Climate Champions

What will the new IOC president do for sustainability in the Olympic Movement and beyond? In this first episode of season 4, we bring you a conversation from our Earth Month sessions in April 2025 between our host Maddy Orr, and guests Dr. Jules Boykoff and Hannah Campbell-Pegg OLY.

Aileen McManamon, Dr. Walker Ross, Dr. Tim Walters, and Dr. Maddy Orr discuss some of the challenges facing FIFA2026: extreme heat, wildfire, and a trade war in North America. This conversation was originally recorded on April 15, 2025 as part of the Earth Month sessions.

Hilary Meyer, Dr. Ann Pegoraro, and Dr. Maddy Orr discuss the growth of women's sport in recent years, and come up with ideas for balancing gender parity and environmental goals. Is it possible to grow women's sport AND be 'sustainable'? Find out.

Dr. Thomas Carter is a Reader in the School of Sport and Service Management at the University of Brighton and the Executive Director of Football for Peace. Dr. Carter is a sport anthropologist and specialist in sport migration, and joins the podcast to discuss his career, the unique opportunities that lie in sport-for-development work, and the added pressures that climate change will add to migrat...

Stephania Ergemlidze started a one-woman movement in the summer of 2020 when she took her basketball hoop to protest sites around the U.S. to facilitate positive interactions between groups. She joins the podcast to discuss her personal trajectory, the role of sports in strengthening communities and addressing inequities.

In this last 4-episode segment of The Listening Sessions, we get into the solutions. How to fix environmental and social issues in sport? The fourth answer comes from COFFEY, a NYC-based filmmaker, runner, and community organizer who uses running as his platform for protest and community-building. He sheds light on the possibility and potential that lies in using our favorite sports or activities...

In this last 4-episode segment of The Listening Sessions, we get into the solutions. How to fix environmental and social issues in sport? The third answer is brought forth by Charles T. Brown, a researcher and adjunct professor at Rutgers University, who highlights the inequities in the ways our communities, streets, and public spaces are designed and proposes that prioritizing those people closes...

In this last 4-episode segment of The Listening Sessions, we get into the solutions. How to fix environmental and social issues in sport? The second answer comes from Aileen McManamon, Kristen Fulmer, and Monica Rowand, who together with Dr. Maddy Orr form the Sport Sustainability Research Collective. These sustainability specialists highlight the enormous potential that lies in partnerships and c...

In this last 4-episode segment of The Listening Sessions, we get into the solutions. How to fix environmental and social issues in sport? The first answer comes from Drs. Ann Pegoraro and Lindsey Darvin, experts on gender issues in sport, who highlight the potential and benefits of putting women and POC into positions of power.

In episodes 9-12 of The Listening Sessions, Dr. Maddy Orr addresses the inequities and unique experiences of Indigenous athletes and people working in the Indigenous sport system. Dr. Tricia McGuire-Adams joins the show to talk about decolonization through sport and especially her work with Anishinaabe women.

In episodes 9-12 of The Listening Sessions, Dr. Maddy Orr addresses the inequities and unique experiences of Indigenous athletes and people working in the Indigenous sport system. Dr. Forsyth discusses the use of sport as an assimilation tool in residential schools, the inequitable distribution of resources in the modern Indigenous sport system, and her research examining the experiences of Tom Lo...

In episodes 9-12 of The Listening Sessions, Dr. Maddy Orr addresses the inequities and unique experiences of Indigenous athletes and people working in the Indigenous sport system. Kathryn Teneese, chairwoman of the Ktunaxa Nation Council, was a leading figure in the resistance to Jumbo Glacier Resort, which would have been the largest ski resort in North America. She shares her story in episode 10...

In episodes 9-12 of The Listening Sessions, Dr. Maddy Orr addresses the inequities and unique experiences of Indigenous athletes and people working in the Indigenous sport system. This episode, with Dr. Natalie Welch, breaks down some of the key challenges facing Indigenous athletes and discusses the deep-seeded colonialism impacting mainstream sports in North America.

In episodes 5-8, Dr. Maddy Orr digs into the environmental and social issues affecting individual sports. In this episode, Dr. Becky Beal shares her research on skateboarding culture and infrastructure, and how the sport has been experienced differently depending on the neighborhood, available resources, and local culture.

In episodes 5-8, Dr. Maddy Orr digs into the environmental and social issues affecting individual sports. In this episode, Henri Rivers, the President of the National Brotherhood of Skiers, addresses the lack of diversity in the ski sector and proposes solutions for bringing more Black people into the sport.

In episodes 5-8, Dr. Maddy Orr digs into the environmental and social issues affecting individual sports. In this episode, Dr. Asherah Allen shares her personal experiences and research findings on Black swimmers' experiences, and the infrastructural and psychological barriers that prevent more Black people from taking up swimming.

In episodes 5-8, Dr. Maddy Orr digs into the environmental and social issues affecting individual sports, zeroing in on surfing in this episode with Rhonda Harper, founder of Black Girls Surf. 

In this episode of The Listening Sessions, Dr. Maddy Orr interviews Alexandra Rickham about what's missing in the sport sustainability movement: diverse voices, comprehensive strategy, and long-term positive thinking.

In this third episode of Season 3, The Listening Sessions, Dr. Maddy Orr interviews Garry Gilliam, former NFL player and CEO of The Bridge, about the challenges facing low-income Black communities and how The Bridge is holistically addressing wellbeing and fostering prosperity in these communities.

In this second episode of Season 3, The Listening Sessions, Dr. Maddy Orr interviews Dr. Nick Watanabe of the University of South Carolina on air quality, pollution, and the many ways sport organizations may inadvertently be contributing to these problems.

In this first episode of Season 3, The Listening Sessions, Dr. Maddy Orr interviews Dr. Mustafa Santiago Ali on what environmental justice is, how it applies to sport, and what sport organizations should be addressing this issue.

In the last episode of Season 2, Hattie Park, Sustainability Manager at the All-England Lawn Tennis Club joins Maddy to discuss sustainable strategy, the importance of biodiversity and natural features to the overall experience at Wimbledon, the role of sports media in aiding sustainability efforts in the sport sector, and how the sport industry can move forward after COVID in collaborative and su...

In this second-last episode of Season 2, Maddy is joined by Jessica Murfree and Laura Stargel, two members of the 2019-2020 cohort for the Grad Student Mentorship Initiative, hosted by The Sport Ecology Group. Laura is based in Florida and is studying two master's degrees at University of South Florida and German Sport University Cologne. Jessica is a PhD Candidate and instructor of sport administ...

Dr. Walker Ross, an assistant professor of sport management at Florida Southern College, and Jamee Pelcher, a doctoral student at University of Tennessee at Knoxville, join the podcast to share their unique stories of what inspired them to study sport ecology, and update us on their current research.

Joie 'Jo' Leigh was a member of the Great Britain field hockey team that won the Olympic gold medal in Rio in 2016. Following her retirement from the sport, Jo entered a career in climate consultancy. She currently serves as an Analyst for Carbon Intelligence, a London-based firm, and is a member of the Commonwealth Youth Sport for Development and Peace Network.