Character Profiles

There are infinite ways a person can be connected to the climate crisis—so many that it would be impossible to catalog them. Luckily, nobody wants an exhaustive catalog. Instead, they want living, breathing characters. So what follows are snapshots of people who are in some way connected to the movement or impacted by this chaos. Some are based on existing people, some are fictionalized or aggregated, but all are rooted in the stark psychological realities of how the climate crisis is showing up in people’s lives.

We also encourage you to look to real-life people doing this wild work. In our Library of Experts, we highlight a whole bunch of real humans who also happen to be amazing characters. Check out Dr. Sarah Myhre, a climate scientist dealing with sexual violence and exploring gender expression, or Sharon Lavigne, a special-ed teacher who is fighting the fight in Cancer Alley. Maybe dig into Rania Batrice, first-gen Palestinian from West Texas pushing the Green New Deal, or Favianna Rodriguez, a Latinx artist calling out the racist systems that keep Oakland polluted.

But before we get to those real-life heroes, we hope the fictional profiles that follow spark some ideas, and maybe even breathe life into some characters for your own stories.

Character Profile

Bradford and Tim

A politician building a wind farm and his assigned angel
Character Profile

Clark

A 38-year-old oil executive subverts success from the inside
Character Profile

Ellen

A guilt-ridden millennial artist receives an ultimatum
Character Profile

Gerald and Lucy

Father and daughter Gulf Coast oyster fishers hold secrets
Character Profile

Gracie

A young Muslim climate activist torn between followers and sanity
Character Profile

Karen and Barbara

Sibling nurses, transformed by a hurricane
Character Profile

Lea

A trans water protector finding community at the heart of a protest
Character Profile

Leilani

A Hawaiian voyager juggling motherhood and saving her homeland
Character Profile

Peter

A Christian environmental evangelist ignites a movement
Character Profile

Ronnie

An incarcerated Marine finding purpose in fighting wildfires
Character Profile

Sam and Otter

Interspecies Alaskan friends losing their way of life
Expert Profile

Rania Batrice

The woman pushing major policy like the Green New Deal
Expert Profile

Brandon Dennison

Providing green jobs and education in Appalachia
Expert Profile

Sarah Eagle Heart

An Indigenous storyteller
Expert Profile

Sharon Lavigne

An activist who grew up in Cancer Alley along the Mississippi River
Expert Profile

Dr. Sarah Myhre

A working mom, feminist, and climate scientist
Expert Profile

Tamara Toles O'Laughlin

Redefining the climate movement and creating space for Black women
Expert Profile

Favianna Rodriguez

An Oakland-based Latinx artist fighting for clean air
Expert Profile

Amy Westervelt

A climate journalist and mother
Expert Profile

Rev. Lennox Yearwood Jr.

President & CEO of Hip Hop Caucus