Jenny Dallan, a young environmental professional, works for Ontario Parks, coordinating school programs across the province. Don Carruthers Den Hode works at the University of British Columbia, where he leads the Canadian Parks Collective for Innovation and Leadership.

Jenny applied to a mentorship program offered by the organization Don runs. Though she wasn’t selected, they exchanged a few emails—Jenny was looking for feedback to improve her application. After a bit of back-and-forth, Don encouraged her to apply to the CoalitionWILD Global Mentorship Program, which if you don’t know is one of our programs here at WILD.org. She applied as a mentee. He applied as a mentor.

Jenny was initially paired with someone else, but when her original mentor backed out due to personal reasons, she ended up matched with Don! Clearly, these two were meant to teach each other some valuable working lessons.

And both of them agree that their experience with the mentorship program was transformative… It wasn’t a case of one person teaching while the other learned. It was about uplifting each other, in both directions. That’s what we call intergenerational work. And that’s what creates hope. And, if we're being honest, it feels like we could use more of that these days: hope AND different generations working together in a productive manner.

So, what really was Jenny and Don’s experience in the Global Mentorship Program? How did Don support Jenny through the challenges she faced? How did they find common ground? Why are these relationships critical right now and where are they now, months after the program ended?

Apply to CoalitionWILD's 2025 Global Mentorship Program: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScsOaJnAM3YerractksUmZh9-25TMoelp5IwNUSRSVBhjNg4Q/viewform

Before listening to the episode, please consider supporting our work at WILD.org, which allows us to dedicate time to creating these conversations for you.

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Everything began with a plan by U.S. fossil fuel companies in Texas to export natural gas to the vast markets of China.

But instead of building expensive infrastructure through the U.S., developers looked south, proposing an almost 500-mile/800-kilometer pipeline starting in Guadalupe, Chihuahua, cutting across the deserts of Chihuahua and Sonora, and ending at the northern edge of the Sea of Cortéz.

There, the plan includes building a massive liquefaction plant and an industrial port to handle 300-meter-long/almost 1,000 feet long methane tankers—carrying up to 15 million tons of liquefied natural gas every year to China, South Korea, Japan, and the broader Asian market.

Now, there are a lot of issues with all of this but today we’re going to be focusing on one that’s relevant to our work: the protection of irreplaceable biodiversity.

The gas-carrying tankers that would be traveling up and down the Sea of Cortez are blazing through one of the most fragile and biologically rich marine environments on the planet.

This sea, stretching 1,000 miles, is home to 39% of the world’s marine mammal species. It’s where whales mate, calve, and raise their young in the warm, calm waters. Dolphins, porpoises, and hundreds of fish species depend on this sanctuary—about 90% of which are found nowhere else on Earth.

So this brings us to today’s guest, Beatriz Padilla, wilderness advocate and painter. She has embarked on an extremely brave hunger strike to oppose the relentless passage of tankers through one of the planet’s most vital marine ecosystems. Beatriz is a longtime friend of ours at WILD.org, and we’re proud to stand with her in protecting wild lands. In this episode, we dive into her mission—and how she’s using her art and her body to defend the wild.

Before listening to the episode, please consider supporting our work at WILD.org, which allows us to dedicate time to creating these conversations for you.

How to support Beatriz:

• Financial support: Contribute to the campaign's expenses via GoFundMe:
  https://gofund.me/37f468ff

• Sign the petition: Add your voice to the Avaaz campaign:
  https://secure.avaaz.org/campaign/en/mexico_whales_and_tankers_1_3/

• Follow and share the Whales or Gas campaign: https://whalesorgas.org/

• Spread the word on social media using hashtags #WhalesOrGas #ProtectMexicoWhales

• Learn more about the project: https://beatrizpadilla.org/vocesdeloceanoenglish.html

• Follow the campaign on social media:

  Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/beatrizpadillaartistavisual/

  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/beatrizpadillaartistavisual/

  YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@BeatrizPadilla-j6b

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Picture this: a vast, untouched wilderness stretching across the horizon–a land so pristine it feels like it’s been frozen in time. It’s almost hard to put words to such a place, it’s truly like another planet. This wilderness, specifically in Utah, is home to some of the last wild lands in the lower 48 of the United States, with ecosystems that help regulate our planet’s climate but sadly, it’s under constant threat.

Mining companies, extractive industries, and high traffic tourism are moving in, trying to use the land for profit. These activities don’t just harm the land–they endanger fragile ecosystems that take centuries to heal. In Utah, where the wilderness is vast and breathtaking, the danger of these practices spreading is all too real. But there is hope.People like Chris Ricardo, today’s guest, a regional organizer for the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance, are working hard to protect these lands. These folks are on the front lines of very real battles to protect some of the most precious places - raising awareness, pushing for laws like the America’s Red Rock Wilderness Act, and getting support from people all over the country.

In this episode, Chris talks about why these wilderness areas are so valuable–they belong to all of us. He explains how ordinary people can make a real difference, and why protecting these places really matters. He also shares the important work being done by Indigenous groups, like the Bears Ears Inter-Tribal Coalition, who are fighting to protect sacred lands for future generations.

The threats are serious, but if we all work together, we can protect these wild places. Chris and others are leading the way–now it’s up to us to follow the path they’re blazing.

Before listening to the episode, please consider supporting our work at WILD.org, which allows us to dedicate time to creating these conversations for you.

Hosted by Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.