Hello Earthlings, we’re back with a new episode of the What If We Get It Right? podcast. This is the first episode of Season 4, which will be a short season — maybe 6 episodes? Not sure! We’ll see how it goes.
This conversation, with Dr. Heidi Roop, was recorded at The Great Northern festival’s Climate Solutions Series in Minneapolis on January 31st. It was such a great lineup.
Dr. Roop is an expert in climate science and adaptation. She is the Director of the University of Minnesota’s Climate Adaptation Partnership. Before that, in 2024 and 2025, she served in the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. That means she started during the Biden Administration and stayed through June 2025 into the Trump Administration — she was the last climate person working in that White House, trying to finish up some reports and get them out the door. She was Acting Executive Director of the U.S. Global Change Research Program, and served as Assistant Director of Climate Services, coordinating research and services across over fourteen federal agencies, and advising the White House on how to effectively manage climate risks.
She is also an author who wrote a wonderful book, with incredible infographics, called The Climate Action Handbook: A Visual Guide to 100 Climate Solutions for Everyone, which I highly recommend.
So... it’s a little odd that she was interviewing me and not the other way around! Yes, this is an unusual episode in that I am the one getting asked the questions. But it was such a wonderful event and conversation that I thought I’d share it to give you all a sense of where my head is at these days. These wild days.
Heidi framed this conversation as a triptych, mirroring the the dedication in my book: “For the love of nature, culture, and the future.” Which I so appreciated — very smart! (I also appreciated her Midwestern accent.) The portion on the future was grounded in ye olde Climate Action Venn Diagram, which you all are maybe, probably, familiar with by now:
I talk through this Venn concept in the episode, but if you prefer a video version, voila, my TED Talk about it: “How to Find Joy in Climate Action.”
Special thanks to The Great Northern and Bell Museum, for hosting this conversation. And a huge shoutout to the good humans of Minneapolis, continuing to hold it down and be truly excellent neighbors and citizens. And if you want to hear me sing a Prince song to you, that happens around minute nineteen... 🕺🏽
Notes:
This episode was produced by Remoy Phillip, and me, Ayana, with support from assistant producer Jenisha Shrestha, and audio provided by Great Northern.
This podcast is ad-free thanks to the support of Future Being, a grant making and special project studio, which supports the healing of our planet and the safeguarding of biological and cultural diversity
Alright Earthlings, that’s it for this week. We’ll be back in your feed soon. In the meantime, take a deep breath and enjoy the emergence of spring. 🌱
p.s. Here’s that Bruce Springsteen song I mentioned in the episode, if you haven’t heard it yet:
