i gotta say, this all sounded pretty enticing to me and my own newborn b.a., but sydney was adamant that she doesn’t have all the answers (dang it!). yet, as i enter the workforce, during the second unprecedented economic crash i’ve seen since learning long division, i’m satisfied with any study guide i can get.

sydney said it herself: “a lot of millennials and older gen-z people, we’ve been through two recessions, which is not easy at all, and i kind of always knew that when i was in school that, first off, i was in a field where getting a job is extremely competitive. it’s very hard to find a full-time journalism job right when you’re out of college. that’s just, like, bottom line. no matter how good you are, no matter how many experiences you have or whatever, it’s hard.”

you can find my entire conversation with sydney on planet forward’s instagram tv and, for those anxious about their own futures in media, freelancing, or advocacy, i’m more than happy to let you copy my notes. 

1. get to know your values.

when searching for opportunities, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed by the different avenues available, and the possibilities of where they might lead you geographically, professionally, or personally. when navigating these intersections, it’s good to use your own values as a compass. however, finding these values can often be an adventure all its own.

“when you’re transitioning into adulthood, it’s kind of hard for a lot of us to detach, like, the feelings, the expectations that have been put on us by the people that have raised us,” syndey said.

take time to pin down what success looks like to you, rather than to others (even those who matter most!). once you know what drives you, the destination is easier to find. be patient with yourself as your goalposts are likely to change.

“that was something that i’m still dealing with today,” sydney said, “… is figuring out who am i truly and what are my values as sydney greene, not as my parents, not as my friends, not as my grandparents.”

2. get to know your niche.

beyond knowing what you value, you should also pin down what others value you for (and this is certainly the part that brings me the most anxiety). however, it’s helpful to shift the thought process from a question of, “what are my skills?” to, “what are my interests? what subject do i feel most at home covering? what do people associate with me?” sydney said she finds knowing her “brand” especially helpful when reaching out to editors to pitch ideas.

“i think knowing the stories that you’re passionate about, knowing the issues that you’re passionate about, and then creating a niche inside the passions is really important because when you are pitching something to someone or you’re just reaching out to an editor you can say, like, ‘hey!’ instead of doing a general pitch or hello, you can let them know, ‘here’s what i do. here’s the work that i’m interested in. if you need any gaps filled in your coverage that include these topic areas, i’m here for you,’” she said.

when you have an understanding of the specific knowledge and skillsets you possess, own them.

“do not be afraid to promote yourself, y’all,” syndey said. “like, do it. run with it. be proud of the work that you do, be proud of who you are, and promote yourself.”

3. don’t be afraid to change course.

as important as it is to know yourself, it’s just as important to understand that who you are, what you want, and what you’re interested in are always changing. even if you’ve dreamed of something since elementary school, it might not be the right choice for you now. sydney experienced this firsthand when she shifted from her dream of being a full-time reporter to pursue advocacy work. yet, she made this transition by reassessing her values and, from there, breaking down what drew her to journalism in order to steer her toward her next move.

sydney said, “when i knew i was not going to be doing [journalism] full time, i had to peel back the layers and think, ‘ok, what about journalism really interested me from a young age and how can i still maintain that passion into a different role?’ and that was storytelling, at the bottom of it, it was storytelling. luckily, i was able to take that storytelling into the different jobs i do now.”

your skills and interests can translate into a variety of different roles and industries, and there is no shame in switching things up.

4. you’re not in it alone.

graduating from college, especially into the current state of the world, might feel a bit like free-falling from the nest and hoping that you can figure out how to use your wings before reaching the ground. while you likely do have more responsibilities and less structure than you’re used to, you also have support systems to turn to. 

for sydney, mentors have helped guide the way. she recommends seeking mentorship from people in different professions and across different age groups who will each be able to relate to you and speak to your experiences in different ways.

“i think it’s really important to have a lot of mentors across the board, whether that’s professional or whether that’s personal,” she said. “having allies in general that advocate for you, whether that’s inside the workplace or outside the workplace, is incredibly important.”

also, remember that wherever you are now, you have learned lessons that can benefit someone else.

