Rhett Ayers Butler
Jane Goodall had some nice things to say about Mongabay’s work during a conversation with Climate One’s Greg Dalton and myself in San Francisco on September 16th. I tell everybody, if you really want to know the truth about a particular issue, go to Mongabay.” “We know we’re going through dark places on the planet […]
At last night’s Climate One event, nearly 1,700 attendees, including more than 600 students and educators, gathered to hear Jane Goodall deliver a heartfelt plea for the future of our planet. In a conversation moderated by Greg Dalton, Goodall’s words pierced through the often numbing barrage of crises that dominate our daily news. “Please vote,” […]
Last week I attended the Villars Symposium as a speaker. My talks: How Digital Engagement Enables Systems Change According to the Pew Research Center, 97% of teens in the United States use the internet daily but no data is available as to whether this helps them learn independently or informs their decision making about how […]
Earlier this week I joined a panel on climate journalism organized by Climatebase for their fellowship program. One of the questions I was asked was, “What kind of coverage or content do you think is missing in climate media?“ I mentioned the importance of telling stories that resonate with target audiences. Preaching to the choir […]
Earlier this month, I joined science fiction writer Kim Stanley Robinson for a conversation about conveying climate change and other environmental issues to the public. The virtual event took place at the University of California-San Diego’s Triton Leaders Conference 2024 and was emceed by Michael Bumbry. We discussed communicating environmental issues via news reporting and […]
On Monday night I gave a lecture at the prize ceremony for the BBVA Foundation’s 5th Biophilia Award for Environmental Communication (English) (program). The event was held in Madrid. I was asked to speak about “Reasons for hope in the face of the global environmental crisis” and provide a text of my remarks ahead of […]
In September I did several talks at the University of Texas at Austin thanks to the Texas Tropical Network. The Texas Tropical Network was inspired by the Bay Area Tropical Forest Network (BATFN), a group I co-founded in 2009 that held about 100 events around the Bay Area over a ten-year period. Texas Tropical Network […]
In October 2023 in an event at Holbrook Palmer Park in Atherton, CA, I spoke about conservation journalism in the world’s most biodiverse places. I talked about my journey of growing Mongabay from a personal passion project into a multinational nonprofit media organization that covers critical issues affecting wildlife, wild places, and communities globally. I […]