in this podcast, lily edelman-gold, a young female professional in the california transportation and electric vehicle (ev) industry, discusses “a future of fair fueling,” her mapping project for equitable access of ev charging stations within monterey, california.  she walks us through how she created this project using arcgis pro, a geographic information system (gis) software through which professionals can analyze and display data through maps.

arcgis pro is a crucial tool for various environmental applications, such as mapping runoff risk to reefs and monitoring the illegal wildlife trade. edelman-gold’s project maps recommended ev charging locations in monterey that ensures equitable access for disadvantaged communities.  

a soon-to-be graduate from the middlebury institute of international studies (miis) in monterey, edelman-gold will be graduating with a masters in international environmental policy and sustainability management.  listen to learn more!

view excerpts from edelman-gold’s mapping project below — click to expand!

on a journey to southern patagonia, i set off to hike to the infamous base of las tres torres – the three towers.  these three mountains bring hundreds of thousands of tourists to the torres del paine national park each year. through conversations with hiking guides and my own experience trekking to the base, this article explores the role of tourism in the park through written and digital storytelling. what does responsible tourism look like in celebrated natural places, and how can we make this shift?

click the presentation below to view the full story:

fabiola catalina martinez leaned in close and declared, “i want to plant more than these seeds – i want to plant seeds of thought with these ideas.” martinez is one of the cafeteros, or coffee growers, who are a part of norte nativa, an organization dedicated to the transformation of coffee farming in líbano, colombia.

the association wants to transition coffee farming practices toward sustainability by replanting native species, moving away from hybrid varieties, growing specialty coffee, and educating the next generation of coffee farmers. the association is made up of 10 farms, or fincas, that have banded together in the pursuit of these goals.

in march 2023, i traveled to líbano with a group of graduate students from the middlebury institute of international studies for an experiential learning trip. there we learned about norte nativa’s specialty coffee practices and the challenges with regulations keeping the fledgling sustainable industry from taking off.

what is specialty coffee?

the process of growing specialty coffee lies in multiple stages of production, in which these farmers incorporate sustainable practices. from planting to growing, fermenting to drying, and eventually to roasting, each step plays an important role in the quality of the beans.  

norte nativa is unique in that each finca naturally specializes in different sustainable or specialty practices, and then shares them with each other as a community. the finca of alexander and maría del pilar naranjo plants cash crops, such as plantains, corn, beans, and cassava, in between coffee plant cycles for a more economically sustainable transition to specialty coffee. 

alejandro franco, the president of norte nativa, specializes in the fermentation of harvested coffee cherries, a crucial step for the natural process of specialty coffee. he also uses seedling wraps made from seaweed, a more sustainable option than the typical plastic found on other farms, which allow for the root to easily grow once planted. his finca also practices trimming instead of cutting coffee plants as a natural process to stress them for more production, while keeping a high quality of flavor.

a broader look at the colombian coffee industry

the coffee industry of líbano in the tolima region is regulated by the federación nacional de cafeteros de colombia (fnc). this organization was created in 1927 when colombian coffee growers joined together to work for their well-being as a union.  

the federación conducts several essential activities within the coffee space. they offer a permanent purchase guarantee to colombian coffee growers at a base market price through a network of cooperative allies. the fnc also keeps the national register of coffee exporters and establishes the requirements for registration of roasters, millers, and coffee factories in colombia.

one of the key roles the fnc plays is conducting research and transferring technology to colombian coffee growers. during our visit to líbano, we visited the federación’s r&d site called the national coffee research center, or cenicafé. cenicafé promotes themselves as generating competitive, sustainable knowledge and technologies that are focused on increasing productivity, and profitability of the country’s coffee farming.  

on our tour around the r&d site, we listened to a staff member describe their efforts to accomplish these goals. she explained that in 2022 the region experienced much higher precipitation, but it had little to no harmful effect on their plants due to genetic modification to withstand such extreme weather events. cenicafé also uses genetic enhancement with the goal of making their coffee plants more resilient to diseases such as coffee leaf rust. this helps generate more profit for the growers and for the community.

the fnc supplies a vast majority of the coffee plants in colombia; as a result, most cafeteros currently use genetic modifications to generate more product and profit.

a different outlook on sustainability

the cafeteros of norte nativa also have ties with cenicafé and the fnc, although they may not always see eye-to-eye. in fact, all colombian cafeteros need to have a license through the federación in order to be recognized as coffee growers. but an important piece of norte nativa’s mission is to move away from the hybrids pictured above that the federación supplies to farmers and instead invest in growing specialty coffee from natural coffee plants without genetic modification. getting back to the organic roots of coffee farming.