“i always say, you know, pay it forward,” sydney said. “even if you’re two or three years older than someone and you don’t think that you have something to offer, you absolutely have something to offer. so, make sure just as you’re getting that advice from mentors, make sure you’re paying it forward and helping the people who are also up and coming like you were at some point.”
 

to keep up with sydney, check out her website here.

they thank us and we slip back into the crowd of protestors chanting in the shadow of the madison gas and electric plant. that photo op won’t be the last time i overthink a seemingly easy decision on this hot afternoon, because today is the global climate strike and i’m not attending it — i’m covering it.

as i march with the crowd from mg&e to the steps of the state capitol, it’s hard not to get swept up in the rousing speeches and impassioned chants, but i try to remember the journalistic guidelines i have been taught. 

when i first started at the badger herald, one of the university of wisconsin’s student newspapers, i was quickly taught the basics of unbiased journalism — speak to a representative from both sides, report only verifiable facts and do not post anything political to your social media. many of these “journalism ethics” were then expanded upon and further instilled into me through my classes at uw. 

at the strike, i stood next to my friends who waved large crayola-lettered signs and chanted passionately. as i weaved through the sweaty crowd, i tried to establish my own journalistic guidelines on the fly — i could accept pamphlets but i couldn’t hold a sign, my friends could post pictures i was in but i couldn’t post one myself, i could clap but i couldn’t cheer. 

looking back, i was definitely overthinking things, but my self-imposed limitations do a raise a question many environmental journalists are constantly facing — what is our role in the fight against climate change?

it may seem obvious that as with other global debates, our job is to inform the public and report the facts. but with climate change, these “facts” are often more complicated than they appear. 

climate change first really came into the public sphere in 1988 when dr. james hansen of the national aeronautics and space administration testified in front of a congressional committee and said he was “99 percent certain” that the warming trend of the previous few years was not because of natural variation, but was caused by a buildup of carbon dioxide and other artificial gases in the atmosphere as a result of the burning of fossil fuels. 

this story made the front page of the new york times under the headline, “global warming has begun, expert tells senate.” this article cited several scientists and mathematical models, all indicating that immediate action was needed. the piece included only one sentence acknowledging that some scientists believe the recent warmer temperatures are due to natural fluctuations. 

over 30 years later, the public’s perception of climate change has become increasingly divergent from the scientific discourse. 

ninety-seven percent of climate experts have concluded that human-caused climate change is a reality, according to the american association for the advancement of science. but as of 2019, 35% of americans think that global warming is generally exaggerated, up from 31% in 1997, according to a gallup poll.this same poll found that as of 2018, only 42% of americans would consider themselves an environmentalist, down from 76% in 1989.

i have seen how important this public perception of climate change can be in directing policy. one of my aforementioned crayola sign-toting roommates is marina minic, a uw junior studying chemistry and environmental studies and an executive board member for campus leaders for energy action now. 

clean is a student organization working through strikes and petitions to get uw to power the campus exclusively with renewable energy by 2050 and to derive all electrical power from renewable resources by 2030. i have covered several protests organized by clean and have joined them during their weekly petitioning around campus, their version of greta thunberg’s fridays for future. 

minic said that most students she interacts with support clean energy; they are just unaware that it is such a major issue at uw.  she said that whenever she tells students that only 1.61% of uw’s energy consumption comes from clean and renewable sources, they are disappointed and happy to sign clean’s petition. 

a major way clean informs students and gains visibility is through media coverage, minic told me. 

“if the chancellor wakes up the next morning and she sees every local paper has written about something, obviously you can’t ignore it at that point,” minic said. “it’s also a good way to raise awareness to other students to get involved in the movement because i think most people do care about this issue and maybe just didn’t know about it.”

this media attention has always been key for the environmental movement. however, in the years since hansen first testified before the senate, how the media covers climate change has shifted. 

a study published in 2003 by the global environmental change journal featured a content analysis of articles published by the wall street journal, the new york times, the washington post and the los angeles times from 1988 to 2002. the study found that the majority, 52.6%, of articles presented both the view that climate change is being caused by humans and the view that it is due to natural fluctuations, in a balanced way. the study also found that from 1988 to 2002, the articles’ focus on the need for immediate climate action decreased. 

this study is dated, but more recent studies show similar trends. the day after the intergovernmental panel on climate change released its report announcing that global warming is likely to reach 1.5°c between 2030 and 2052 if current trends continue, media matters for america analyzed the home pages of the top 50 newspapers in the country. they found that only 22 covered the report. 

