Host John Whidden welcomes 13-year-old Indian environmentalist Prasiddhi, founder of Prasiddhi Forest Foundation, who has planted 200,000 trees toward a goal of 10 million and built a global following to spread hopeful, action-focused climate messaging. She describes starting after the 2016 Varadhah Cyclone in Tamil Nadu, learning fundraising, creating a seed-collecting “kids army,” and growing a nursery capable of 30,000 saplings. Prasiddhi discusses attending UN COP conferences (including COP29), her UN-accredited NGO’s work helping youth attend, and her two illustrated books—"Prasiddhi’s Amazon Rainforest Adventure" and "Prasiddhi’s Great Barrier Reef Adventure"—which each fund one planted tree per purchase. She argues for balancing reality, hope, and responsibility, redefining success beyond GDP, and showcases her green career-matching tool, greenbuzzai.com.

00:00 Welcome and QuickFix

01:05 Meet Prasiddhi and Mission

02:00 Passion School and Balance

03:07 Family Support and Social

04:31 Early Planting Journey

07:16 Cyclone Spark and 100K

09:39 COP Connections and Youth

11:01 Books That Plant Trees

14:17 Hope Reality Responsibility

16:50 Redefining Success and AI

19:54 Seeing Through Child Eyes

22:29 Countries Doing It Right

25:12 Future Purpose and Values

26:56 Climate Action Believe You

28:30 Hopeful Inspirations Closing

https://prasiddhiforest.org/

https://www.amazon.ca/s?k=prasiddhi&crid=668OLOP0VJDH&sprefix=prasiddhi%2Caps%2C138&ref=nb_sb_noss

https://greenbuzzai.com/

https://thegreenpillar.com/books/

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Host John Whidden introduces a QuickFix from Janice in Calgary encouraging “no mow May” to protect invertebrates, then interviews Sophia, a third-year environmental engineering student focused on drinking water and microplastics. Sophia recommends boiling or filtering water and explains concerns about bottled water, including plastic-related endocrine disruptors and potential bacterial biofilms. She describes her microplastics research on how particle shape affects settling and treatment, noting flat plastics may slip through systems. Sophia also shares her youth transit advocacy, inspired by childhood mobility barriers, which helped make transit free for youth under 13 in Regina and expanded nationally. She discusses involving youth through leadership opportunities and funding strategies, reflects on awards and positivity in climate work, shares her own low-car lifestyle, and outlines steps for better, safer, more frequent transit systems.

00:00 Welcome to the Show

00:27 QuickFix No Mow May

01:25 Meet Sophia

02:03 Drinking Water Tips

03:49 Microplastics Explained

05:55 Reducing Plastic Pollution

07:27 Youth Transit Advocacy

10:41 Scaling Youth Climate Action

13:17 Awards and TEDx Impact

14:47 Staying Hopeful

15:46 Car Free Climate Action

16:10 Building Better Transit

19:01 Hope and Farewellhttps://video.igem.org/w/8QuTT9pE784FakJrccZLYB

https://chem-eng.utoronto.ca/news/igem-toronto-engineering-biology-for-global-impact/

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=UPUWBpSS7po

https://www.fesplanet.org/

https://www.poparide.com/en-ca/

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In the 77th episode of Climate Action Figures, host John Whidden welcomes Alice, a Switzerland-based veterinarian who no longer practices clinically and instead works toward One Health through policy and research. Alice explains that veterinary careers extend beyond treating animals into areas like food safety, prevention, research, and education, and describes moving from clinical work in Italy to policy work in Brussels via a veterinary trade association, then to research in Switzerland to build expertise for future policymaking. She outlines One Health as the interdependence of human, animal, and environmental health, citing food systems and climate-driven shifts in vector-borne diseases as examples, and argues that healthy humans depend on healthy environments and animals. Alice compares sustainability in Italy, Belgium, and Switzerland, shares her climate action of saving surplus perishable food through local initiatives, and says hope comes from connecting with committed advocates like Harshita.

00:00 Welcome to Episode 77

00:32 QuickFix Mailbox Hack

00:55 Meet Alice in Switzerland

03:22 Vet Without Patients

04:29 Finding One Health

07:41 Breaking Into Policy

09:38 One Health in Action

12:49 Moving for Sustainability

15:36 Harshita and Youth Advocacy

17:15 Food Saving Climate Action

19:23 Hope and Closing

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