Make Change Studio

Today’s guest is Rachael Miller who wears many hats. She is an Adventurer, a Researcher, Oceanographer and Anthropologist. Rachael Zoe Miller is an expedition scientist, inventor and National Geographic Explorer. She also happens to be a successful entrepreneur.

She is the co-founder of the Rozalia Project for a Clean Ocean and co-inventor of the Cora Ball, the world’s first microfibre-catching laundry ball. She is focused on protecting the ocean, specifically addressing the problem of marine debris through cleanup, prevention through education, embracing innovation and technology, and solutions-based research in urban and coastal waters from surface to seafloor. Over the last 10 years, Rozalia Project has removed more than a million pieces of trash from waterways and inspired over 45,000 people through direct programs. Miller has shared her team’s work at many known platforms including the International Marine Debris Conference, Underwater Intervention, Alaska Forum on the Environment, Microfiber Summit at the Parliament in London, and TEDx. She and her team have received multiple awards and recognition, including the VIPS Award for Best VideoRay PR Story for using ROVs - which basically are under water robots to find and remove marine debris. She has been named an Ocean Exemplar by World Ocean Observatory, and winner of the Most Innovative Idea in Microplastics from Think Beyond Plastic. Miller holds a USCG 50-ton master captain’s license and captains the 60-foot sailing research vessel, American Promise. Her academic background is in marine studies and underwater archaeology.

This episode is a part of the Make Change Studio Podcast Series. Today’s guest is Drummond Lawson, who is the Chief of Staff and the Director of Sustainability at Arc’teryx.

Drummond has a bachelors in Chemistry and Environmental Sciences from the University of Calgary. He has a masters in Environmental Chemistry and another masters in Business in Sustainability from University of Cambridge.

Drummond has worked with Cradle to Cradle, which is a product innovation institute that supports innovation for circular economy through products that have positive impacts on people and planet. Drummond has served for this organization as a research scientist.

Later Drummond has served in various leadership roles throughout his career. He has spent a good chunk of his time in San Francisco Bay Area where he has worked as a Director of Sustainability for a company called Method’s product, with a vision to make this world a cleaner, greener and more colourful place.

For the past 7 years, Drummond has been here in Vancouver where he works with Arc’teryx. Arc’teryz is a known company that produces technical and high performing outdoor clothing and equipment. He serves there as a Chief of Staff, where his role focuses on internal transformation and strategy implementation.