this is where norte nativa and the federación differ. whereas norte nativa focuses on restoring historical and natural practices of regenerative agriculture, the fnc addresses the accessibility and livelihood of the larger colombian farming community. we learned about this difference while sitting in on a coffee co-op meeting led by the fnc. 

the fnc puts their resources into short-term solutions to enable small scale colombian coffee farmers to make a living. these short-term methods, however, move away from sustainable regenerative agriculture practices, such as agroforestry, which advances soil fertility, biodiversity, and ecosystem health. norte nativa wants to grow coffee naturally without the need for chemicals or genetic alteration, therefore their members are putting resources into testing regenerative agriculture practices, such as composting for fertilizer. the trade-off is that these are longer-term investments that not all cafeteros have the resources to implement.

franco further explained his organization’s differences from the federación. “the fnc gives cafeteros seeds for free, but then farmers have to do things their way,” he said. these hybrids that cenicafé modifies are more resilient to heat and pests, but the tradeoff is that they need more fertilizer.  “and where do you get fertilizer from? the big companies,” franco said.  

focusing on the ecology of the finca, planting more trees for shade-grown coffee, diversifying the plants, attracting more birds and animals – all of this leads to healthier soil. according to franco, “the quality of coffee is based on the quality of the environment around [it].” and in order to cultivate a healthy, biodiverse ecosystem needed for quality plants to grow, norte nativa says it is transforming farming practices from their current unsustainable situation.

we met other cafeteros within norte nativa who offered further perspectives on how to achieve sustainable specialty coffee. cafetero monica sierra lópez showed us her farm’s organic farming, drying processes – either naturally in the sun or using mechanical driers for a faster method – and a natural water filtration system that recycles water back into the river without contamination.

one of the organization’s founding members, don antonio gonzalez, also emphasized the importance of a circular economy where everything is recycled through composting, creating a natural fertilizer. he explained that commercial fertilizers are not designed to account for the unique qualities of individual farms, so his finca is practicing precise, local fertilization for particular plants and soil at higher elevations.

brewing a better future

each of the cafeteros of norte nativa have their own visions, their own individual hopes and dreams for the future.  

jaime gonzalez, who led the trip connecting middlebury institute students with norte nativa, has a vision to bridge the us and colombia through education. according to gonzalez, his plan is to “create a community of practice and knowledge-sharing through the fincas as study areas of conservation, restoration, and regenerative production for environmental education of students in líbano and abroad.”  

for franco, the next steps are establishing a market for specialty coffee and eventually expanding the sustainable practices of norte nativa to other fincas in the líbano region and beyond.  to help this happen, middlebury institute graduate students under lyuba zarsky, ph.d., are researching potential markets for colombian specialty coffee.

under starry lights strung overhead, wrapped up in conversation during one of our evening gatherings, martinez looked fervently at me and added, “i want to plant these seeds of thought. i want to plant them for the new generation.” her vision is one of making good food – transitioning to good, healthy food processes for generations to come. “yes coffee, too, but it’s more than that,” she said.  surrounded by a newly formed community, the lights illuminating the faces of coffee farmers and graduate students joined in conversation, the individual and collective visions of norte nativa were already blooming to life. 

a special thanks to the cafeteros of norte nativa for hosting us, bringing us into their large family, and showing us around their fincas and homes in líbano.

massive waves toss and turn, churning up 30-foot sheets of water that could engulf a ship. but deep below the surface lies layers of the ocean that contain multitudes beyond the limits of our imagination. across the open ocean, while humpback whales migrate from the antarctic peninsula to equatorial south america and loggerhead turtles voyage across the pacific, other marine life such as sea angels and chambered nautiluses can be found in the depths of the sea. in fact, scientists believe that only 10% of the species in our seas have been found so far, with over two million yet to be discovered.

in the face of such rich biodiversity, activities such as deep-sea mining in the high seas threaten these unique species and ecosystems. as the green transition ramps up to achieve the paris agreement goal of keeping climate change below 2 degrees celsius, demand for critical minerals such as lithium, nickel and cobalt are also rapidly increasing. the ocean floor below 650-foot depth, also known as the deep seabed, contains mineral deposits of increasing commercial interest that are distributed widely throughout the world’s oceans. this puts deep-sea species like the sea angel, chambered nautilus and highly migratory species like humpback whales and deep-sea ecosystems at risk as emerging scientific data hints at the long-term damage from seabed mining.

