Caroline welcomes the return of Eyak Native, and mega-effective advocate for Mother Ocean, Dune Lankard, with collaborative ally Bren Smith, executive director of Green Wave.
Dune Lankard, Founder, President & Executive Director of Native Conservancy
An Eyak Athabaskan Native of the Eagle Clan, Dune grew up in Cordova, in southcentral Alaska. Born into a fishing family, his life education as a subsistence and commercial fisherman began at age five. He later earned a living as a fishery and processing consultant and commercial fisherman in the Copper River Delta and Prince William Sound. The Exxon Valdez oil spill transformed him into a social change leader. He had founded/co-founded several key organizations, including the Eyak Preservation Council and the Native Conservancy (land trust). His tireless strategies won the preservation of more than 1 million acres of wild salmon habitat in the Exxon spill zone and wide recognition, including Time magazine’s Top 50 Heroes for the Planet; and fellowships with the Ashoka, Future of Fish and a Prime Movers Award. Dune is now venturing into kelp and mariculture farming in Prince William Sound for restoration and regenerative purposes and for building resiliency for our oceans and coastal communities.
Bren Smith, Co-Executive Director and Co-Founder of GreenWave
Bren Smith, GreenWave co-executive director and owner of Thimble Island Ocean Farm, pioneered the development of regenerative ocean farming. A lifelong commercial fisherman, he was named one of Rolling Stone magazine’s “25 People Shaping the Future” and featured in TIME magazine’s “Best Inventions of 2017”. Bren is the winner of the Buckminster Fuller Prize and has been profiled by 60 Minutes, CNN, The New Yorker, Wall Street Journal, National Geographic, and elsewhere. He is an Ashoka, Castanea, and Echoing Green Climate Fellow and James Beard Award-winning author of Eat Like a Fish: My Adventures Farming the Ocean to Fight Climate Change.