this lack of coverage and the tendency to prioritize balance over accuracy may be connected to the politicization of climate change. a recent report published by the science communication journal conducted a content analysis of all climate change-related articles published by major newspapers in the u.s between 1985 and 2017. the report found that representations of climate change have become more politicized. 

the content analysis showed that political actors have been increasingly used as sources in recent years, while the use of scientists as sources has been decreasing. it also found that the mention of “democrats” and “republicans” in climate change-related articles have increased. 

the perceived politicization of climate change has influenced actions being taken to address it. when 350 madison, a climate action organization, petitioned the uw foundation to divest from fossil fuel industries, the foundation wrote a letter saying it did not want to do anything that would make the university be seen as a political actor, rather than an academic and research institution. 

this argument is not unique to uw. ari bortman, a university of pennsylvania junior and a campus organizer with fossil free penn, told me that when fossil free pushed for divestment at upenn, the administration said it did not want to make a political statement. that refusal, bortman said, is a political statement in itself. 

“at this point, their vehement resistance to make any kind of statement on the industry really belies their leanings,” bortman said. “we know that the fossil fuel industry destroys people’s lives, destroys people’s homes for profit… exxon admits to spending billions of dollars to spread false science to misinform people, that’s not debatable. to not say that these things are bad is a political statement.”

bortman’s reference to exxon mobile’s misinformation campaigns actually touches on part of why climate change has become so politicized. a recent report, “america misled,” analyzed internal corporate documents from the fossil fuel industry showing it knew about the reality of human-caused climate change for decades and actively funded denial and disinformation campaigns.  

one document from 1998 outlines the american petroleum institute’s global climate science communications plan. this plan includes a bullet point list titled, “victory will be achieved when.”

“media “understands” (recognizes) uncertainties in climate science,” one bullet point read.  “media coverage reflects balance on climate science and recognition of the validity of viewpoints that challenge conventional wisdom.”

corporations’ efforts to influence media messages about climate change have persisted throughout the years. one day in february, after covering clean’s divestment die-in where protestors chanted and laid down at the top of bascom hill as a part of the national fossil fuel divestment day, i came home to find marina fuming in the kitchen. 

i had been covering the protest for the badger herald, but the other school newspaper, the daily cardinal, had been given a pamphlet from the uw alumni foundation emphasizing that technically it is the foundation that is invested in fossil fuels, not the university. 

the resulting daily cardinal article said that students were protesting uw’s “alleged” investment in fossil fuels. 

the word “alleged” was eventually removed after the daily cardinal met with clean. in the meeting, clean’s executive board explained that because all $124,785,961 the foundation has invested in oil and gas is donated to uw, the university is still profiting off fossil fuel investments. 

seeing the importance media coverage plays in this issue, and the concerted effort those who profit from the fossil fuel industry have continued to put into influencing the media, makes me wonder — as a journalist, is it truly biased to take a stance on climate change? furthermore, as a student with a platform, do i have a responsibility to share that stance?

i think back to the global climate strike; standing on my tip toes with my arms outstretched trying to record the speakers, i remember how moved i was by what they said. 

one speaker, uw freshman crystal zhao, reflected on her experience moving from china to massachusetts at 14 and witnessing how climate change has affected different parts of the world. her speech moved me because she discussed the importance of everyone having a role in the climate movement. 

“i’m here today because i care about the future generation and selfishly, i am here today because i care about the reputation of our generation,” zhao said. “i don’t want us to be remembered as the generation that failed to act when we still had a chance to save our home.”

her speech brings me back to my original question: as a journalist, what is my role in the climate movement? this may be a question i continue to grapple with throughout my career. but i do know one thing — after zhao spoke, i cheered as loud as i could. 

hanging like “shimmering dark clouds on the horizon,” these catastrophic swarms can reach the size of moscow, eating and destroying everything in sight. the locusts are a product of extreme weather swings, and pose deadly consequences for the people who rely on the crops they feed on. their rapidly increasing numbers are likely to present “an unprecedented threat to food security and livelihoods in the horn of africa,” as illustrated by the u.n. food and agriculture organization on jan. 29. 

