Livestream Available
2026 Rose-Walters Prize for Global Environmental Activism Recipient
Dr. Ayana Elizabeth Johnson is a marine biologist, policy expert, writer, and teacher working to help create the best possible climate future. She 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. Ayana 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 bestselling anthology All We Can Save, co-created and co-hosted the Spotify/Gimlet podcast How to Save a Planet, and co-authored the Blue New Deal, a roadmap for including the ocean in climate policy. As executive director of the 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.
Ayana earned a BA from Harvard University in environmental science and public policy, and a Ph.D. from Scripps Institution of Oceanography in marine biology. 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.
Public Event:
What if We Get it Right?
Fireside Chat with Dr. Ayana Elizabeth Johnson and Provost and Dean of the College, Renee Cramer
Tuesday, October 27, 7 - 8:15 p.m., Anita Tuvin Schlechter Auditorium
(This event will be available via livestream)
Free event open to the community
Join us as Dr. Ayana Elizabeth Johnson shares her insights that weave together essays and interviews from over 20 changemakers, including farmers, architects, policymakers, tech executives, and activists addressing the questionWhat if We Get it Right? Provost and Dean of the College, Renee Cramer will host a fireside chat asking the tough questions that combine hard data and science with culture, policy, art, and poetry to show how solutions intersect across society and with our work here at Dickinson College. The discussion will help us all figure out how we can personally contribute to climate solutions, no matter what our skill sets are. There is a place for everyone in advancing positive climate solutions. Discover yours.