People + Place => Protection: Where Climate Action Begins
When Yolanda Waters was young she was “terrified” of the ocean and didn’t like being on the beach with all the sand, salt, and seaweed — yuk!
During college she studied biology and environmental science — but, again nothing having to do with the ocean.
Today she looks as natural as a fish in water and is the Founder and CEO of Divers For Climate.
So what changed her?
Climate change changed her. Divers changed her. Diving changed her. A very special place changed her.
It was when I got to my Honours year when the coral reef restoration program was just starting on the Great Barrier Reef. I found that interesting, so I went up to interview the people in that program, asking them if the program was going to save coral reefs.
Every single person I interviewed said that restoration is a great tool that we can use, but we know that it won’t work unless we solve climate change. When I asked, “okay, well what are we doing about climate change?” They all said, “well that’s not really our space or where we work.” So I realised there was a gap there.
After I finished my degree I felt lost, I didn’t know what to do or where to work. My stepmother at the time suggested I work in Cairns for a year, get my divemaster, work on the reef, and see what happens! So I went and the experience really changed my life. Working on the reef, meeting people, spending days and days doing dives I’d never done before was what really changed everything for me (emphasis added).
When she began working on the Great Barrier Reef (GBR) she would interact with hundreds of tourists every day, many asking her about climate change and whether the GBR was dead.
“I found those conversations really hard, because I didn’t actually know the answers … and felt like I could give people more. How do I have those conversations and answer these questions in a way that actually makes a difference? I had no idea, so I started to ask questions and ask for support. The more people that I asked, the more I found that it was a common experience for people to avoid that conversation … all I’d heard was ‘it’s not our job’ and ‘we don’t talk about it.’ So this is where I started my journey. … I thought, ‘Well if we’re not talking about it then how are we going to protect this place that is so special?’ Indeed, the place was special, and the community was special (emphasis added).”
For Yolanda Waters — as is the case for many of us — it’s all about people and place and how to protect them.
Ok, so she hated the ocean; she felt lost; she felt frustrated and inadequate and didn’t like the answers she was getting.
So of course she gets a Ph.D.
But she wasn’t getting one just to analyze and talk about what others are doing. She got it to be on the applied side of things, to protect people and places from climate consequences. For Dr. Waters what this means is helping people see how climate change makes an impact on the people and places and experiences they love, and then leading them to protect their people and places from this global problem.
“That’s what my PhD was about, psychologically, how do we talk about climate change in a way that leads to action and engagement?”
Dr. Waters saw a problem and saw a climate action niche no one was filling.
I sit in this weird space in marine conservation where I don’t study fish, I study humans, and how we think, feel and connect to nature and how we act to protect it. …
I love when people ask me fish questions because I have terrible, terrible answers because my fish ID is shocking. It’s the yellow stripey fish, I don’t really know. But then I can come and talk about the psychology of climate change communication. Everything’s got its place (emphasis added).
One of the most powerful ways Dr. Waters knows to communicate is through photography.
People can’t protect what they don’t know, they can’t know what they don’t see. And so, you know, photography is a way of bringing those things to the surface and making the ocean more accessible. And it’s an amazing mechanism for storytelling. …
It’s that beauty, that art, that emotional piece. It definitely connects people to something bigger. I think underwater photographers all contribute in that way. …
[It’s also] how you sell things and get through to media. That’s how you get the attention of politicians.
And incredible photos, they talk, right? So, I think that’s obviously a really big one for campaigning and making changes within the system.
Divers For Climate
So as a Climate Action Artist-Athlete, why did she found Divers For Climate, her particular Olympian Field of Action? Because she wanted to help people become Climate Action Artist-Athletes, too, especially those experiencing the beauty and wonder and awe of nature through diving.
I think diving is a great way to do that, and I think most divers know that but haven’t had the tools so far to talk about it. I think with my communication skills this is what I can do to help. It’s my way of contributing to how we protect reefs in the future, and it’s just one of many (emphasis added).
She wants to help folks protect people and places they love from climate impacts.
Dr. Waters not only communicates to tourists and divers. She also communicates to other audiences by giving talks and lectures, and through Social Media and mainstream media. She conducts research published in peer-reviewed journals that garners attention on both Social Media and earned mainstream media, further cementing her reputation not only as an advocate and CEO but as an expert.
All of this helps with a key target audience, policymakers, with whom she also communicates directly through testimony and conversations.
In the end Dr. Waters knows that it comes down to people working together.
At the end of the day a lot of the problems facing our marine environment are people problems, and how we fix them comes down to how people think, feel and act and make decisions. Because no matter how much technical science we have it’s going to come down to people working together and making things happen (emphasis added).
Dr. Waters is such an inspiration. Even in photos, her passion and joy is infectious. Indeed, she and Divers for Climate embody all of our seven Climate Movement characteristics/imperatives/goals:
This is a tremendous accomplishment and an example to us all.
Now it’s your turn. Think of the people and places you want to protect. Think of the gifts and knowledge and experiences and values you have to offer. Just like Yolanda Waters found her niche, it’s time for you to find yours, your particular Olympian Field of Action, and become the Artist-Athlete we all need you to be. We aren’t complete without you. Join us!
If you are new here, check out our Intro Series and other posts like this in the Our Story Together Series. If you like this post, please “like,” comment, and share/restack. And thanks for all you’re doing.