kenya hasn’t had a locust outbreak to this magnitude in 70 years, and it is the worst that somalia and ethiopia have seen in 25 years. a typical desert locust swarm contains 150 million locusts per square kilometer, which is hard to imagine, but on average can destroy enough crops in one day that would have fed 2,500 people. 

what are the regional implications? 

the impacts of these swarms are immense, but also vary greatly depending on the region. the regions currently affected by the outbreak stretch across the horn of africa, so far reaching ethiopia, somalia, and northeast kenya. some say that the locusts have traveled from as far as yemen. however, if favorable breeding conditions persist, the u.n. fears these swarms could reach over 30 additional countries in africa and asia. south sudan and uganda are already bracing for their arrival, as predictions show that “current numbers could grow 500 times by june.”

unsurprisingly, scientists have declared a clear culprit: climate change. nairobi-based climate scientist abubakr salih babiker stated that 2019 was one of the wettest years on record due to rapidly increasing water temperatures in the indian ocean. warmer ocean temperatures furthermore caused an unusually high number of tropical cyclones off of africa, providing the perfect conditions for locust breeding. 

tom twining-ward, a senior technical advisor for the united nations development program with expertise in climate change adaptation (and, full disclosure, the author’s father), said “historically, the most important natural factor controlling populations of locusts is the weather,” and that “the current invasion in east africa is no doubt intensified by climatic changes that are neither caused nor fully understood by the local farmers.”

another challenge is that the only effective method to battle the insects is by the aerial spraying of pesticides, which is not only very expensive, but difficult to implement in many regions due to military presence. it’s also dangerous: for livestock, farmers, and the environment alike. 

so what should be done? a previous outbreak from 2003 to 2005 in northern africa cost more than $500 million to control and more than $2.5 billion in harvest losses. are big organizations and donors willing to step up and fund these efforts? 

twining-ward also highlighted that “while the focus in the medium- to long-term should be on coping measures and adaptation to climate change, there is an urgent need for donors to address the significant drop in agricultural output in the region, and provide the necessary resources to address food shortages and hunger in the affected countries.”

unfortunately most media coverage of the swarms are focusing predominantly on the disastrous effects and implications of the swarms, rather than proposing realistic solutions for controlling them.

a call for action, not a plea for help

the urgency of the situation has not been talked about nearly enough. now that the u.n. has shared its serious concerns, and somalia has declared a national emergency, news media is beginning to give the story a bit more attention, but not enough to reflect that this may very well affect millions of people. photographs have been an effective way to give people abroad some perspective. pictures and videos show hundreds of millions of locusts’ darkening horizons for miles, forming dense, ravenous, clouds. 

but, as with what has been written in the articles themselves, the pictures in the media portray reoccurring themes of devastation and helplessness: crops wilted, farmers in distress banging on metal pots and pans while whistling, using whatever means they have to scare away the locusts. 

as a concerned environmentalist and humanist, the lack of action and attention to combat this crisis is even more disappointing, especially when recalling the media attention and public outcry in response to the shocking australian wildfires. the comparison between coverage, and lack thereof, between the two emergencies is tragic, especially considering the impactful role that the media has in helping create action and awareness —  information that could benefit the countries in need.

i can’t help blaming the tendencies of certain media to make untrue generalizations and to portray africans as helpless or as careless perpetrators of an environmental crisis, while negating the relevant historical factors that have contributed to the environmental vulnerability of many africans. 

one aspect of the stories told about african countries — particularly the environmental ones — that i think often goes undiscussed, is that much of this vulnerability is in fact due to legacies left behind by colonial development policies. let us remember that all countries south of the sahara, excluding liberia, have at some point been under european colonial rule, and these structures significantly contributed to the uneven development felt in regions today. african countries dominated by colonial rule were impacted by policies that often promoted unsuitable and environmentally damaging agricultural systems, polluted industrial sectors, furthered inadequate workers rights, disrupted ecosystems and communities with big infrastructure projects, created violent arguments over land dispossession, and so on. 

exasperation steadily accumulated the more that i investigated this story, reading articles scattered with fragments of outdated stereotypes and tropes, but lacking in relevant historical factors that inevitably impact the severity of the locust outbreak. it is unfair not to consider the geographical, geopolitical, and historical ramifications that have shaped, and that will continue to shape, the way these events unfold. 

