Riki Ott is a marine toxicologist and former Alaska commercial fisher-ma’am who shares her first-hand experience with the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill, the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill, oil-spill cleanup, including the use of toxic chemical dispersants and their health impacts on the public, and various regulatory programs, such as the Clean Water Act. Her work is featured in the documentary film The Cost of Silence.
See also: Conservation, Ocean Conservation, Pollution and Plastic
Daniel Dietrich is an award-winning wildlife photographer and cinematographer whose work supports ethics in wildlife photography and connects the next generation of young adults with the environment through the use of photography. His photographs, videos, and writings have been featured on TV, in numerous publications, and in film.
Mandi Billinge is an environmental educator, biologist, nonprofit executive, and former classroom teacher who has dedicated her work for more than thirty years to ensuring equal access to environmental education for all children. Mandi believes that everyone is an environmentalist. This is her organization’s motto and KIDS for the BAY programs connect children with nature, engage children in hands-on place-based environmental science learning, and empower children to take environmental action in their local watershed. Mandi’s work has provided these experiences for more than 94,000 students in the San Francisco Bay Area and beyond. Mandi has also developed programs that have provided professional development for more than 3,800 teachers, and helped them to create sustainable, watershed-friendly classrooms and integrate environmental education into their ongoing curricula.
Jackie Nuñez is advocacy program manager for Plastic Pollution Coalition and founder of the Last Plastic Straw. The Last Plastic Straw has been a project of Plastic Pollution Coalition since 2016. Jackie is a part-time kayak guide and full-time activist who teaches people of all ages how to speak truth to plastic and be an agent for change in their communities. She has advised on more than 20 local ordinances limiting single-use foodware, including plastic straws. Jackie is a frequent speaker at international conferences and in the press, and she was featured in the award-winning documentary Straws (2017). Jackie has a BS in Health and an AS in Horticulture, and she has a passion for travel, ocean sports, design, gardening, the environment, and community service.
See also: Ocean Conservation, Pollution and Plastic, Women and Environment