area-based management tools, as set up by international law frameworks, offer a strong solution to disruptive activities in the high seas. these tools include the use of marine protected areas (mpas) to regulate such activities in designated areas of the ocean. for example, mpas can regulate fishing and development for oil extraction and set up a regime to monitor and enforce these regulations through a management plan.

currently, most of the world’s mpas are within the national jurisdiction of countries, but the high seas treaty, also known as biodiversity beyond national jurisdiction (bbnj) treaty, opens the opportunity for mpas to be established internationally in the high seas. the bbnj was formally adopted by the u.n. in june 2023 and signed by the united states two months later.

this sets in motion a whole new challenge of co-governance in the high seas global commons. who will propose mpas, take the lead on monitoring and enforcement and be responsible for sustained funding? these are just some from the slew of questions experts are starting to ask.

marine protected area research

this past summer, i set out to research how mpas could be successful in the high seas. by talking with experts from three different case study areas, i evaluated what is needed for mpas to be effectively implemented. as there are no current mpas established under the bbnj treaty, my case studies were comprised of large-scale mpas around the world: the papahānaumokuākea marine national monument of hawaii, great barrier reef marine park in australia and the ross sea regional marine protected area off the antarctic coast. i spoke with current and previous directors, superintendents and other staff of these mpas to glean the lessons learned about the implementation of protected areas in our oceans. these lessons include relationship building, adapting to scale and identifying key leadership.

relationship building and cooperation across agencies

papahānaumokuākea, meaning “a sacred area from which all life springs” in hawaiian, is a treasured marine national monument. encompassing the northwestern hawaiian islands, the 1.5 million square kilometers of protected ocean is made up of the islands and water stretching from nihoa to beyond midway atoll.  

lauren wenzel, the director of the noaa national marine protected areas center, illuminated that not only is it a unesco world heritage site for its natural value, but also for its cultural value to the hawaiian people. “culture is not just one piece of the pie, but looking holistically on how to bring it into everything,” wenzel affirmed about their commitment to co-management. the cultural management plan for the monument is extensive and includes bringing culture into every part of decision making.  

papahānaumokuākea marine national monument (pmnm) is an interesting model for the high seas because it is a large and remote area, many different agencies have interest in it and its management has a formal structure for bringing agencies together to work on decisions. after talking with experts like wenzel about the monument, the key lesson from its implementation emerged: relationship building between all stakeholders is of utmost importance to build cohesion and cooperation among all the different agencies and groups involved.

adaptive management with slow scale-up

the great barrier reef marine park (gbrmp) protects much of the largest living structure on earth — the great barrier reef. it expands a massive length of 2,300 kilometers long, about the same length of the u.s. west coast from the canadian to the mexican border. 

jon day, ph.d., a former gbrmp director, highlighted the threats that the marine park is currently facing, emphasizing climate change, water quality and unsustainable fishing in the area. the gbrmp is a fascinating model for the high seas because, through day’s guidance, it has adopted an intensive zoning plan to help curate management plans to specific areas, such as areas of high tourism or high vulnerability. 

for implementation to be successful, day called attention to the lessons of starting small, proving it can work, and then leveling up slowly but surely. he advocated for the case of high seas mpas, that “you don’t jump straight to what you think is ideal management. you start off slowly, you show how it can work, and then you build on that and improve it.” any progress on the high seas on an international timeframe will move gradually, so adopting an adaptive management framework of building on successes and changing when things fail will be key.

identifying key leadership

last but not least, the ross sea regional marine protected area (rsrmpa) in the southern ocean was most recently adopted as an mpa in 2016. as the largest mpa in the world, the rsrmpa covers a surface area of 1.55 million square kilometers, more than three times the size of california.  

this protected area is an imperative case study for the high seas because it is the only large-scale mpa governed internationally. cassandra brooks, ph.d, an expert on the ross sea who helped push for mpa status, expanded upon the importance of needing strong diplomatic relationships between countries for an international mpa.

brooks observed that the key lesson from implementation of the rsrmpa is that “specific countries have to take leadership for dumping resources into [the mpa].” both countries and organizations alike will need to step up into these leadership roles and clearly state who will put forward the resources, such as enforcement vessels and long-term sustainable funding into high seas protected areas.

