Joselyn Takacs
Joselyn talks about her new novel Pearce Oyster. She discusses the story's setting in Louisiana during the 2010 Deep Water Horizon oil spill disaster, still the worst in history. She also talks about how she came to be in Louisiana in 2010, what sparked her interest in oyster farming, and how she went about writing her novel. She provides an overview of oysters and farming them. We also discuss how she went about writing her novel, from story idea to finding the best approach.
Wallace “J” Nichols
J has always been emotionally attached to water. He can go way back to his childhood where he remembers always being the first one in the water. He says life on land was fine, but it was complicated and being in the water made him feel at home. He grew up wanting to be a problem solver, someone who wanted to roll up his sleeves and get the work done. In college J went about assembling a problem solver toolkit. And what he learned is that the emotional piece, the human dimension,s so important. He gives examples and says we need to do a much better job working with young people, the people who we’re relying on to solve the problems the tools to stay emotionally, mentally, socially, spiritually strong, to help them succeed. J has found that nature has helped him be connected, to feel awe and wonder and joy and peace and freedom. J believes we need to provide opportunity for young leaders to get in the water, to give them space to restore themselves and be energized to come back and do the work
Oriana Poindexter
Artist Oriana Poindexter free dives off the California to collect seaweed and uses a mix of traditional and alternative photographic processes (photography and photograms) and printmaking to reflect their beauty. She finds inspiration in nature and believes that every person can find beauty by interacting with the natural world.
Manuela Zoninsein
Manuela Zoninsein began as a journalist in China. While there, she witnessed a shift from reusable to single-use water bottles. The Brazilian-American’s love for beaches in Rio de Janeiro and her studies at MIT-Sloan Executive MBA program, led her to start Kadeya, a company that aims to replace single-use plastic bottles with an innovative vending machine that reduces plastic consumption.
Angela Abshier
Angela grew up in Wyoming and originally went college to be study journalism but pivoted to law when she heard about Napster and the potential it had for dispossessing musical artists from their artistic property. Angela believes that when a system is broken and you have an idea of how to fix it or change it or make it better, it’s worth it to step in and make it happen. After she was introduced to sailing and she saw the massive super yachts with their huge sails, her creative mind took hold. She learned that some of the material is extraordinary and yet it had a limited life span. She wanted to make a positive difference with the decommissioned sails that otherwise ended up as landfill. Angela has invested her own human capital and worked with architects and others to find ways to use the sails for humanitarian purposes. One of the first projects for Sail to Shelter is installing sails in Maui to answer a number of different issues. Maui suffered a devastating fire in August 2023,
Merle Liivand
Merle Liivand is an aquapreneur, plastic pollution reduction advocate, Guinness World Record holder and mermaid. The Estonian-born swimmer holds several Guinness World Records her latest was achieved on April 15, 2023, in a little over 14 hours. Merle swam 50 kilometers using a monofin, a record setting swim for the longest distance swum using a monofin. It's a feat because she swam the distance without using her arms by undulating her lower body up and down mermaid-style.
Bonnie Monteleone
Bonnie Montelone is a researcher, environmental science-educator, film maker, artist, and co-founder of the Plastic Ocean Project, a non-profit seeking science-based solutions to the global plastic pollution crisis. Bonnie has collected marine plastic on a global scale. She is affiliated with the Environmental Studies Department at the University of North Carolina Wilmington where she works as an Adjunct Instructor of Plastic Marine Debris Field Studies. She also serves as an advisor for students conducting research on marine plastic. Additionally, Bonnie is an artist who uses the plastic she’s collects to create visual stories about her research.
Kara Dodge
Kara Dodge is a research scientist at the Anderson Cabot Center for Ocean Research, the research arm of the New England Aquarium in Boston. Her specialty is the ecology of marine animals, more specifically sea turtles. Kara uses cutting-edge technology like satellite tagging and drones to enrich our knowledge of sea turtles and the impacts of humans on them.
Hannah St. Luce-Martinez
Hannah St. Luce-Martinez, well-versed in Belize’s natural and cultural resources, is the latest guest on Women Mind the Water Artivist Series. She describes Belize, its natural resources, conservation and biodiversity, and the importance of promoting inclusivity and empowering youth and women.
Hoku Cody
Hoku Cody, a Native Hawaiian, seabird biologist, and life-long ocean lover, protector, and advocate advocates for community stewardship in actions, that revitalize traditional rights within Hawaiʻi’s natural and cultural resource management industries. Hoku works with the National Ocean Protection Coalition to create and support marine protected areas and have the Pacific Remote Islands designated a National Marine Sanctuary.