i sincerely hope that somehow perceptions sculpted by the mainstream media will begin to fade, as people rely more heavily on local and regional news sources. it is our own duty as consumers of media to expect stories that tell the whole story, and to call out discrepancies when we see them. we should expect equal coverage of stories that tell both the triumphs and tragedies. i hope that the tendencies to depict environmental disasters in vulnerable regions will shift from focusing solely on the crisis and its negative consequences, to more on the solutions that can be implemented to mitigate them.

as sesno observed the world around him changing, he sensed the need for effective environmental science communication and awareness by covering some amazing stories. sesno believes that stories speak to people. 

“you give a person a piece of data and maybe they’ll remember it or memorize it,” sesno said. “but embed that data in a story and people will remember it — and understand the context of why it matters.” 

sesno wanted to find a vehicle where students learn and participate. “a place where we could engage faculty and researchers to be on the frontline of knowledge,” he said, explaining his vision. “a place where i could use my media skills and push ideas out to the wider world.” hence came the idea for planet forward in 2006.

he always believed that student-generated content came from both the heart and the head, looking back to his time as a student storyteller. sesno went to wilton high school in wilton, connecticut, where he, at the age of 15, was writing about numerous controversial topics. in fact, he soon became the co-editor-in-chief of his high school newspaper and was invited to speak to the board of education about an op-ed piece he wrote. he discovered the power of story and the impact even writing in a high school newspaper can have in the community: “(storytelling) is both powerfully influential and creatively engaging.” 

thus, he wanted students to be the principal storytellers at planet forward: “these students, who have a stake in the future, generate stories from their campuses and communities in very real ways.”

as an explainer of sustainability, sesno takes sustainability for granted. “to not live sustainably is to not live,” sesno said. he was inspired — in part, by richard attenborough, the documentary “planet earth,” and national geographic, among others — to be a storyteller around sustainability and to tell stories about science, breakthrough, and discoveries. “those are the stories i want to tell and want people to know,” he said, his passion for the subject reflecting in his voice.

although planet forward has come a long way since 2009 and moved to an online storytelling platform from a tv special, sesno believes that the basic idea of storytelling around sustainability has survived — and thrived. “(planet forward) can sustain over time and reach more people,” said sesno, who thinks stories can be timeless. “we still go to plays written by the guy named will shakespeare,” he said with a laugh, as he moved on to describe some of his timeless stories from the past.

in 1977, as sesno started applying for jobs after college at local newspapers and radio stations, he accepted a job at wcfr radio – a local radio station in springfield, vermont – where he was soon promoted to be the news director. although it was a small job in a small town, he still believes that that job taught him the most. he found himself going to just about every city or town council meeting, school board meeting, and even meeting influential people in town to cover interesting stories, while finding ways to connect with the community. it had an incredible impact on him as a 22-year old: “it’s one heck of an experience for a young journalist,” said sesno. 

sesno is a man who constantly likes to challenge himself. as one of the four applicants out of over 400 selected for an internship at the voice of america, sesno left the job at wcfr and moved to washington, d.c., in the fall of 1978. he had the good fortune of getting the internship at a time when the cold war was happening. “it was the job of the media to tell people the truth about what was happening,” said sesno, who worked within multiple departments as an intern. however, not feeling challenged enough, he moved on to work at the associated press network in d.c. after six months.

within a few weeks at the ap, a job soon opened at the london office. fluent in french and spanish, the associated press thought, “why don’t we send frank to london?” shortly thereafter, he was named ap’s overseas correspondent for london in the fall of 1979. although it might be a dream job for a young journalist, sesno felt challenged and pressured at various points, but found it equally rewarding, as he was there in london at a tremendous time.

he distinctly remembers the time when he had to dash down to rome after pope john paul ii had been shot in 1981. “there were thousands of people at st. peter’s square praying and showing incredible emotion for their religious leader,” sesno said. “that was a very powerful and emotional experience.”

before moving back to d.c., in 1982 as the white house correspondent for ap, sesno covered the falkland islands war – one of the most transformative stories for him. he saw a big lie told by a corrupt government to a well-educated country and people believed that big lie. he learned how a population could be lied to by the argentine government – an unelected military junta – who watched the people die as the country went to war. 

