ETH 217: Biodiversity and Climate Change: 1 Coin 2 Sides

December 30, 2020

Working with a Jacaranda School student on a community science bioblitz project while conducting local environmental leadership research in Malawi (Photo courtesy Steven Calcote)

Rosalind Helfand was enamored with the wild hills of Simi Valley as a child. Their continuous destruction by human expansion ignited a quest for justice that has embedded Roz on the frontlines fighting for environmental and social issues her entire life. Recognition that human rights and the plights facing our natural ecosystems are intertwined has strengthened her resolve.

Roz works as a consultant helping develop progressive policies for non-profit and governmental entities. A recent focus has been on the upcoming 2021 Convention on Biological Diversity where her efforts and those of many others have helped establish the state of California as an official observer of the convention.

Roz spoke with Wild Lens member Jason Milligan about her history with progressive policy, the challenges facing the Convention on Biological Diversity, and how issues facing biodiversity are intricately linked with climate change.