Suzanne Gluck

Suzanne Gluck is a partner at WME in the book division. Over her thirty-year career in the industry, Suzanne has represented over 100 New York Times bestselling books across a wide variety of genres. Her books have changed the way we think about the world and have become a part of our popular culture, from groundbreaking literary fiction to works of nonfiction about history, science, and contemporary life. 

She's married to author Tom Dyja. In this unusual year, she has been working from her garden on Long Island's North Fork, with a number of fearless bunnies, inquisitive squirrels and rather territorial birds as her new colleagues.

3 words to describe Nature? 

Majestic. Infinite. Unfortunately, Besieged

3 things Nature taught you? 

The possibilities of renewal 

The power of resilience

The wide availability of extraordinary beauty

3 most treasured Nature spots? 

My backyard garden

The rocky beach nearby 

Riverside Park

When you look at the ocean, it makes you feel...? 

Connected

When you see a forest, it makes you feel...? 

Awe

When you see a volcano, it makes you feel...? 

Terror

When you see a sunrise or sunset, it makes you feel...? 

Hypnotized

When you hear thunder, it makes you feel...? 

Respect

When you hear the wind howling, it makes you feel...? 

Like curling up in a chair and reading

Are you an Ocean, Mountain, Forest, or Desert person? 

Ocean

On a scale of 1 to 10, how important is Nature to your well-being? 

Well beyond 10

Share with us a childhood nature memory? 

Learning how to duck ocean waves with my father and older sister.

 


Wallace J Nichols

Dr. Wallace "J" Nichols - called a “Keeper of the Sea" by GQ Magazine, “a visionary" by Outside Magazine, a "water warrior" by AQUATICS International and a "friend of the sea" by Experience Life Magazine - is an innovative, silo-busting, entrepreneurial scientist, movement maker, renown marine biologist, voracious Earth and idea explorer, wild water advocate, bestselling author, sought after lecturer, and fun-loving Dad. He also likes turtles (a lot).

In 2010 Nichols delivered the commencement address at DePauw University where he also received an honorary doctorate in science. In 2011 he was inducted as a Fellow National member of the Explorers Club. In 2014 he received the University of Arizona's Global Achievement Award. And in 2017, he was presented by Fijian Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama the Champion of Change Award at the World Oceans Festival on Governor’s Island, New York.

Nichols has authored more than 200 scientific papers, technical reports, book chapters, and popular publications; lectured in more than 30 countries and nearly all 50 states; and appeared in hundreds of print, film, radio, and television media outlets including NPR, BBC, PBS, CNN, MSNBC, National Geographic, Animal Planet, Time, Newsweek, GQ, Outside Magazine, USA Today, Elle, Vogue, Fast Company, Surfer Magazine, Scientific American, and New Scientist, among many others.

His book Blue Mind, published in summer 2014 by Little, Brown & Company, quickly became a national bestseller and has been translated to numerous languages and inspired a wave of media and practical application.

J. is currently Chief Evangelist for Water (CEH2O) at Bouy Labs, a Senior Fellow at the Middlebury Institute for International Studies' Center for the Blue Economy, a Research Associate at California Academy of Sciences and co-founder of Ocean Revolution, an international network of young ocean advocates, SEE the WILD, a conservation travel network, Grupo Tortuguero, an international sea turtle conservation network, and Blue Mind a global "movement of movements" sharing the new story of water.

He co-mentors a motivated group of international graduate students and serves as an advisor to numerous non-profit boards and committees as part of his commitment to building a more creative, stronger, more progressive, and connected environmental community.

J. lives with his partner Dana, two daughters and some cats, dogs, and chickens on California's Slow Coast, a rural stretch of coastal mountains overlooking the Monterey Bay where organic strawberries rule, mountain lions roam and their motto is "In Slow We Trust". The Nichols chose to settle down in this area after trekking the entire 1,800 kilometer coast from Oregon to Mexico.

3 words to describe Nature?

Primal. Creative. Home

3 things Nature taught you?

Humility

Solitude

Confidence 

3 most treasured Nature spots?

50 miles offshore and 50 feet deep from Bahia Magdalena, BCS Mexico

The source of Mill Creek in the Santa Cruz Mountains

Greyhound Rock

When you look at the ocean, it makes you feel...?

Optimistic

When you see a forest, it makes you feel...?

Connected

When you see a volcano, it makes you feel...?

Awe

When you see a sunrise or sunset, it makes you feel...?

Hopeful

When you hear thunder, it makes you feel...?

Warm

When you hear the wind howling, it makes you feel...?

Nostalgic

Are you an Ocean, Mountain, Forest, or Desert person?

Yes on all!

On a scale of 1 to 10, how important is Nature to your well-being? 

11

Share with us a childhood nature memory.

Backpacking to Deep Lake, in Wyoming, when I was 11 and feeling like I wanted to feel that way a lot more throughout my life. The origins of “blue mind” research, practice, philosophy and the growing global movement.

 

 


John Wood

JOHN WOOD is the founder of Room to Read, an organization that believes World Change Starts with Educated Children. Room to Read envisions a world in which all children can pursue a quality education that enables them to reach their full potential and contribute to their communities and the world.

At age 35, John left his position as Director of Business Development for Microsoft’s Greater China region to found Room to Read.

John’s award-winning memoir, Leaving Microsoft to Change the World: An Entrepreneur’s Odyssey to Educate the World’s Children tells how he raised millions from a “standing start” to develop one of the fastest-growing nonprofits in history. The book was described by Publishers’ Weekly in a starred review as “an infectiously inspiring read.” Translated into 20 languages, it is popular with entrepreneurs, philanthropists, and educators alike, and was selected by Amazon.com as one of the Top Ten Business Narratives of 2006 and voted a Top Ten Nonfiction title of 2006 by Hudson Booksellers. The book was also featured during John’s appearance on The Oprah Winfrey Show and the resulting “Oprah’s Book Drive” with Room to Read raised over $3 million from viewers.

