A recent post* from Wellcome Trust on their Mosaic blog quotes evolutionary biologist Sean Carroll talking about scientists who take on the biodiversity issue as an existential crisis, worthy of hitting the streets for (*the original post has since been archived – a tidbit still exists here).

Kappy Wells, an artist who resides in New Mexico, has dedicated artwork depicting the melting glaciers in Greenland to support several ecologically focused NGOs.  At her opening night, she talked with our Executive Director Kennan Salinero about her travels to Greenland with her son and two scientists who were studying glacier melt and climate changes.  What struck her was the scientists she was traveling with did not consider emotion, personal response, or their opinion about the issue to be in their bailiwick.

However, we know of several groups that have been founded on college campuses for the educational process to include impact work.

Elizabeth Gerber’s student-lead Design for America, Berkeley’s Science Shop, and Emerging Leaders in Science and Society (ELISS) are examples of young scientists working to create impact in their global communities.

Given the large declines in fresh water and arable land, loss of ice shelf mass, dramatic losses in many oceanic fish populations (and, conversely, population explosions for jelly fish), population losses in the 90% range for large animals like lions and elephants, scientists that bring their passion and presence to the ‘big picture’ are much-needed.