Courses
- What are climate models missing about water?
The planet has a built-in cooling system—through the cycling of water—and it’s one of nature’s most powerful, yet most overlooked, climate regulators.
Join us and an impressive roster of experts and thinkers in an exploration of how water, not just carbon, holds the key to a livable future.
News and Insights
- Oceans: Legal Personhood For Whales
In a June 4 address at the One Ocean Science Congress, Princess Angelika Lātūfuipeka Tukuʻaho of the Kingdom of Tonga announced plans to grant legal personhood to whales. Personhood is a legal maneuver that recognizes non-human beings as rights-bearing entities under the law, giving governments stronger tools to protect their lives and habitats.
This proposed legislation is a continuation of efforts to maintain Tongan waters as a refuge for whales, often a keystone species in ocean ecosystems.
The announcement for expanded whale protections coincides with the United Nations Oceans Conference, which concluded on June 13th (more on this below). At the summit, UN members advanced Agreement on Marine Biological Diversity of Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ Agreement) significantly closer to ratification, expanding sustainable practices within international waters.
Events and Community
- Nice, France | 2025 UN Ocean Conference
Earlier this week, Bio4Climate board member Shannon Scrofano spoke at Ocean Literacy Practices: Knowing, Feeling, Acting for the Ocean, part of the UN Ocean Conference in Nice, France. Alongside representatives from Escuna Criativa e.u., Ocean Generation, The Marine Diaries, and Red Sea Global, Shannon’s panel explored how creative practices, from art and design to movement and storytelling, can foster deeper emotional and sensory connections with the sea.
Shannon’s interdisciplinary work in design, education, and communication centers place-based approaches to strengthen both social and ecological systems.
Way to go Shannon! - Virtual | 2025 Northeast Miniforest Summit
Meet our Northeast Miniforest Summit opening keynote speakers!
Hannah Lewis, Author of Mini-Forest Revolution
Keynote: The Miyawaki Method: Past, Present, Future
In this opening keynote address, Hannah will present what the Miyawaki Method is, who Akira Miyawaki was, how this practice became a global phenomenon, and mini-forests as a mechanism for embracing and understanding ecology.
Doug Tallamy, Professor of Entomology and Wildlife Ecology at the University of Delaware and co-founder of Homegrown National Park
Keynote: Miniforests as part of the Homegrown National Park
Doug will address the ecological potential of miniforests. Urban centers have never been seriously considered for conservation, yet adding productive native plants to our cities can help manage the watershed, support complex communities of pollinators, support local food webs, and sequester carbon. Evidence is mounting that mini forests can meet all of these essential ecological goals.
Spread virtually across two days and an in-person bus tour, the Northeast Minforest Summit brings together practitioners, researchers, and leaders from a range of disciplinary perspectives—including city officials, landscape architects, scientists, and community organizers—to explore the Miyawaki method from root to canopy.
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