How We Got Here

After MUCH delay due to some pretty big life things (ahem, welcome to the world baby August) we are back to wrap up Season 2 with a fun lil’ chat about what life is like as an Assistant Professor. Assistant to the Professor (Michael Scott?) …I mean sometimes, tbh. Follow along as we talk about many added job functions as you go from postdoc to professor, and listen for the stress in our voices. It...

This week on the podcast Steph and Rachel talk about how similar the events in their lives have been over the past two weeks, and catch up with a friend of the pod(cast hosts), Jeff Kerby. Jeff is an award-winning natural history photographer with a passion for science. He currently works as a postdoc in ecology and geography, which is the coolest, but we are here to talk to him about his photogra...

Cate isn’t big into social media BUT she’s got a Russian Blue cat named Gorby that the world needs to know about. Check out all the good work Groundwork USA is doing here (and maybe even… I dunno… DONATE!), discover how redlining has affected your neighbor here , and get some frustration out with depave.org !

This week on How We Got Here, Steph and Rachel talk to the incomparable Ben Cosgrove. Ben is a composer-performer whose music explores themes of landscape, place, and environment. Ben has performed in every U.S. state except for Delaware (some day!), collaborated with groups ranging from rock bands to research scientists, and held residencies and fellowships with institutions including the Nationa...

On this episode of How We Got Here, Steph and Rachel chat with THE Aja Barber—writer, stylist, consultant, activist—whose work deals with the intersection of sustainability, fashion, colonialism, the textile industry, feminism, and all the ways the not-great systems we live with affect our buying habits. WHEW! Aja tells us all about how problematic the fashion industry is, how she found herself wi...

Scientist turned policy maker… ahh, yes, we can all dream! This week we talk to the many-a-hat-wearing Dr. Cassaundra Rose, who works for the state of Maine in the Governor’s Office of Policy Innovation and… the Future. So cool. Cassy is the Senior Science Analyst and Climate Council Coordinator (CCC for those in the know), where she uses her science background to form policy and organize a huge g...

How ‘bout them apples! This week, we sit down with farmHER (yes, so sorry) Hannah Blackmer of Field Stone Farm in lovely Vermont. We talk about favorite vegetables , favorite flowers , oh, and how Hannah became a climate-friendly farmer who utilizes regenerative, no-till practices to generate healthy soil. Her journey involves driving all over the country interviewing people doing sustainable thin...

On this episode of How We Got Here, Steph and Rachel catch each other up on their respective new lives that feel like vacations, but aren’t, so that’s a whole thing. Then, they talk to Sarah Jaquette Ray, professor of environmental studies at Humboldt State University, on her journey into the environmental humanities, and her book, “A Field Guide to Climate Anxiety: How to Keep Cool on a Warming P...

Hoo boy what a treat! This week we talk with Hila Perry - a.k.a. Hila the Killa, eco-rapper extraordinaire. Oh, you didn’t know that was a viable profession? Well now ya do! Hila Perry is a rapper, comedian, educator, producer, and… an avid and skilled jungle gymmer! She does it all. Find this #climateclown running around New York City dressed as Earth spreading climate change and sustainability a...

Welcome to Season 2 of the climate change careers podcast, How We Got Here! We are so pleased to kick it off with the incredible Risalat Khan, who—get this—is a campaigner. No, he doesn’t work on political campaigns, but on campaigns to convince the world that we can and should live in a more just environment. And YES he does get paid!!! Join us as we take a winding path (how did we get here, am I...

Steph and Rachel have been busy this summer. But not too busy to start recording new episodes. Hear them check in, catch up, and look forward to the new podcast season. Outro: Wet Ass Planet - Hila the Killa

Hear ye, hear ye! We know everything about the academic job search! Psych. On this episode of How We Got Here, we talk about the perils, pitfalls, page-length-of-cover letters, and all of the mysterious wonders that comprise the job search for a professorship. Rachel talks about her failures and successes in the most recent #jobseason, while Steph provides crucial insight from the point of view of...

