The Gulf: What’s Next?
The Bioneers present a conversation about the state & future of the Gulf Coast.
Speaker information:
Wallace J. Nichols, Ph.D., is a scientist, ocean activist, author and a dad. He’s a former senior scientist at the Ocean Conservancy and a research associate at the California Academy of Sciences. He works with many non-profit organizations, youth, fishermen and researchers around the world to build an Ocean Revolution. He’s especially fond of sea turtles. J. has been down on the Gulf, documenting the crisis and organizing an on the ground response.
Diane Wilson, mother of five and fourth-generation fisherman on the Texas Gulf Coast. In l995 she won “zero discharge” agreements from Formosa Plastics, one of the largest producers of PVC in the world, and Alcoa Aluminum, among the nation’s largest polluters, by conducting hunger strikes and attempting to sink her shrimp boat on top of a wastewater discharge pipe. Diane is a first-hand witness to the devastation being wrought in traditional Gulf Coast communities.
Dr. Riki Ott, a commercial salmon “fisherma’am,” who experienced firsthand the devastating effects from the Exxon Valdez oil spill-and chose to do something about it. She retired from fishing and founded three nonprofit organizations to deal with the lingering harm and social consequences of our oil dependency. Her work is focused on offering practical approaches to restoring democracy. She has authored three books on her experiences, and has spoken from her personal knowledge about what the Gulf can expect in the coming years.
Conversation hosted by Executive Producer of The UpTake, Mike McIntee.