Vicki Nichols Goldstein
Vicki Nichols Goldstein is the latest guest on the Women Mind the Water Artivist Series podcast. Vicki is founder of the Inland Ocean Coalition. Her impressive credentials include a master’s degree in marine policy from Yale University and working with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to co-write documents for the designation of the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary. Vicki served as the Executive Director of the California-based Save Our Shores. When she moved to Colorado, she founded the Colorado Ocean Coalition and in 2017 Vicki rebranded it as the Inland Ocean Coalition. Inland Ocean Coalition empowers citizens wherever they live to be leaders and make positive contributions to ocean protection.
Rebecca Rutstein
Rebecca Rutstein, an accomplished artist who has received many awards and been involved in numerous public exhibitions, is the latest guest on Women Mind the Water Artivist Series Podcast (womenmindthewater.com/featured-guests). Rebecca’s career has taken her to remarkable places including the high seas and the ocean floor. In all, her artwork strives to build connections with nature, inspire wonder, and foster environmental stewardship.
Lisa Scali
Lisa Scali considers herself a foodie and a lover of the ocean. She is more than a co-owner of Ocean’s Balance and a chef, she is a proponent of eating more sustainably by consuming seaweed. Lisa who has lived in Paris and New York, two of the world’s best-known cities for foodies, now lives in Portland, Maine where she leads a culinary trend to encourage Americans to eat more seaweed, a plant that is farmed and harvested from the ocean.
Abigail Carroll
Latest guest on Women Mind the Water Artivist Series (womenmindthewater.com) is Abigail Carroll, once an oyster farmer, she now advises/invests in high-growth start-ups focused on solving sustainability issues. We talk about women’s involvement in oyster farming in Maine, what it takes to be a successful innovator and what we can individuals do to foster a sustainable planet.
Julia CR Gray
Julia C R Gray is the latest guest on the Women Mind the Water Artivist series podcast. The California-based artist has a connection to nature through her sculptures. Julia uses slip-casting and hand-building methods to mold female forms that represent the strength and vulnerability of women. A dichotomy that Julia believes women’s bodies share with the ocean. Julia’s love of nature, her walks on the beach at sunrise and contemplation of the perfect spiral of a seashell are evident in her sculptures.
Nicole Baker
Nicole Baker with her Net Your Problem company has created a system that offers a solution to the disposal of used fishing gear. Net Your Problem collects used ropes and nets from fishers in Alaska, Maine, Massachusetts, and California and passes it on to recyclers and artists. Since it began in 2017, Net Your Problem has recycled more than 1.2 Million pounds of fishing gear.
Dimitra Skandali
Dimitra Skandali grew up on Paros, a Greek island in the Aegean Sea. She says the island has shaped the way she sees the world. Dimitra combines traditional fiber arts like crochet, embroidery, and weaving with sea grasses and beach trash as a way to focus attention on the ocean and the environmental issues that impact its health and sustainability. While her work is rooted in her relationship with the Aegean Sea, Dimitra also has ties to the Pacific Ocean, having spent almost a decade in California. By using beach trash and natural materials she explores sustainability and other environmental issues like ocean pollution. Her installations, which have been curated in more than 90 solo and group exhibitions worldwide, allude to increasing environmental risks alongside human migrations and struggles with identity.
Lisa Kozel Mangione
Lisa Kozel Mangione is a mixed media artist who is the definition of artivist. Lisa raises money for nonprofits by either donating her paintings directly to organizations or selling her work and then donating the proceeds. Lisa is currently using her art in service of a rural community in Harford County, Maryland. The land known as Mitchell Farm is under consideration for development as a freight distribution district. The possibility of the land being transformed from rural to industrial has spurred Lisa to action. She is concerned about the harm the development will cause on an area that used to be wetland. She is concerned that further industrialization of the area adds to the impacts on local waterways and ultimately Chesapeake Bay, the largest estuary in the United States. She wants people to know that even an average person can make a difference.
Margaret Wertheim
Margaret Wertheim is an Australian-born science writer and artist who with her twin sister founded the Institute for Figuring. The Los-Angeles-based nonprofit explores the interrelationship of art, science, mathematics, and women’s handiwork. The Crochet Coral Reef is one of their projects and what we will focus our discussion on today. Margaret Wertheim holds degrees in mathematics and physics. Based on the mathematical discoveries of another mathematically-minded woman, Margaret and her twin sister Christine originated the Crochet Coral Reef project as a response to climate change. The Wertheims’ crocheted representations of coral has become a global collaboration with tens of thousands of people contributing their own pieces to citizen-generated art-installations.
Maanarak of Grey
Manaarak of Grey is a visual artist and storyteller who lives in the Netherlands. Maanarak grew up on the Caribbean Island of Bonaire. She believes the ocean and water are a vital part of life for humans and the ecosystem. Maanarak likes to use her platform to talk about current issues and offer solutions from the perspective of someone who has studied international development management. On the Women Mind the Water Artivist Series she shares her thoughts about the ocean, plastic pollution, collaboration and art.