The Rolex Awards were held last night in Los Angeles. I was the proverbial (art) fish out of water…..which alas is what so many of the marine biologists trying to save the planet say is happening all over the world as indigenous peoples who must rely on aquaculture for their living confront the equal but opposite imperative.
Donald Trump has made a climate denier the head of the EPA. This is troubling on so many levels—our compliance with Paris accords etc—but I wish he could have been in the audience last night as Rolex showcased individual scientific documentation about marine, plant and wildlife come a cropper. There is no disputing it, these researchers in the field are documenting first hand planetary destruction.
They are also tying in their efforts to build community based educational initiatives. In other words, they do not stop short of merely trying to reintroduce glaciers (Sonam Wangchuck) or save giant manta rays (Kerstin Forsberg) or help paralyzed people to walk again through robotics (Conor Walsh). They are extending their work to create schools, health care programs and alternative ways of public outreach so that their science is combined with hard, practical, local results.
Last year I attended the Rolex Arts Awards. It was also an extraordinary event. I was convinced by last night’s program that we need to mingle more with our fellow innovators in areas outside our own expertise in order to really make a global difference.
Take a look at the beautifully produced films on their website which tells these stories.
