Rachel Sarah's new book Climate Champions explores 15 contemporary climate champions are on the frontlines of science to create a sustainable future on Earth.

They are climate scientists, journalists, professors, academics, researchers, and policy makers from around the world who draft policies with real-world impact, run science labs to find new answers to old problems, and lead organizations at the forefront of change. These women do not shy away from showing how racial and social injustices lie at the root of so many climate-related issues.

Their stories are accessible and energetic, with spotlights on the triumphs and struggles of women who are working to protect the planet.

As young readers learn how these champions are rising up around the world, they will learn how to be part of the solution.

Rachel Sarah is a journalist and the author of Girl Warriors. Her writing has appeared in the Washington Post, New York Times, Yahoo, POPSUGAR, and more. Rachel was a 2022 Kiplinger Fellow, one of twenty-two journalists from around the world selected for the Public Affairs Journalism’s inaugural class in climate change reporting. She lives in the San Francisco Bay Area on Ohlone land. Visit her online at RachelSarah.com.

Nikki Roach [featured in Climate Champions] (PhD), is a conservation scientist, yoga teacher, dancer, and writer. She received her doctorate from the Applied Biodiversity Science Program at Texas A&M in 2020. An Oakland local, Nikki was born and raised in the Bay Area's liberal hub and incredible ecosystems. Drawn to the water, she began her career in conservation working in the South Bay Salt Ponds studying waterbirds. Since then, she has traversed rural and biodiverse places across the America's working with birds, small mammals, and amphibians, to untangle the anthropogenic impacts on vulnerable species. Nikki has lived across the US, in the marshes of the lowcountry in South Carolina, to the cloud forests of Colombia, South America. From 2017 - 2020, Nikki lived in Colombia, where she conducted her PhD work on the vulnerability of threatened amphibians to climate and land use change. She also worked with coffee farmers on sustainability projects. After almost a decade away, Nikki returned to her beloved Bay Area to work as the Policy and Communications Coordinator for the San Francisco Bay Joint Venture - part of the USFWS Migratory Bird Joint Venture Program - which spans North America.    

Nikki is a connector and believes trusting relationships are the foundation for impactful conservation projects. She s a member of three International Union for Conservation of Nature, Species Survival Commission, Specialist Groups (Climate Change, Amphibians, and Small Mammals); an Associate Scientist for the International NGO Re:wild; and a member of the Generative Council at the Center for Nature and Leadership.    

She currently lives in Berkeley with her new pup Rocco, is working on a book about her PhD work in Colombia, and is enjoying getting to know her hometown again. http://www.nikkixnature.com/

Molly Kawahata [featured in Climate Champions] is the Founder of Systemic Impact Strategies, a strategy and communications consultancy, and a former Climate Advisor to the Obama White House. She is the subject of Patagonia’s film, The Scale of Hope, which shares her story, her work to reframe the climate narrative, her passion for alpine climbing, and her journey living with Bipolar 2 Disorder. She regularly does podcasts, keynotes, and talks to corporate audiences and organizations to discuss mental health, climate change, and other topics. She is an Advisory Board Member to the Environmental Voter Project, a Member in Residence with See Change, and an Advisory Council Member to the AAPI Victory Fund. Outside of work, Molly loves ice climbing and can usually be found at her local crag or in the mountains.

https://mollykawahata.com/

Rachel Sarah photo courtesy of Nan Phelps; Nikki Roach photo courtesy of publicist; Molly Kawahata photo courtesy of publicist