implications for the high seas

the bbnj treaty lays out a framework for establishing mpas in the high seas.  but this is new territory, entering into new waters. looking toward already established case studies of large-scale mpas provides key lessons for the future implementation of high seas mpas. in june 2023, governments around the world formally adopted the bbnj treaty by consensus.

but this is just the first step. the next and most crucial step is ratification of the treaty. the agreement is currently out for signature, with the high seas alliance’s treaty ratification tracker showing the current number at 82 signatures from un member countries. signing only signifies willingness to proceed with ratification. in order for the treaty to enter force, at least 60 countries need to both sign and ratify the agreement for it to become law.

once it enters force, countries can jointly begin proposing and designating protected areas in the high seas. there are already areas in the high seas identified for protection, including the salas y gómez and nazca ridges far off the chilean and peruvian coasts. this region of connected submarine mountain ranges is made up of about 40% of all seamounts in the southeastern pacific ocean, which is home to both migratory endangered species like leatherback sea turtles and some of the world’s highest levels of endemic marine biodiversity. providing sanctuary through mpas for these homes to vulnerable animals and biodiverse ecosystems is imperative. this is how we protect the migratory whales and turtles, the deep-sea sea angels and nautiluses and all of the two million other species in our ocean yet to be discovered.

i traveled to “the end of the world” alongside climate leaders from over 36 countries, gathered to learn and connect over climate change mitigation.

to get there, we had to endure the 30-foot waves of the drake’s passage tossing us back and forth with formidable force. but as the ocean calmed, a glacier materialized out of the mist suddenly, jarring us out of our stupor.

the moment was one of pure wonder and elation – bundled up against the wind and snow, everyone sprinkled onto the deck to soak it in together. our first excursion took us out onto antarctic waters, stepping from the sturdy ship into little zodiac boats.

the enormity hit us then. the peace of the place is indescribable. the quiet, unfathomable. the awe and inspiration completely underestimated.

the following days, we experienced honest, raw interactions with the animals and landscapes of the antarctic.

the weather brought us harsh wind, soft snow, blizzarding and radiantly crisp blue skies, sometimes all within a matter of hours. in antarctica, the powerful notion of our planet as a living and breathing ecosystem came through with such strength.

but even immersed in the most untouched, pristine habitat on earth, it wasn’t long until the effects of climate change reached us. in early march, news had spread about a heatwave on the antarctic plateau. the concordia research station in east antarctica measured a temperature record high of -11.8 degrees celsius, 40 degrees above the month’s average. scientists reported they had never seen weather behavior like this in the history of antarctic weather recording. during our expedition, the typical antarctic snow turned to rain. rob shockingly revealed that in the dozens of times he had visited antarctica, this was the first rain he had witnessed.

witnessing climate change firsthand in a place so far away from the human-inhabited world hit me with massive impact. in the face of these monumental problems, it can feel like nothing you can do will make a difference. but as rob reminds us, believing we can’t make a difference or that someone else will instead is the greatest danger of all.

so, what can you do?

climate change is such a complex issue that it can be difficult to know where to begin and what can make the most impact. this is especially true since there are multiple related issues plaguing our environment at the same time, such as plastic pollution, excess waste and habitat destruction. i’ve found that it is easiest to start wherever you can find the greatest sense of fulfillment from your impact. easily implemented but effective changes help break through the barrier to habit change people so often face. when i returned from antarctica, i had more motivation than i’d ever had before. i felt where i could make the most immediate impact in my life was to move toward a less-waste lifestyle.

i swapped out my single-use bath and kitchen supplies for reusable alternatives. now whenever i order food or a drink to go, i bring my own containers or ask if they can serve me with washable dishes rather than plastic ones.

here are some other simple action steps you can take now:

• reduce your use of single-use plastics and swap them for reusable items
• reduce your carbon footprint: limit flights, carpool, bike-ride or walk, etc.
• join community environmental events, such as local clean-ups, climate action campaigns, community gardening events, etc.
• invest your money responsibly around environmental, social and governance (esg)
• make your voice heard by those in power and seek out leadership positions yourself

one of the most important things you can do is talk to others about climate change in your community. have conversations on what you’ve noticed about the climate, share sustainable news and practices that interest you and discuss what the best ways are for you personally to contribute to climate mitigation. this can be the most powerful step of all. conversation is a necessity in creating change in this world. you could talk with your professors and peers about how sustainability plays a role in your area of study and engage with politicians through discussion and voting. the most valuable contribution we can give comes from collaboration: the exchange of ideas big and small, working and creating, together. united, we can make all the difference in the world, for the world.