Ayana Elizabeth Johnson to Focus on Actionable Climate Solutions During Dickinson College Residency
Photo by Landon Speers
The Rose-Walters Prize Residency
Marine biologist, policy expert, writer and teacher Dr. Ayana Elizabeth Johnson will visit Dickinson College as the recipient of the Sam Rose ’58 and Julie Walters Prize for Global Environmental Activism.
The residency’s marquee event, “A Fireside Chat with Dr. Ayana Elizabeth Johnson Hosted by Provost and Dean of the College Renée Cramer,” will be held Tuesday, Oct. 27, at 7 p.m. in the Anita Tuvin Schlechter Auditorium. The talk is free, open to the public and will be livestreamed. Additional residency events include class visits, discussions and a phone-banking workshop.
“Dr. Johnson exemplifies the solutions-oriented approach to environmental stewardship we instill in our students,” said Dickinson President John E. Jones III '77, P'11. “Her work bridges science, policy and public engagement to inspire real climate action.”
Johnson is co-founder of Urban Ocean Lab, a think tank for the future of coastal cities, and is the Roux Distinguished Scholar at Bowdoin College. She authored The New York Times bestseller What If We Get it Right?: Visions of Climate Futures, work that is carried on with her newsletter and podcast of the same name.
Previously, she co-edited the climate anthology All We Can Save, co-founded the All We Can Save Project, and co-created and co-hosted the Spotify/Gimlet climate solutions podcast How to Save a Planet. She also co-authored the Blue New Deal, a policy roadmap for addressing climate challenges facing the ocean. As executive director of the nonprofit Waitt Institute, she co-founded the Blue Halo Initiative and led the Caribbean’s first successful island-wide ocean zoning effort. Early in her career, she developed U.S. federal ocean policy at the Environmental Protection Agency and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
Johnson earned a bachelor's degree in environmental science and public policy from Harvard University and a Ph.D. in marine biology from Scripps Institution of Oceanography. She serves on the board of directors for Patagonia and GreenWave and on the advisory board of Environmental Voter Project. Recent recognitions include the Schneider Award for Outstanding Climate Communication and the TIME Earth Award. Her writing has been published widely, including in the New York Times, WIRED and Rolling Stone. She is the proud daughter of a teacher/farmer and an architect/potter. Above all, Ayana is in love with climate solutions.
The $100,000 Rose-Walters Prize honors those advancing environmental action while creating educational opportunities for Dickinson students. Previous honorees include climate scientist Katharine Hayhoe, Indigenous activist Tara Houska and the Natural Resources Defense Council.
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Published October 26, 2026