When Did Your Mission to Protect the Environment Start? (7 Green Bloggers)

Levi Novey

Levi Novey is a conservation professional who worked for the U.S. National Park Service for 10 years, as a park ranger, social science researcher, and science communication specialist for 20 different parks. In addition to having authored several guidebooks to U.S. national parks, he has written scholarly papers and over 150 online articles as an environmental journalist for publishers including The Huffington Post, LiveOAK Media, and Celsias.

In response to this week’s question, Levi shows how one little conversation can change a life:

“The summer after I graduated from high school was when my concern for the environment and interest in working to help protect it really became a predominant part of my life. Although I think the seed was planted in my personality at an early age by my parents, there were 2 key events during that summer that made me want to work in the environmental field. The first was that I went on a wilderness canoeing trip on the Missouri River in Montana with a company called Wilderness Inquiry. I had always had a strong interest in history, and this journey tracked along some of the same route that the Lewis and Clark Expedition used on their legendary journey. This was the first time I had really seen any part of the U.S. that was not on the East Coast, and I was beyond intrigued. I would definitely go on a trip with Wilderness Inquiry again. It was simply amazing.

“Next, after I returned from the Montana trip I went on a cross country driving trip with my brother, where we focused on the Southwest. We visited a lot of national parks, historical sites, and tourist attractions while camping. Toward the end of the trip I had grown pretty tired of it all and was ready to go home. One of the last places we visited was Mesa Verde National Park in Colorado, famous for its cliff dwellings. I really knew little about it, had little interest, and was finally convinced by my brother to get out of the car to go see at least one cliff dwelling (it was located below the park museum).

“After making the short walk to the cliff dwelling, I stood and watched while my brother explored. A park ranger came up to me and I thought, “crap, I am going to have to talk to this guy.” It was a conversation that started with small talk about where I was from. But over 30 minutes the park ranger guided me from a level of almost no interest to total interest. He unleashed a profoundly cool explanation of why the park was relevant to me today. It was after that experience that I wanted to be a National Park Ranger and have that same effect on other people.

“Eventually during my career with the National Park Service I returned to Mesa Verde National Park one summer and worked in that same spot as a ranger. So without hesitation I will say that I truly believe that even of the smallest of experiences can have profound impacts upon our concern for the environment.”

Bryan Nelson

Bryan Nelson has been making up for lost time since finishing his graduate degree in Philosophy by traveling and working to change the world. He has worked with groups like The Sierra Club, Environment America & U.S. PIRG, and Environment Oregon & OSPIRG on local and national political campaigns. Between adventure and activism, he currently can be found doing freelance writing from his home in Portland, Oregon.

“I felt a connection to the natural world from as young as I can remember. As a child, I had ready access to the outdoors via a year-round creek that ran right through the backyard of my childhood home, and via a summer floating home in California’s Sacramemto-San Joaquin Delta which sat right at the border of the bird and wildlife sanctuary. That firsthand exposure to nature at a young age definitely played a part in fostering an appreciation and sense of wonder about the environment in me,” Bryan wrote.

Ceylan Thomson

Ceylan Thomson is the CEO and Co-Founder of CleanTechies. She has extensive experience in international marketing and corporate communications, having worked for companies like Johnson & Johnson and DHL. Before founding CleanTechies, Ceylan also worked on strategic assignments to grow the online community of Xing.com and evaluate Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) projects for the Boston Consulting Group.

Ceylan holds an MA from The Ohio State University and an MBA from IESE Business School in Barcelona, Spain. Having learned sailing at a young age, Ceylan enjoys all kinds of water and outdoor sports as well as traveling to places she has never been before. For more info on Ceylan, view her profile on LinkedIn.

“I grew up in Germany where environmental protection has a long history. Compared to the US where I live now, I’d say Germans on average are much more aware of energy consumption and resource efficiency. Even as a kid, I’ve always been cautious about saving energy by turning off lights and reducing waste to a minimum. I grew up recycling glass, paper, and plastic, and I couldn’t – and still can’t – understand people who don’t. I remember vividly when back in the 1980′s, the Green Party made it into German parliament for the first time. That was huge for environmentalists and the beginning of green politics on a national level. When I moved to San Francisco, I was thrilled to find a vibrant cleantech scene. I decided to found my own company called CleanTechies, an online network and knowledge hub for cleantech professionals. We’re providing news, jobs, events and many more resources that help cleantech aficionados advance their careers and businesses – for the benefit of our planet,” Ceylan wrote in response to this week’s question.

Summary Thoughts on How to Encourage Your Children to Protect the Environment

I think these responses really show the importance of interaction with the natural environment as a child. For many of these leading green bloggers, that seemed to be an important factor in guiding them down this path. If you want your children to grow up to be good stewards of the environment, helping to give them access to the natural environment seems like one of the most important important first steps.

By the way, if you like the photos used in this post, they came from our most recent 10 Friday Photos post, “Mountain and Lake Photos” — check that out for more beautiful photos of mountain and lake combinations.

More Green Bloggers posts:

Favorite Nature Destinations (7 Green Bloggers)

Top Environmental Organizations in the United States (7 Green Bloggers Series)

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Photo Credit: Peto Lake in Alberta, Canada by Leto A. via flickr/CC license

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