Stephanie Elzondo Griest, professor of Creative Nonfiction UNC Chapel Hill, author six books has traveled to 50 countries & 49 states collecting material for her stories. On Women Mind the Water Artivist Series podcast she talks about her stories, women interviewees, and the connection between water and people, about the Mohawk Akwesasne on the St. Lawrence and Mexicans on the Rio Grande River.

Shelby Thomas, founder of Ocean Rescue Alliance International, works to restore marine ecosystems with innovative, reef restoration projects. Shelby is a marine scientist, a passionate ocean conservationist, and an advocate for artists. Shelby’s non-profit constructs artificial reefs that are living sculptures. It’s 1000 Mermaids Project has installed more than 300 modules, some of them in the form of mermaids, in the waters off Southern Florida. These artificial reefs are ideal spots not only for coral restoration and marine life but also for research and tourism. Shelby is the latest guest on the Wo(men) Mind the Water Artivist Series on womenmindthewater.com.

Susan Baur is an author and clinical psychologist. She also is founder of Old Ladies Against Underwater Garbage. In the latter capacity she leads a group of women aged 64 and up to remove sunken garbage from ponds. Susan founded the organization because she wanted to help the turtles she had come to know from her time swimming in the ponds. the work the group does not only restores the ponds but also enhances the lives of the women who do the work.  In return for this physically demanding work the women are rewarded with camaraderie, self-satisfaction, and bakery treats.

Lily Niederhofer, competitive swimmer/octopus advocate, conceived open-water swim, to raise awareness /money, to stop world’s first industrial-sized octopus farm. The preteen speaks to students and lawmakers hoping to block commercial octopus operations. Wo(men) Mind the Water Artivist Podcast series speaks with the Lewis Pugh Foundation Environmental Sports Champion and Young Planet Leader.

Todd Medema is the latest guest on the Wo(men) Mind the Water Artivist Series podcast (https://womenmindthewater.com/featured-guest). This Technology, Entrepreneurship and Design graduate of Carnegie Mellon is set to debut his novel How to surf a hurricane. It's an ecothriller, a high sea heist of electric batteries. It's a story of amazing marine technology and family drama. It's a welcome escape from the worries of everyday life. 

Gabriel Forestieri and Meredith Sallee are the latest guests on Wo(men) Mind the Water Artivist Series podcast. Gabriel and Meredith are partners in life as well as projectLIMB, their dance company that explores the relationship between humans and water. Their dances are performed while freediving, meaning they move underwater relying on the air contained in their lungs. The couple discuss how they came to dance underwater and the work involved in creating these mesmerizing performances.

Krista Shoe, founder of Mother of Corals, is based in Panama. Her nonprofit organizations  is involved with coral restoration and education organization. Krista who originally worked in the corporate world set about learning whatever she could about corals, coral reefs, and how to save them. Now through Mother of Corals, Krista offers courses for others to learn and participate in coral restoration. All in the name of fighting the rise in ocean temperatures that harm coral. Hers is important work because coral reefs are areas of enormous ecological, economic, and cultural value 

Arielle Moody worked in the beauty industry for more than 15 years, before she started her own company. Mama Sol was a collaboration between three women who wanted to protect themselves, their children, and the planet from the harmful petrochemicals found in many commercially available sunscreens. Mama Sol’s tagline is: “For all mamas, Mother Earth included.” In addition to protecting the skin from the harmful rays of the sun, the sunscreens are also less harmful to coral reefs. Important because it has been estimated, that roughly one fifth of the world’s coral have died in the past three years.

She grew up playing sports and was always outside. She recognizes that she spent too much time in the sun. When Arielle was five months pregnant with her first son, she began researching sunscreen ingredients that she should avoid during pregnancy and nursing. The list was  long. Oxybenzone and octinoxate were at the top of the list. She started buying dozens of mineral sunscreens and couldn’t find one that she loved. She hired a chemist to create something she would want to use, feel safe using and look forward to using. 

On the podcast, Arielle talks about how she got into the cosmetics industry, the unspoken hazards in cosmetic products, and clean cosmetics. She also talks about the negative impacts of chemical sunscreens on coral reefs.