2018 Planet Forward Summit

Planet Forward founder and GW School of Media and Public Affairs Director Frank Sesno kicks off the 2018 event from the stage. (Photos by Adam Mason for PlanetForward.org)

Sesno starts off with a little informal audience polling.

Frank Sesno and Dr. Thomas Lovejoy talk about the experience we had at Lovejoy's Camp 41 in the Amazon last June - our Storyfest 2017 prize.

Dr. Imani M. Cheers, the Summit co-host, introduces the visual journalists from National Geographic for their Eyes on Earth presentation.

Dennis Dimick, National Geographic Editor Emeritus, and National Geographic photographer Jim Richardson share their project, Eyes on Earth, and its goal of passing the torch to the next generation of visual storytellers.

Planet Forward Advisory Board Member and University of Arizona professor Jim Buizer speaks with Eloka Obi, a statistics and environmental studies major at The George Washington University. The two networked at last year's event and were catching up.

The panel of student storytellers shared stories about finding their voice. From left: Zack Smith, SUNY-ESF '17; Alaine Johnson, Yale-NUS student; Anna Sumi, GWU ’17; Harrison Watson, Jackson State University; and Olivia Urbanski, Loyola University Chicago.

Frank Sesno handed over his moderator seat to The Washington Post reporter Chris Mooney, left, and we heard from Beth Stewart, Creative Director at Discovery, Inc.; Chris Policinski, President & CEO of Land O'Lakes, Inc.; Dr. Felecia Nave, Director for Faculty Development & Engagement at Prairie View A&M University; and Paulman Farms owner Roric Paulman.

The Climate Editor for The New York Times, Hannah Fairfield, showed some of the new ways we can visualize data and how it can engage wider audiences.

An audience member asks The New York Times Climate Editor, Hannah Fairfield, a question after her presentation.

Adobe's Stephen Hart takes a 360-degree photo from the stage with Steve Johnson and Frank Sesno hamming it up.

Attendees take a selfie at the Summit in front of the Planet Forward wall.

Frank Sesno and Lindblad Expeditions CEO Sven Lindblad share a laugh at the lunch talk on April 5. Thanks to Lindblad for helping us take students to Alaska for the fourth annual Planet Forward Storyfest Award.

Breakout session speaker Payton Head and Florida International Student and Planet Forward Correspondent Gillian Daley talk in the hall after the session.

National Geographic's Anand Varma captivated the audience with his storytelling and his astonishing presentation: "Beauty and the Bizarre."

Following his keynote, Anand Varma joined the networking session upstairs. Here, he's speaking with SUNY-ESF student and Storyfest finalist, Janet Rogers.

The Planet Forward Town Hall: Do We Have the Energy to Lead, was presented in partnership with C2ES. Speakers included, from left, Denise Fairchild, Nick Akins, Susan Eisenhower, and Ted Roosevelt IV.

After the Town Hall, Frank Sesno opened up the floor and broke out the white board for us to record story ideas at the conclusion of the 2018 Summit.

The Storyfest winners, plus Frank Sesno, Sven Lindblad and Dr. Imani Cheers, lined the stage after the awards presentation.

The 2018 Planet Forward Summit was a two-day national conference on sustainability storytelling.

We brought together a diverse group of students, scientists, communicators, innovators, private sector leaders, and policymakers will share inspiring stories of our planet, and learn techniques of effective communication and compelling storytelling.

On Day 2, we celebrated and rewarded the best environmental storytelling told by college students by presenting the prestigious Planet Forward Storyfest Awards in front of a live audience. Winners will travel to Alaska this June, courtesy Alaska Airlines, for an 8-day voyage between Sitka and Juneau with Lindblad Expeditions aboard the National Geographic Sea Lion with Lindblad-National Geographic photo instructors, naturalists and scientists to explore Alaska's coastal wilderness.

Led by storytelling platform PlanetForward.org at The George Washington University School of Media and Public Affairs, the 2018 Summit included major speakers and topics covering challenges and solutions related to food, water, energy, mobility, built environment, biodiversity, and more.

Watch the sessions, panels, presentations, and conversations from the 2018 event over on our YouTube channel.

Tags:

summit2018, pfsummit18, environmental storytelling, storytelling, Environment, Journalism

How do you move the Planet Forward? Tweet us @planet_forward or contribute to the conversation with your own story.

Hub Content

2018 Summit - Storyfest Grand Prize Announcement

Emily Arnold

Planet Forward Correspondent | Georgetown University

The 2018 Summit closed with the highly anticipated Storyfest 2018 grand prize awards ceremony to see which six student storytellers will be traveling to Alaska this June.

2018 Summit - Town Hall: Do We Have the Energy to Lead?

Emily Arnold

Planet Forward Correspondent | Georgetown University

Ted Roosevelt IV, Susan Eisenhower, Nick Akins, and Denise Fairchild discussed the politics of climate change and asked: Where does the responsibility lie?

2018 Summit - Anand Varma: The Beauty and the Bizarre

Emily Arnold

Planet Forward Correspondent | Georgetown University

Anand Varma blew us away with stories that were both bizarre and beautiful, and shared how biology and photography go hand-in-hand.

2018 Summit - The Explorer's Story: A conversation with adventure-travel pioneer Sven Lindblad

Planet Forward Staff

Planet Forward

Frank Sesno led a conversation with Lindblad Expeditions CEO Sven Lindblad to learn more about his experience in the Arctic and his take on storytelling surrounding the environment.

2018 Summit - Reality Revolution: How AR/VR Can Create Empathy, Urgency, and a New Sense of Place

Emily Arnold

Planet Forward Correspondent | Georgetown University

Steve Johnson of Boundless Media blew us away with Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality technologies, and the way that these mediums can bring experiences to viewers.

2018 Summit - Climate FWD: How The New York Times is Transforming Environmental Reporting

Emily Arnold

Planet Forward Correspondent | Georgetown University

Hannah Fairfield, the New York Times Climate Editor, told us about her work in storytelling at one of the world’s most renowned publications, highlighting the importance of infographics and data visualization.

2018 Summit - What’s Your Sustainability Story? High-Impact Leaders in Sustainability

Emily Arnold

Planet Forward Correspondent | Georgetown University

Land O'Lakes, Inc.'s Chris Policinski, Discovery, Inc.'s Beth Stewart, Prairie View A&M's Felecia Nave, and Paulman Farms' Roric Paulman spoke about their stories, as leaders — corporate, collegiate and community.

2018 Summit - Find Your Voice, Raise Your Voice: Student Storytellers

Emily Arnold

Planet Forward Correspondent | Georgetown University

A panel of young environmental storytellers took the stage to share their experiences as storytellers, and share how Planet Forward helped them grow as environmental storytellers.

2018 Summit - Eyes on Earth: Inspiring a New Generation of Storytellers

Emily Arnold

Planet Forward Correspondent | Georgetown University

Dennis Dimick and Jim Richardson stole our hearts as they began the next presentation, representing their organization, Eyes on Earth, which is inspiring the next generation of visual storytellers.

2018 Planet Forward Summit - Welcome

Emily Arnold

Planet Forward Correspondent | Georgetown University

Planet Forward founder Frank Sesno welcomes everyone to the 2018 Planet Forward Summit. Now more than ever, he said, we need to find ways to “communicate and connect, to engage public audiences.”