Stories from Conservation Changemakers

Morgan Foster participated in the externship program in 2022. Her project—engaging with local people to learn about the past, present and future of Virginia's Buckroe Beach—was inspired by her family's connection to the area. "Talking about Black history is important to me in the conservation space," she says. "Sometimes our stories aren't necessarily highlighted, and so I decided to tell this conservation story from a cultural standpoint." Today, Morgan works full-time with TNC, coordinating with the impact finance and markets team to support conservation finance, corporate engagement and carbon markets projects.

The Chocó region in western Colombia is rich with untouched rainforests, tropical islands and mangroves, but today, excessive amounts of marine plastic threaten both natural habitats and wildlife. Tomás Pinzon studied these issues throughout the course of his externship and, as part of his final project, presented solutions that included outreach and education.

Deborah Santos de Azevedo has a long-standing love for the ocean and the sharks that call it home. Participating in the externship allowed her to integrate storytelling into her data collection, as she explored some of the challenges that sharks–and anglers who fish for them–are facing in southern Florida. Her research began as a study in depredation, as Deborah aimed to discover which species of sharks were eating fishermen’s catches and why, but ultimately evolved her understanding of conservation to make space for both ecological and economic needs.

During the externship program, Joseph Hill pursued his studies of Atlantic sturgeon, a critically endangered species with fewer than 30,000 thought to exist in the wild. Joseph created a StoryMap to raise awareness about the sturgeon’s decline and highlight the need to protect this prehistoric fish in the future. In a story he wrote for Cool Green Science, Joseph gave readers a deeper look at the obstacles this iconic species is facing—and what they can do to make a difference.

For his externship, Juan Francisco Suescún dove into the challenges facing the native fisheries and anglers of Colombia’s Isla Fuerte. He used photography to understand the relationship between the community living on the island and the reef ecosystem that they economically depend on. Juan’s project was featured in an issue of Nature Conservancy Magazine.

Brendan Cohen traveled Australia’s Yarra River during his externship to investigate if Melbourne’s freshwater ecosystems, and the platypus that inhabit these waterways, can survive amidst the spread of urbanization. He learned how an increase in impervious surfaces is creating more flash flood events, which impact water quality and wash away the macroinvertebrates that are the platypus' primary food source. Brendan wrote a blog about his research for Cool Green Science.

With climate change impacting communities across the globe in different ways, Edoardo Marras used the externship to research how it’s causing droughts that impact Italian agricultural lands, as well the production of Italian food that is a UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage element. He explored how different farming techniques, such as drip irrigation, could make a difference in the future.

Alexis Campbell delved into the critical issues of water conservation and justice during her externship. She examined the multifaceted relationship between the communities of Metro Atlanta and the Chattahoochee River, emphasizing the disparate impacts of water issues on marginalized populations. Her final project mapped the challenges of pollution, water scarcity and inequitable access to clean water, while calling for solutions that address the root causes of these disparities.

Nghia Lam harnessed his passion for problem-solving to address environmental issues facing the Mekong River in Vietnam, where he grew up. His research outlines the severe impacts of urban and agricultural pollution on Vietnam's critical water resources and proposes robust solutions such as enhancing water treatment facilities, adopting sustainable practices and implementing integrated water management strategies.

Pubarun Basu paired his love of photography with the research he conducted during his externship to explore the bond of spirituality that connects the River Ganga to her inhabitants. He ventured out to remote terrains to document the vivid tribal cultures of India and explore the myriad challenges the river faces, including climate change, urbanization and degraded water quality.

Extern alumni have published their research on The Nature Conservancy’s Cool Green Science blog. Since 2013, Cool Green Science has covered the best of conservation science: innovative solutions to the most pressing conservation problems, field reporting on the latest research, adventures from biologists, opinion and commentary, and plenty of bizarre and cool creatures.

Explore Cool Green Science Blogs

Dive deeper into the story of how the externship program began in “Growth Potential,” an article from Nature Conservancy Magazine. Along the way you’ll meet three alumni who are already making a difference in their communities. Read the Magazine Article

As the externship concludes, participants can apply for seed funding to begin to enact the solutions they identified in their communities. Once selected, each extern receives $2,000 in seed funding to help them put their ideas to work on the ground—with incredible results.

Since the fall of 2021, externs have been using the seed funds to execute their vision on the ground, show proof of concept and leverage their real-world results for additional funding that will carry their work even further.

Learn About Seed Funding Projects