Experts in the Film

JASON HALL-SPENCER

Professor of Marine Biology
University of Plymouth

Jason became one of the youngest Full Professors at Plymouth University in 2012 and is a scientific advisor to the United Nations, ICES and the UK Government. His current research spans seamount ecology, fisheries, ocean acidification, aquaculture and conservation. He is also working on Marine Protected Area design using satellite vessel monitoring for fisheries management with fieldwork sites at volcanic CO2 seeps in the Mediterranean, the Azores and Papua New Guinea.

VIMLENDU JHA

Chief Executive Officer
Green the Map

Executive Director
Swecha India

Vimlendu is an activist and social entrepreneur known for his innovative and unconventional approaches to contemporary environmental and social issues. In 2000 he founded Swechha a youth-run, youth-focused NGO operating from Delhi, India, whose work focuses on the environment and social development. As its leader, Vimlendu has been invited to speak and take part in numerous international and councils and assemblies. He currently serves on the Government appointed Ridge Management Board and also on the UNEP Multi Stakeholder Advisory Council on Sustainable Lifestyle and Education.

DAVID MONTGOMERY

Professor of Earth and Space Sciences
University of Washington

David Montgomery is a professor of Earth and Space Sciences at the University of Washington who looks at the processes shaping Earth’s surface and how they affect ecological systems—and human societies. He is the author of many books including the 2022 title, What Your Food Ate: How to Heal Our Land and Reclaim Our Health. He is an elected Fellow of the American Geophysical Union and has received many awards throughout his career, including a MacArthur Fellowship MacArthur Fellowship, one of the nation’s most prestigious awards for intellectual and artistic achievement as well as the Vega Medal.

DR. SAROJ PACHAURI

Distinguished Scholar
Population Council
India

Dr. Pachauri is a Distinguished Scholar at the Population Council. She previously worked for the Ford Foundation, where she developed the child survival and reproductive health programs. She has published extensively on policy and implementation issues related to family planning, maternal and child health, HIV/AIDS, reproductive health and has given presentations at conferences and workshops around the world. Dr. Pachauri is the author of Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights in India: Self-care for Universal Health Coverage.

STUART PIMM

Doris Duke Professor of Conservation Ecology
Duke University

Stuart Pimm is a world leader in the study of present-day extinctions and what can be done to prevent them. His research covers the reasons why species become extinct, how fast they do so, the global patterns of habitat loss and species extinction and, importantly, the management consequences of this research. Pimm received his BSc degree from Oxford University and his Ph.D. from New Mexico State University. Pimm is the author of over 350 scientific papers and five books. He is one of the most highly cited environmental scientists and the winner of the International Cosmos Prize, which recognized his founding and directing of the nonprofit Saving Nature.

WILLIAM N. RYERSON

President & Founder Population Media Center

Bill Ryerson is Founder and President of Population Media Center (PMC), an organization that strives to improve the health and wellbeing of people around the world through the use of entertainment-education strategies, and Chair and CEO of The Population Institute. He has a half-century of experience working in the field of reproductive health, including three decades of experience adapting the Sabido Methodology of Social Behavior Change Communication (SBCC) to various cultural settings worldwide. Bill has appeared on outlets like CNN, NPR, PBS, and the BBC and has been a featured speaker at conferences around the world on sustainable population, sexual and reproductive health, women and girls’ rights, and global sustainability.

TRAVIS N. RIEDER, PHD

Assistant Director for Education Initiatives, Director of the Master of Bioethics Program and Associate Research Professor at the Berman Institute of Bioethics
Johns Hopkins University

Travis Rieder’s work tends to fall into one of two, quite distinct research programs. The first concerns ethics and policy questions about sustainability and planetary limits. Much of this research has been on issues in climate change ethics and procreative ethics with a particular focus on the intersection of the two – that is, on the question of responsible procreation in the era of climate change. His publications have appeared in several journals on this topic, as well as in a short book with Springer, entitled Toward a Small Family Ethic (2016). Rieder is also a Faculty Affiliate at the Center for Public Health Advocacy within the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health.

WILLIAM (BILL) STOWE

Former CEO
Des Moines Water Works

Bill was the CEO of the Des Moines Water Works, a regional utility that protects public health and promotes economic development by ensuring a safe, affordable, high-quality water source for Iowa. Stowe was a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Grinnell College and received a Master of Engineering from the University of Wisconsin, a Master of Science in Industrial Relations from the University of Illinois, and a Juris Doctorate Degree from Loyola University Law School. Bill died on April 14, 2019.

DR. SHASHI THAROOR

Lok Sabha MP (third-term) representing the Thiruvananthapuram constituency and Chairman of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Information Technology
Indian Government

An author, politician, and former international civil servant, Dr. Shashi Tharoor straddles several worlds of experience. He previously served as Minister of State for Human Resource Development and Minister of State for External Affairs in the Government of India. During his nearly three-decade long prior career at the United Nations, Tharoor served as a peacekeeper, refugee worker, and administrator at the highest levels, serving as Under-Secretary General during Kofi Annan’s leadership of the organisation. Dr. Tharoor is also an award-winning author of works of both fiction as well as non-fiction.

ZOE WEIL

Co-Founder and President
Institute for Humane Education (IHE)

Zoe Weil is considered a pioneer in the comprehensive humane education movement that works to create a peaceful, healthy, and just world for all people, animals, and the environment through education. She is the author of seven books including The World Becomes What We Teach: Educating a Generation of Solutionaries (2016), and Nautilus Silver Medal winner, Most Good, Least Harm: A Simple Principle for a Better World and Meaningful Life (2009). Zoe received a Master’s in Theological Studies from Harvard Divinity School (1988) and a Master’s and Bachelor’s in English Literature from the University of Pennsylvania (1983).

BROWNIE WILSON

GIS and Support Services Manager in the Geohydrology Section
Kansas Geological Survey

Through his work first with the Kansas Water Office and more recently with the Kansas Geological Survey, Brownie Wilson has contributed immensely to our understanding of water resources in Kansas, including the Kansas High Plains Aquifer, the sole source of water for the western third of the state. He has been a pioneer in the use of GIS to map and understand this critical natural resource. Wilson received his Bachelor of Science in 1991 and his Master of Arts in 1993, both in geography, from Kansas State University.