EarthConnection
Voices That Challenge
Welcome to A Voice That Challenges 🌍
The climate crisis is a massive challenge, but it is being met by extraordinary human courage. This page is a space dedicated to the pioneers, visionaries, and everyday heroes who are using their voices to protect our beautiful planet. From groundbreaking scientists to legal champions and storytelling artists, these change-makers prove that every single action counts. Explore their stories, draw strength from their wisdom, and discover how you can add your own voice to the movement for a greener, safer world.
Eco-philosophy
🕯 1929–2025
Joanna Macy
Environmental activist, Buddhist scholar & author
Scholar of Buddhism, systems thinking, and deep ecology, Joanna Macy devoted her life to fostering a sustainable relationship between humanity and the Earth. Creator of “The Work That Reconnects” and the concept of “Active Hope,” she helped generations face environmental crises not with despair but with engaged, grounded action. Her landmark book Coming Back to Life remains a cornerstone of ecological spirituality.
Photography
🕯 1944–2025
Sebastião Salgado
Brazilian documentary photographer & humanitarian
A former economist turned documentary photographer, Salgado spent five decades bearing witness to human struggle and the natural world across more than 120 countries. His monumental project Genesis captured some of the planet’s last wild places; he and his wife Lélia replanted more than two million trees on their Brazilian farm through the Instituto Terra. His black-and-white images confront injustice with stunning compassion.
Conservation
🕯 1934–2025
Jane Goodall
British primatologist, ethologist & UN Messenger of Peace
Renowned for her groundbreaking 65-year study of wild chimpanzees at Gombe Stream in Tanzania, Jane Goodall transformed our understanding of animal consciousness and blurred the boundary between human and non-human life. In her later decades she became one of the world’s most urgent voices for conservation, founding the Roots & Shoots youth program and traveling the globe to inspire action rooted in hope.
Eco-spirituality
🕯 1932–2016
Sister Paula González, S.C., Ph.D.
Sister of Charity of Cincinnati, biologist & founder of EarthConnection
A Sister of Charity of Cincinnati since 1954 and a biology professor for 21 years at the College of Mount St. Joseph, Sister Paula became a tireless advocate for sustainable living and ecospirituality starting in 1972. Known affectionately as the “Solar Nun,” she converted a former chicken barn into “La Casa del Sol,” a super-insulated, passive-solar home, and went on to found EarthConnection itself — a learning center on her congregation’s motherhouse grounds showcasing solar, geothermal, and other renewable technologies. Over her lifetime she gave more than 1,800 presentations connecting faith, science, and care for creation, and in 2007 co-founded Ohio Interfaith Power and Light.
Indigenous rights
Nemonte Nenquimo
Waorani leader, co-founder — Ceibo Alliance & Amazon Frontlines
Born in 1985 in the Pastaza region of the Ecuadorian Amazon, Nemonte Nenquimo is the first female president of the Waorani of Pastaza and a co-founder of the Ceibo Alliance and Amazon Frontlines. In 2019, she led a landmark lawsuit that protected half a million acres of Waorani ancestral land from oil extraction — a ruling that galvanized Indigenous land defense across the Amazon. Named to TIME’s 100 Most Influential People in 2020 and a UN Champions of the Earth laureate, she asks the world a simple, searching question: Are you a good ancestor?
Climate law
Sarah Finch
Environmental campaigner & 2026 Goldman Prize winner, UK
A writer and editor from Surrey, England, Sarah Finch co-founded the volunteer Weald Action Group in 2010 to oppose oil drilling in southeastern England. After five years of legal battle, she won a landmark UK Supreme Court ruling in 2024 — now called “the Finch ruling” — requiring authorities to assess the full downstream climate impact of fossil fuel projects before granting permits. The ruling has already blocked a coal mine and North Sea oil developments, reshaping climate litigation across Europe. She received the 2026 Goldman Environmental Prize, often called the “Green Nobel.”
Climate science
Katharine Hayhoe
Atmospheric scientist, Chief Scientist — The Nature Conservancy
A Canadian-born atmospheric scientist and Distinguished Professor at Texas Tech University, Katharine Hayhoe is one of the world’s leading climate communicators. She has led or contributed to all five U.S. National Climate Assessments, earned a UN Champion of the Earth award, and been named to TIME’s 100 Most Influential People. Her book Saving Us and her TED talk (over 4 million views) focus on building bridges across political divides through shared values and honest conversation about climate change.