his overseas experiences at the ap changed him. “they made me a journalist, confronted me with the full range of human potential, vulnerability, and failings.”

in 1984, sesno was traveling all over america doing a series of specials for ap when he moved on to working at cnn. “in october of 1984, cnn was hiring people who had great faces for radio, and i was one of them,” sesno said with a laugh. the world was just getting cable during that time and cnn was not making a profit, being only 4 years old. while at first, no one was watching cable tv, soon, the world was watching. 

he walked further up memory lane and palpably remembered the words, “mr. gorbachev, tear down this wall!” as if it had been imprinted on his memory from 1987. in fact, his mind is deeply imprinted by all the experiences he has had as a journalist that he would not trade for anything. it was not until 1989, when he was working as the white house correspondent for cnn, when he was amazed to see the berlin wall come down. 

“sometimes i feel a little like forrest gump to realize that i was there for these amazing things. i still feel that way as i still do some of that,” said sesno, with a hint of wonder to his voice.

to have had a career spanning over three decades – having his own talk show, “late edition with frank sesno” for 7 years, winning an emmy award among several other accolades, and covering some powerful stories of strength and heroism – sesno has become more hopeful about the future of the world.

standing at the west end of the capitol building white house, sesno remembers seeing america’s first black president-elect take the oath of office in front of a gigantically diverse audience. as president obama reflected on the experience this country had gone through, sesno said he felt spellbound: “to see this country elect somebody named barack hussein obama was a phenomenal moment in history.”

sesno has no doubts about the impact storytelling can have on people to continue to find smarter and innovative solutions for problems the world is facing today. 

“human beings are an ingenious species,” sesno said, talking about harnessing the power of humankind. “we defy gravity every day. nobody would have imagined these things.” 

as planet forward continues to grow, sesno said: “to me, having a project like planet forward is a win at so many levels. the students win as they tell a story that empowers so many people. the university wins as it uses its platform to positively influence those students and the wider community. the community wins as it gets information through the storytelling from students. 

“i win because i get to be the orchestral leader of the most inspirational and interesting experiment i can imagine.”

as a dedicated storyteller, sesno continues to inspire young people to address the challenges of feeding and saving our planet. by combining intellect and imagination, sesno intends to create an experience that will both inform people and engage them. he continues to share ideas and innovations of people who are doing amazing things to inspire them. as he wound down narrating his story, he mentioned something he wants people to remember: that times are desperate for our planet. 

“the clock is ticking. but first, know that (climate change) is the challenge of our times,” he said, closing his travel diary. “second, don’t give up. and go to work.”

as of late, the word is that glass bottle beach is a great place to spend your sunday afternoon collecting vintage glass, or even just as a place for a casual stroll along the brooklyn coastline. in the words of a headline from a popular online newsletter  “the new yorker,” glass bottle beach is a treasure trove. yes, us humans are looking towards this pile of trash a place to find treasure. what does that say about the values of our society? 

the way we speak about certain things can often weigh heavy into how we perceive those particular things, and even further, may reflect how we treat them. in the case of glass bottle beach, unfortunately i don’t see the garbage going anywhere any time soon. but i do see the conversation surrounding it, changing. 

just as my friend suggested to me that one day— to check out glass bottle beach because it’s “cool,” i do the same to you. i suggest that you go, but go with a critical eye. i suggest you go for a walk along the polluted coastline with a loved one, and wonder about where the trash will end up after the next few waves wash it away. allow your visit to glass bottle beach be a wake-up call to how much waste you produce, because we all have a part in this, you just have to play it.

after the 2016 election, it seems to me, the art of serious storytelling just got both harder and more interesting. if we are to adapt and avoid becoming irrelevant to significant portions of public life, serious storytellers are in need of a game changer. in “game of thrones,” the khaleesi’s dragons are a game changer. for those who are able to embrace them, the impossible becomes possible.

three modern-day dragons have been brought into stark relief by the 2016 election: first, the fallibility of modeling and analysis in the face of complex and changing patterns; second, the extreme divergence of worldview between different sectors of society; and third, the increasing linkages between the legitimation of knowledge and the exercise of power.