John’s follow up book, Creating Room to Read: A Story of Hope in the Battle for Global Literacy, tells the story of how the organization successfully tackled the next steps of scaling beyond his wildest dreams while maintaining integrity and raising money in a collapsing economy.

John has been named by Goldman Sachs as one of the world’s 100 Most Intriguing Entrepreneurs, has been a three-time speaker at the Clinton Global Initiative and is a five-time winner of Fast Company Magazine’s Social Capitalist Award. He has been honored by Time Magazine’s “Asian Heroes” Award, selected as a “Young Global Leader” by the World Economic Forum, is a Lifetime Achievement Honoree of the Tribeca Film Festival’s Disruptive Innovation Awards, and is a Henry Crown Fellow at the Aspen Institute. He was selected by Barron’s as one of the “25 Best Givers” in 2009 and 2010, ranking 11th and 9th on the list, respectively. In 2014, John won the World’s Children’s Honorary Award Laureate through the World’s Children’s Prize, the annual educational program for the rights of the child and democracy—often called the Children’s Nobel Prize. In recognition of his passion to open libraries for the most under-served populations, he was described by the San Francisco Chronicle as “the Andrew Carnegie of the developing world.”

John also serves on the advisory board of the Clinton Global Initiative and New Story.

Since 2000, Room to Read has impacted the lives of ten million children across Asia and Africa through its programs in Literacy and Girls’ Education. It aims to reach 15 million children by 2020.

3 words to describe Nature?

Best. Thing. Ever.

3 things Nature taught you?

Take time from work to enjoy it.

Breathe deep

Stay in shape, stay young.

3 most treasured Nature spots?

Annapurna Circuit of Nepal, because a hike there inspired the formation of Room to Read

Sand dunes of Namibia

Any hiking trail in my adopted home city of Hong Kong

When you look at the ocean, it makes you feel...?

Grateful to live near it.

When you see a forest, it makes you feel...?

Like I need to put on my hiking or running shoes, grab my wife Amy, and get out there!

When you see a volcano, it makes you feel...?

Assuming it’s dormant, like climbing to the top.   If active, then reminds me that I need to update my will    ☺

When you see a sunrise or sunset, it makes you feel...?

I’m hugely nocturnal, so sunrises not happening for me.  Sunset makes me do a reality check on whether I’ve accomplished all the work goals I’ve had that day, and if not, to get on it.

When you hear thunder, it makes you feel...?

Like I need to grab a good book, lie on the sofa, and enjoy the warmth and security

When you hear the wind howling, it makes you feel...?

Like I should be out hiking

Are you an Ocean, Mountain, Forest, or Desert person?

The latter 3, impossible to decide

On a scale of 1 to 10, how important is Nature to your well-being?

10.  I globe-trot constantly for Room to Read, and in every city I always try to find Nature, and of course build my holidays in places like the Dolomites and Namibia and Nepal so that I can over-dose on it.

Share with us a childhood nature memory?

The first time I skied in Colorado I knew that I needed to abandon dreams of university on the east coast, and so I ended up having four very happy years at the University of Colorado in Boulder.


Ayelet Baron

AYELET BARON is the visionary author behind Our Journey to Corporate Sanity: Transformational Stories from the Frontiers of 21st Century. Prior to being a speaker, coach, workshop facilitator, and committed to making a transformational impact on business, Baron was an Innovator-in-Residence in Roche/Genentech's Strategic Innovation Product Development organization, and a Chief Strategy Officer for Cisco Canada.

3 words to describe Nature?

Humans. Grounding. Reality. We are nature; nature is grounding; nature ground us in reality.

3 things Nature taught you?  

To appreciate beauty as is. To recognize the life force in animals, plants and humans. To remember to follow nature in business - a time to plant, a time to water, a time to nurture and a time to harvest.

3 most treasured Nature spots? 

Diving in Fiji - the most spectacular underwater park; white sands of Turks and Caicos, and the deep blue Mediterranean Sea.

When you look at the ocean, it makes you feel...?  

At peace. The whole experience of the beauty and infinity of the ocean from looking to listening to breathing it in is exhilarating.

When you see a forest, it makes you feel...? 

In awe imagining what the trees have witnessed while we simply pass by in a flash. The conversations they must be having must be incredible as they show us what a connected network truly is.

When you see a volcano, it makes you feel...? 

The fire within each of us that can tip over at any moment and that emotions are natural if we allow them to be expressed

When you see a sunrise or sunset, it makes you feel...? 

The cycle of life and death, with the depth of colors and opportunities

When you hear thunder, it makes you feel...? 

The power of nature to make a statement and bring clarity

When you hear the wind howling, it makes you feel...? 

Alive and attune with reality

Are you an Ocean, Mountain, Forest, or Desert person? 

Ocean first but I love them all ... what could be better than an ocean with a mountain, forest and/or desert? I have had the pleasure of experiencing many breathtaking combinations

On a scale of 1 to 10, how important is Nature to your well-being? 

10

Share with us a childhood nature memory? 

I will always remember the first time I walked through an orange orchard in Israel when I was 6 years old and got to pick oranges from the tree. That smell of the orange buds has stayed with me forever. Then, my grandfather retired and bought an almond orchard and as a kid, I spent hours peeling the two cases of almonds and organizing them in neat piles. It helped me appreciate the source of our nutrients and also sparked a love of creation with cooking naturally. I always need to know where the food we consume comes from in nature.