UNPOLLUTED

Join us for the final episode of Season 2 of UNPOLLUTED, featuring Christopher Koch, a history and geography teacher at an international school in central Switzerland. Before stepping into the classroom, Chris worked on a research vessel as an environmental scientist and even spent some time as an entrepreneur working on various sustainable ventures.

In this episode, Chris reflects on his diverse life experiences and highlights the impact student projects at his school have had on the wider community and beyond, referring back to some of the past guests on UNPOLLUTED.

Most importantly, Chris shares his passion for student engagement with entrepreneurial projects and emphasizes the importance of hands-on skills for today's generation, helping them not only learn but understand how to solve problems in the real world.

Tune in for this exciting episode as we chat with Alessandra Agnello, Investment Principal at ACE Ventures, a fund dedicated to leveraging venture capital to support climate technology companies. Alessandra shares her journey, explaining how her engineering background enhances her work and highlighting the transformative power of venture capital in driving global economic change.

She emphasizes the crucial relationship between her team and the founders they support, envisioning a future where creating value and improving the world are both achievable and synergistic.

Tune in to discover Alessandra's insights on the latest breakthroughs and the hottest topics in the climate tech space!

In today's episode, we sit down with Comfort Apeh Francis, a Nigerian changemaker and environmentalist. Comfort's journey is truly inspiring, spanning roles as a scientist in wastewater treatment and construction before shifting her focus to environmental advocacy.

Now, she is dedicated to decarbonization projects, climate education, and volunteer work with organizations like Scientists Rebellion and The Earth Prize. Join us to hear her fascinating story and learn about her success with her podcast, Climate Saturday!

Join us for today's episode as we welcome Jane and Kabiesi from the Kokrobite Chiltern Center (KCC) in Ghana, West Africa. They share their inspiring journey, from their initial experiences in a small coastal fishing community to founding the children’s center dedicated to improving educational access and promoting long-term social sustainability.

Discover how KCC's initiatives extend beyond education. Learn about the recently opened Sankofa Center, a literacy hub built from over 50,000 PET bottles. This innovative center aims to teach sustainable techniques like bottle building, aquaponic farming, and mushroom growing. With ambitions to become a training hub for West Africa, Sankofa is set to provide the tools, resources, and expertise needed to accelerate sustainable development.

Find out more about KCC: https://www.kokrobitechilterncentre.org/

In today's episode, we talk to Philip Roche, a mechanical engineer who tells us about AVA Cars. This unique organization is in the business of transforming gas burning vehicles into sleek, modern and sustainable electric ones. We also discuss The Earth Prize Defender, a car commissioned by The Earth Foundation Founder, Peter McGarry, to showcase all that the Prize and Foundation stand for. 

Finally, we hear how that small scale work that AVA Cars is doing is informing the mission of their much larger parent company CoolPlanet in supporting the electrification of vehicles in the mining industry, with a huge potential for impact. Tune in to find out more! 

Join us as we talk to Shehlina Soomro, a hedge fund manager turned entrepreneur and founder of Saritoria, an online marketplace for pre-owned South Asian luxury fashion. The company’s laudable goals include democratizing access to high quality clothing and empowering individuals to participate in the global circular economy. 

In our discussion, Shehlina walks us through the challenges and successes of starting her own venture, and reveals how she has built a company that contributes significantly to sustainability goals.

Tune in for today’s exciting episode, where we’ll be hearing the story of ClientEarth, a UK based charity harnessing the power of the law to create systems change. Camilla Fitzgerald, a Philanthropy Manager at ClientEarth, tells us about the work the organisation does and even shares some of her favorite high profile cases. Camilla highlights how ClientEart helps build capacity within local communities globally, informing them of their rights and empowering them to defend against violations. Most importantly, we learn why ClientEarth’s work is meaningful to YOU, the everyday citizen.

Finally, we ask Camilla a great question from a past guest: what’s one small thing you would change about society? Listen in to hear her answer!

In this week’s episode we chat with Natalie Schmitt, an Australian conservation biologist and founder of WildTechDNA, currently based at McMaster University in Canada. WildTechDNA, Natalie’s company, has developed a genetic test to help the scientific community learn more about and quantify rare and elusive animal species, facilitating citizen science around the world and hopefully providing valuable data to inform decisions around conservation.

Natalie tells us about her journey and the career that led her across the world and even recounts her experiences out in the field studying whales and snow leopards while working on her PhD!

Listen to our conversation with Safa’ Obeid, recognised as the 2022 Educator of the Year by The Earth Prize competition. Based in Jordan at a UN Relief and Works Agency school, Safa’ tells us about her experience as an educator working with some of the brilliant students from The Earth Prize competition who came up with ideas to improve global sustainability.

Safa’ also shares her advice for incorporating sustainability into all facets of education, and has compiled a ‘climate education toolkit’ for teachers around the globe!

In today’s episode we talk to Stephen Omukoko Okoth, the Kenyan Mentor of the Year from The Earth Prize 2023 competition. Stephen is a student of Economics, Business, and Politics at Oberlin College passionate about youth involvement in leadership as well as the sustainable use of our world’s limited resources. 

In our conversation, Stephen emphasizes the importance of bridging capital and ideas, especially on the African continent, where individuals have brilliant ideas, but at times lack the financial means to bring them to fruition. Stephen is convinced that while an ecological crisis may be glaring in our eyes, we still have a chance to avert the worst outcomes by inviting more people aboard in the efforts to attain sustainability and carbon neutrality.