none of these things, of course, are new to 2016. like the khaleesi’s dragons, they have been growing for several seasons, and were passed down through the ages in dormant form long before that. now, however, they are full grown dragons that must be reckoned with. but — if we are willing to embrace them, there is reason for hope, and even joy. this joy is not for everyone, perhaps: it’s a kind of serious joy that comes when a confined space opens up, the walls and floor fall away, and one is free to fly or fall.

it takes courage to embrace a full-grown fire-breathing dragon, and it takes both courage and creativity to embrace three of them at once. what might such an embrace look like in practice for people whose job and/or calling it is to promote reasoned dialog, rational decision making, and critical thinking?

embracing the first dragon looks like drawing on science to amplify and empower people’s innate curiosity rather than their need for ultimate truth or justification. embracing the second looks like telling stories that engage and inspire people across political and cultural divides. and embracing the third dragon means authentically engaging the interplay between knowledge and power. 

watch out for this third dragon, though: it’s a feisty one. its message is that eloquent words and nifty diagrams can be masks for those whose interests are served by a particular claim of cause and effect, or a particular way of framing an issue. as i write this ode to complexity, for example, i am aware that even characterizing an issue as complex can be a form of power masquerading as knowledge, as when a toxic polluter strives to avoid responsibility by pointing to the multiplicity of factors that might be contributing to a pattern of disease or harm.

that’s not my intention in talking about complexity though. i see the acknowledgement of complexity as recognition that any single perspective offers only a partial view. this recognition then serves as an opening — an invitation to have conversations with people holding different views, to develop new forms of creativity, and to engage in new kinds of collaborations. but that’s my perspective, from where i sit as someone who wants to build and empower platforms for meaningful engagement across people, disciplines and organizations. 

how do we get around this unavoidability of perspective, and its linkages to interests and values? we don’t. in characterizing an issue or problem, or in framing an issue, we are also characterizing ourselves — our backgrounds, influences, values, and interests. embracing the dragon of knowledge linked to power does not require a descent into the flames of partisanship, however. rather, it is an invitation to make ourselves as characters more visible in the stories we tell.

we are facing climate change in the united states in the form of more intense and frequent storm events, heat waves, droughts, and wildfires. right now we have adapted, but that does not mean that climate change is under control. many countries around the world are dealing with serious threats right now; they are bearing the brunt of our behavior, and the burden that they are carrying now will only get heavier.

we sat down with sabrina mccormick, who worked as a producer and associate producer on the showtime original series years of living dangerously, in which hollywood celebrities span the globe to experience climate change.  sabrina has committed herself to learning about the intricacies of the extreme impacts of climate-related phenomena like heat waves, emergent vector-borne disease, and climate-related disasters. she has coupled this knowledge with her passions for filmmaking and storytelling, discussing with us the importance of communicating these complicated facets of climate change.

“seeing is believing,” she said, reflecting on her time spent in bangladesh for the filming of the series finale “moving a mountain” with michael c. hall. “if we can’t see what the future will look like either bad or good, we don’t know, we don’t believe it, we aren’t going to do anything.”

film is a critical tool that can be used to address the complex task of communicating the intricacies of climate change and encouraging immediate action. “this is a task that we have as media makers and as newsmakers, to show audiences what their world can be like and then through that process, get them to actually do something.”

filmmakers like sabrina have taken on this important task and are telling climate change stories, inviting audiences to consider the abstract idea of climate change in a personal way. what’s your climate change story? what have you experienced and seen? show audiences, use media tools, and empower others to learn more about how climate change could affect their lives and the lives of many vulnerable people like those in bangladesh and around the world.

lynas turns to jake gyllenhaal as a possible solution. he’s good looking, brings in the big bucks, and most recently was able to convince the movie-going public that he and dennis quaid could save the world from a sudden global warming that threatens earth in “the day after tomorrow”. jake gyllenhaal can save me any day, but how can he help save earth? instead of wasting millions of dollars on movies that simply entertain and not educate the public, hollywood needs to step it up and bring countries like tuvalu into the foreground. if hollywood learned how to make a blockbuster that showed what the real effects of global warming had on its audiences, maybe we’d have a better chance at making sure the people of tuvalu stay afloat. if 1 degree can drown a country, one movie should be able to change someone’s idea of what global warming really is.