ALERT! YOU DO NOT NEED TO BE A POLICY MAJOR TO END UP IN POLICY. WE REPEAT. SCIENTISTS CAN PIVOT TO POLICY WORK. Dr. Catherine Pomposi is a trained climate scientist with a passion for engaging in public policy and program management. Catherine has extensive experience working on climate policy development, climate risk management, adaptation, and improving resiliency...and drinking Dunkin’ Donuts...

Dr. Vijay Limaye is a climate and health scientist at the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC, nbd). Vijay, who has a joint PhD in Environment & Resources AND Epidemiology, talks to Rachel and Steph about how the climate crisis (or should we be calling it the climate problem?!) IS actually a public health crisis. He chats about everything from his first job bagging groceries to his love of...

Jordan Rowell doesn’t have a business card, but he does have a delightful LinkedIn bio: Student of Life & University of Vermont | Builder of Trails & Community | Producer of Place-based Media & Belly Laughs. This episode, Steph and Rachel talk to Jordan about his latest foray into “place-based media," a documentary, “No Other Lake," following his journey paddling the entirety of Lake C...

Mary-Carson Stiff is the Director of Policy at Wetlands Watch, an environmental nonprofit working on issues like sea-level rise, wetlands preservation, and floodplain management. And she has a really cool (vertical) business card. On the podcast this week, Mary-Carson tells Rachel and Steph all about the importance of wetlands and the things she’s doing as policy director to help them out. Read: t...

This week on How We Got Here we talk to Dr. Marysa Laguë who is… wait for it… a James S. McDonnell Foundation Postdoctoral Fellow in Dynamic and Multi-scale Systems (WHEW!) at the University of Saskatchewan in Canmore, Alberta, Canada. Say that once. Just once. It’s a lot and it’s IMPRESSIVE. Marysa expertly explains what climate models are to those of us podcast hosts who should really know what...

After taking a wonderful and necessary little holiday break in podcast editing, Rachel and Steph are back at it again! In this episode, they talk to Sarah Vogelsong, the environment and energy reporter for the Virginia Mercury . Sarah shares with Rachel and Steph about her path into journalism, her beat (and what a beat is…), imposter syndrome, mentorship, and what it’s like to freelance. And, she...

Rachel and Steph are still beyond humbled that Craig Santos Perez, who has won an American Book Award, agreed to be on their podcast. They chat with Craig, an indigenous CHamoru, about moving from his home island of Guam to California as a teenager, quitting his first job at Little Caesars, landing a teaching job, and using writing to address and cope with climate change and climate anxiety. Rache...

Bitcoin might have a carbon footprint comparable to New Zealand , but can we do anything about it? And what even is a bitcoin, or a blockchain? Steph and Rachel force their very patient podcast guest, Doug Miller, to slowly and repeatedly explain all things cryptocurrency. Why? Because he is helping to spearhead the Crytpo Climate Accord to #MakeCryptoGreen. On this episode of the podcast, Doug ta...

On this episode of the podcast, we talk to Dr. Angelica Patterson, a.k.a., “The Shotgun Scientist.” Angie is the Master Science Educator at Black Rock Forest where she develops educational programming and leads excursions into the forest. She talks about her wild journey through college, internships, snack bars, fieldwork, academia, and more. Listen to her shed wisdom like an oak tree sheds acorns...

In this episode with our very first guest, we talk to Martín Witchger of the Sierra Club who works as a digital organizer and activist. He mobilizes communities to advance climate justice priorities. Every day, Martín uses his passion for helping others, which was instilled in him as a Martínager (see what Rachel did there), in combination with the writing skills that he gained while working at va...

Welcome to How We Got Here - the podcast that talks to people who have figured out how to use their talents to combat climate change, in the hopes that their journeys might inspire your own. In this first episode, co-hosts Steph and Rachel talk first jobs, accidentally learning about the earth, graduate school prom, and how Steph is actually using this podcast as a vehicle for getting out of acade...