I’m chatting online with prize-winning global change scientist and film-maker Phoebe Barnard in her borrowed home in Ireland, as the sun breaks through on her and her happy dog. 

We talk about Phoebe’s life as a climate scientist, about international negotiations and processes that bring countries together, about film making for positive stories. She describes having to leave beautiful Washington State in the US. “We work on change, after all," she says.” We talk about the need for new thinking, a new story. “We can choose” she says of taking agency and ownership. 

“Feminism is a public good mindset,” she also says. “We need to move towards more feminism and a world of greater ancient-culture influence.”

Phoebe’s book recommendation is Robin Wall Kimmerer’s Braiding Sweetgrass.

Her heroine and mentee: Abidemi Raji, Nigerian researcher at Cornell University. 

Her recommended action: recognise you are not alone. Join something with others, like a climate repair café and the climate majority project. 

The Climate Restorers films: https://www.theclimaterestorers.com/

The Climate Repair Café films: https://www.climaterepaircafe.com/  

My new book will be supporting this podcast, and will be published in March 2027. It is called "Bamboo and Butterfly: Transformative Stories for Climate and Nature Recovery."