Most of China’s youth are being raised in urban jungles, with little chance to experience and understand the earth’s tremendous ecosystems. But one intrepid environmentalist from Shandong wanted to see Antarctica so badly she started a crowdfunding campaign to support her expedition — and has been finding ways to teach the next generation about everything from penguins to polar melting ever since.

In this episode, we sit down with Songqiao Yao, an environmental explorer and serial entrepreneur. Songqiao is the founder of WildBound, "a nature-inspired school situated in classroom earth and taught by teacher ecosystems.” Songqiao shares her own story of growing up yearning to explore the world’s environments, and how she is currently leveraging her background in environmental policy, geography and business strategy to instill that same drive for environmental protection in China’s youth. You can follow WildBound on WeChat @野声WildBound.

Note: WildBound is hiring for various positions! If you are interested and have relevant experience in environmental education, conservation, science, sustainable consulting and/or communication, get in touch! They are a growing team with presence all over the world, so you don’t even have to be based in China. Write to Songqiao or send your CV directly to [email protected].