the CEO of Carbon Limit, is a scientist entrepreneur who has founded two climate tech companies using novel Carbon Capture & storage technologies. After losing close family members as a child to lung cancer, he developed a strong passion for protecting nature and solving global CO2 pollution. He has found early success by creating effective yet efficiently adaptable solutions to solve the biggest problems in industries ready for disruption. Most importantly, he built a strong...

Chris O’Brien is the Founder and CEO of Hungry Giant, a company founded in 2006 and headquartered in Austin, TX. Hungry Giant is a cleantech business commercializing waste management and recycling equipment. A revolution in food waste management, Hungry Giant solutions use new technologies that turn food waste into a useful, reusable resource. They recently launched their Bio-Dehydrator solution. The cutting-edge, proprietary technology turns food waste into a useful, useable, and valuable...

Erin has been involved in resource recovery for 18 years and in the last decade has focused specifically on the sales and marketing of finished compost. She has supported commercial compost facilities throughout the West Coast and has worked closely with the end users of compost, particularly the agricultural industry. Erin is a Certified Composting Professional through the US Composting Council and a Certified Compost Programs Manager through the Solid Waste Authority of North America....

Daniel Mandler is a Professor of Chemistry in the Institute of Chemistry at the Hebrew University and the incumbent of Archie and Marjorie Sherman Chair in Chemistry. He holds also an adjunct Professorship at the Nanyang Technical University in Singapore. His research interests span from analytical to physical electrochemistry sol-gel technology, thin films and polymers, coatings of medical devices, forensic science and nanotechnology. He has numerous patents and is very active in...

Lizzie Horvitz is back to discuss her challenge and how it went! If you don't remember, she founded Finch, a browser extension that helps you select sustainable products on Amazon. It's a tool that educates people on the ins and outs of sustainability, making it easier to shop sustainably online, add more transparency to online purchases, and dispel lots of the myths around the nonsense marketing terms like "green," or "organic" that drive consumer behavior but has little impact. Find Lizzie...

Adarsh Ambati, age 16, of California, has been utilizing his talents to design new technologies to help conserve nature! He designed a moisture sensor-based smart sprinkler system that integrates real-time weather forecast data and soil moisture levels to provide optimum levels of water for huge water savings. He also designed a very low-cost, rapid diagnostic to detect the presence of an emerging fungal amphibian parasitic pathogen threatening to wipe out many species of endemic amphibians...

If you missed the first episode with Veeral, go back and check it out! Veeral Hardev is the VP of Strategy at Ubiquitous Energy, a company that is becoming the world leader in transparent solar technology, aka clear solar panels! Last time he was on the show, he decided to take on a sustainability challenge. Let's hear how it went, as well as dig a little more into Ubiquitous Energy and their solar windows! Find Veeral Hardev and Unbiquitous Energy Online: Ubiquitous Energy's...

Sonja Michaluk is back, but this time with backup from her sister Charlotte! Winner of the Gloria Barron Prize for Young Heroes for her work protecting wetlands and drinking water sources using a novel bioassessment method she created, Sonja came up with a sustainability challenge to take on with her sister in our first recording, and is back to talk about how it went. I was so impressed with Sonja's motivation and passion for saving the environment, and was just as surprised to see her...

Sonja Michaluk of New Jersey works passionately to protect wetlands and drinking water sources using a novel bioassessment method she created. For more than a decade, she has collected scientific data and shared it with policy makers to help conserve ecologically sensitive wetlands, critical habitat for threatened species, wildlife corridors, and old growth forests. Through her Conservation Communities Initiative, she has protected more than 50 acres of wetlands in densely populated Central...

Lizzie Horvitz has been passionate about sustainability since the age of 16 when she lived off the grid. It was there that, depending only on wind energy and rainwater, she saw the solution of climate change before fully understanding the problem. She founded Finch, a browser extension that helps you select sustainable products on Amazon. It's a tool that educates people on the ins and outs of sustainability by turning complex scientific facts into simple, actionable insights. Their goal is...

Javad Mohammadi is an assistant professor in the Department of Civil, Architectural, and Environmental Engineering at The University of Texas at Austin. His research interests include multi-agent optimization and machine learning in networked cyber-physical systems, including smart grid-interactive buildings, power grid, and electrified transportation systems. In short, he's solving problems and figuring out how to make our electric grids smarter with artificial intelligence! Find Javad...

Climate change can be seen as a disaster or an opportunity. Paul Laycock and his company VinZero is a new global company with a goal to cut major emissions from one of the biggest emitting sectors globally: construction. Paul and his staff at VinZero are passionate about facilitating the construction industries digital journey to meet net zero outcomes via digital solutions. According to VinZero, connectivity of processes and design ideas through digitalization is the fastest way for us to...

Today I'm following up with Michael Bayliss, host of the Post-Growth Australia Podcast (PGAP), activist for within the environmental and post-growth movements, Communications Manager and former Victoria/Tasmanian President at Sustainable Population Australia (SPA). Last time we spoke, he decided to taken on a personal challenge, but the challenge ended up taking a life of it's own and evolved into a project that he's now dedicated to! Also, we discuss the upcoming 8 billion day: the day when...

Anna DeSimone is the author of Live In A Home That Pays You Back, Housing Finance 2020: New Mortgage Programs for the New Generation of Homebuyers, Retirement Planning and Investing, and Welcome to the Agrihood: Housing, Shopping, and Gardening for a Farm-to-Table Lifestyle. She is a nationally recognized expert in housing finance, and author of more than 40 professional guidebooks and over 600 articles on the topic of fair and responsible lending. She may be an expert in making homes...