Ecologist Nalini Nadkarni has been studying forest canopies for 40 years.
Wearing a harness and helmet, ecologist Nalini Nadkarni climbed a towering Strangler fig tree in the Costa Rican rainforest and observed the many plants, animals and microorganisms that live in the upper canopy. She did the same in the temperate forests of Washington state. As a forest canopy researcher, this is her work for 40 years. She has published over 150 scientific papers and articles and was named a National Geographic Explorer at Large in 2023. But her efforts don't stop there.
She works far beyond the scientific community, creating science education programs for incarcerated people, programs for churches and synagogues, and working with Mattel to encourage girls to learn about nature. We have created a set of Explorer Barbie to inspire you. These efforts demonstrate Nadkarni's desire to reach beyond academia to ensure that trees are not overlooked. That said, despite their quiet and sedentary nature, people will recognize the many ways trees enrich our lives and life on Earth.
It is in this same spirit of creating connections that Nadkarni became a senior fellow at the Sorenson Impact Institute. She said she believes there are many commonalities and potential for complementary efforts between ecology and social impact investing. As the Institute's newest research fellow, she brings ecology, conservation biology, and environmental expertise, experience, and connections to the Institute, creating new pathways to connect environmental action and programs with the power and mission of impact investing. It turns out. Check out the interview below to learn more about Nadkarni's career and her vision for her work at the Sorenson Impact Institute.
From academia to exploration to public service, you've dedicated your life to studying and raising awareness of trees. Can you tell us more about your career trajectory?
As a child, I loved climbing trees and forests, which led me to seek a career that would help me understand and protect them. As an undergraduate at Brown University, I majored in biology and went on to pursue a Ph.D. in forest ecology from the University of Washington. In my first academic position at the University of California, Santa Barbara, I pursued research on biotic interactions in the rainforest canopy, which at the time was still a new and underdeveloped field of research.
With support from the National Science Foundation, I have been studying forest canopies in the field in Costa Rica and Washington State for 40 years. I hold an academic position at Selby Gardens in Florida and an environmental studies position at Evergreen State University in Washington, which was founded on the values of interdisciplinary learning and teaching. In 2011, I was hired as a faculty member in the Biology Department at the University of Utah.
A consistent thread throughout my career has been, first, to pursue and share scientific discoveries about forest ecosystems, and second, to share those insights with the general public, especially in traditional places. and to share with groups who may or may not have access to science education. people who are incarcerated; Therefore, my career trajectory has been to interweave hard science and public engagement in a synergistic way across academic and social fields. This led me to develop an approach I call “Tapestry Thinking.” It is applicable to many fields and provides innovative, optimistic, scalable and inspirational solutions to challenges across societal sectors.
You have worked to communicate science to youth, faith-based groups, and incarcerated populations through a variety of programs. Can you tell us more about these programs and why it is important to provide this information to a wide range of stakeholders?
When scientists share their research findings with others and seek further knowledge, their primary audience is other scientists, with whom they communicate through journals and conferences. But I (and others!) believe that scientists also have a responsibility to share understanding with non-scientists. This is because public institutions provide large amounts of funding for basic research through taxes, a scientifically informed public makes sound decisions, and the public receives valuable information through a variety of learning methods. We can provide it. However, when scientists expend effort to engage with the public, most of the effort is directed toward scientifically informed public groups, such as those provided in science education settings (museums, zoos, natural history journals, etc.). and not everyone has access to it due to financial or physical reasons. , cultural and social barriers.
To “beyond the choir”, I have started a program to involve public groups who cannot or do not have access to activities in these venues and formats. I drew on the values and belief systems held by other groups and held engagement events in the places where they live, work, recreate, and worship. For example, to engage faith-based groups about the importance of trees and forests, I cite references to trees in the sacred texts of world religions and preach on “Trees and Spirituality” in churches and synagogues. I did it. Ecologist. Barbie is a hero to many young girls, so I worked with Mattel to create a Barbie Explorer set that serves as a role model for girls who want to learn about nature. Incarcerated people and those who work in prisons have little access to science education and are exposed to extreme natural deprivation environments. I created a program in which academic scientists delivered lectures to inmates in prisons, jails, and juvenile detention centers, resulting in outcomes such as increased content of scientific knowledge and changes in their self-identity as science learners. By engaging prisoners in hands-on work raising endangered plants and animals and then releasing them into protected areas, the conservationists we work with help them develop skills and a sense of contribution to protecting the planet. It can be attached to.
These programs help scientists understand positive environmental and social behavior if they approach public groups with intellectual humility, are sensitive to their values, and create opportunities for engagement in their own settings. We have demonstrated that we can incorporate new partners to facilitate.
SII: You played a key role in creating Barbie the Explorer. Why did you want to see this happen and how can something like Barbie help raise awareness of forests?
My own deep fascination with trees and desire to protect them began when I was climbing trees in my parents' front yard as a child. Those early experiences and feelings led to my lifelong career of understanding and caring for them. However, little girls growing up in urban environments like New York City or Tokyo may not have the opportunity to climb trees. So we wanted to connect women exploring nature with something universally appealing to little girls: Barbie dolls. —I might encourage them to admire and admire women who engage in adventurous field research. Looking at the tremendous response to Barbie the Explorer, we can see that this is a success. I believe that embodying iconic toys as explorers is one approach to inspiring and informing the next generation about how to contribute to the environment and society. I received hundreds of messages from scholars.
What do you want everyone to know about trees and forests?
Because trees are quiet and sedentary, people tend to overlook the many values they provide, including ecological, economic, aesthetic, historical, and spiritual. Everyone needs to be aware of the many ways trees enrich our lives and life on Earth.
An ecologist as a senior fellow at the Impact Investing Institute may seem strange to some. What attracted you to Impact and the Institute?
As an academic who has been immersed in science for my career, it's a little strange to find myself walking down the hallways of a college of business. However, from the discussions I have had with leaders at the Sorenson Impact Institute and the material I am reading about social and environmental impact investing, I see many similarities between ecological and social impact investing. It is becoming clear that there is potential for complementary efforts. I first worked as a collaborator with Institute leaders several years ago to help develop a healthy organizational structure for the science communication training program that I lead. Their intellectual rigor, clear desire to move our program toward social good, and their ability to make the program financially sustainable were evident.
In 2023, I was named a National Geographic Explorer at Large, which provides access to new resources. The institute provides an alternative to the short-term nature of many philanthropic sources and the narrow scientific focus of research funding bodies, and creates a gateway to new ways to create and sustain programs that impact the environment. I thought it might be possible. What appealed to me most was the possibility of working with people who think, communicate and collaborate in innovative, exciting and inventive ways.
What and how do you hope to accomplish as a senior fellow at the Sorenson Impact Institute? What is your vision?
I bring my expertise, experience, and connections in the fields of ecology, conservation biology, and the environment to the Institute, and together we work on processes that provide a pathway to connect ecological activities and programs to power and energy. I would like to be able to do that. The mission of social impact investing. We also hope to connect National Geographic Society resources and assets with the institute to help guide the next generation of University of Utah students and National Geographic explorers to explore, illuminate, and improve the world. Finally, I look forward to developing a “tapestry thinking” approach to projects and programs that may be useful to social and environmental impact investors in the future.
