Life’s defining moments
“The intuitive mind is a sacred gift and the rational mind is a faithful servant. We have created a society that honors the servant and has forgotten the gift’ —Albert Einstein
Welcome to Embrace the Planet News!
“What happens when we meet the extremes or when the extremes meet us? I’ve have spent a lifetime exploring the edges of our planet and the edges of who I am and what I'm capable of. Changes we're experiencing today are extreme, and here we are, literally in the eye of the storm.With climate change, biodiversity loss, and ecosystem collapse a reality for all of us, this can feel overwhelming.
Asking, what can I do is the best question to participate in the greatest adventure of our time. It's understanding and paying attention to the amazing natural world we live in. Our backyards, our sky, our oceans, our forests, and realizing that every single one of us has the power to protect it. It's also about engagement, right where we are, seeing our world with new eyes……”
That was the opening to my TedX Victoria talk June 10th. 12 speakers, 1 stage, 1 theme- Ripples. My job was to use my stories to weave together a script that could dive deep into the hearts and minds of those watching. I wanted to give them a reason to care, to feel a sense of awe and possibility at a time when many of us are on overwhelm with over stimulation.
Public speaking is an invitation to elevate the best in others through story & science or to share an idea that could spark inquiry, curiosity and possibility. It's a role I humbly accept.
Throughout the spring I travelled locally on Vancouver Island to speak to classrooms, assemblies and youth summits. The value of being face to face with our future leaders has never been more valued and needed. It’s also so darn exciting to see how much our students care and how they take action on local initiatives. The 2025-26 school year will be even more exciting so reach out to me if I can be of service. If you want to dive into a few subject areas that I have crafted for both schools and corporations- look here
Maya’s wisdom
“My dear brothers and sisters. Time is a master sculptor…it molds our lives without ever asking permission and yet so many of us hand our time over to things that do not feed our souls, to people who do not speak life into us and to worries that cannot change one jut of our tomorrow. We give it away and then cry because we feel empty. Hear me when I say focus on yourself and stop wasting time. Time my dear is a sacred currency. It is most generous yet the most unforgiving gift we will ever receive. It comes wrapped in seconds tied together by minutes… “ —— Maya Angelou (listen to the full version of Maya’s wisdom)
Action Items Just for You
When the world is on fire…..As we continue to bear witness to the impacts of the climate crisis – and the wider polycrisis – many of us are feeling despair and powerlessness in the face of a world on fire. How can we tend to our ecological grief, find the strength and stability to help cool the flames – both internally and in the world around us? This short series ( June 15, 22, 29th) will be an experiential taster of some of the teachings explored deeply in the Zen and the Art of Saving the Planet 7-week online course. Register here to join the last part of this series- June 29th
Sperm Whales off the coast of British Columbia
Yes, there are Sperm Whales off the coast of British Columbia . Dr. Felicia Vachon is a Sperm Whale expert and shared information with students about this unique “creature of extremes”: their enormous nose, big brains, long dives, complex societies, unique vocalizations, and what we know (and don’t know) about them. The educational approach is aimed at elementary school students .The content of this webinar will also be of great interest to adults too! Give it a listen here .
What to do when you find a seal pup?
It’s pupping season for harbour seals in British Columbia and teams have already been involved in several incidents where animals needed monitoring and, in one case, rescuing. It’s important to note that any of our activity around seal pups is directed by the experts at the Vancouver Aquarium Marine Mammal Rescue Society (VAMMRS).
Taking the stage at TedX Victoria June 10th 2025- A defining moment for me!
Leadership in Action -Illuminating the Polar Night.
My reflections from living through the many polar nights in Svalbard offered a powerful human context to the scientific data on phytoplankton collected, allowing Shailey Heller to connect patterns in gene expression with the lived experience of observing this unique environment in real time bringing these invisible life support systems to a more visible realm. Who says things we cannot see cannot be seen? On June 10th 26 innovative, creative and interdisciplinary Master’s Capstone Projects tackled the most timely and relevant ocean and coastal challenges of our time.
Shailey Heller Master of Advanced Studies Program in Marine Biodiversity and Conservation presented at the Capstone Symposium June 10, 2025 at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, UC San Diego.
On that same day June 10th, Sunniva became a newly minted TedX speaker in Victoria BC. Phytoplankton and citizen science were also themes in the TedX talk- did you know they are responsible for every second breath we take?
Awareness in Action- With Terry Tempest Williams Sunday, July 13th 11:00 — 12:30 p.m. MDT.
Beloved writer and environmentalist, Terry Tempest Williams, will present the July session of Awareness in Action, entitled "Earth." Through her work, Terry has given voice to the cries of this planet, writing and speaking beauty into a broken world. Having authored over 20 books, her work includes Refuge – An Unnatural History of Family and Place, When Women Were Birds, The Hour of Land, and most recently, Erosion, Essays of Undoing. Her new book, The Glorians – Visitations from the Holy Ordinary, will be published later this year. AWARENESS IN ACTION: "Earth" (Online)
Public Lands up for Sale?
The US Senate is preparing to vote on a bill that forces the sale of up to 3.3 million acres of public lands to help fund tax cuts for billionaires. More than 250 million acres across 11 Western states are up for grabs in this sale—including national forests, critical habitat areas and well-loved climbing, fishing, skiing, biking and camping sites in places like the Eastern Sierra, Big Sur, Mount Hood and Little Cottonwood Canyon.
The bill also requires oil and gas lease sales in the Western Arctic, significantly expands logging in our national forests and denies Tribal Nations priority to buy their traditional homelands.If these public lands are sold, we will lose access to these places forever. Please take five minutes to contact your senators and urge them to block the bill. Call your senators
🍃 Fresh Air & Fresh Ideas
Sunniva joins an Advanced Timber Framing Course in Ely, Minnesota
In 1906, Ernest Shackleton built a hut on Antarctica during his attempt to reach the South Pole. He erected a timber frame hut to provide housing for his support team, comprising 16 men to live in for two and a half years. This became their base camp while Shackleton was attempting the South Pole; he ultimately made history by getting within 90 miles of the South Pole. The hut survived 100 mile-an-hour winds, storms, and endured over 100 years on the continent. The New Zealand Antarctic Trust did a 10-year renovation of the original hut and subsequently made a generous donation of the original architectural designs to the Steger Center for replication and educational purposes.
Late June to July 2025, 8 women including myself will meet in Ely Minnesota to build the hut and trusses. The featured instructor for this course is Jenna Pollard, a 14-year veteran instructor who owns her own log building and timber framing business and teaching school. Watch this very cool video Patagonia did on one of Jenna’s projects.
The ultimate goal of the Steger Center, is to create a place where leaders can come together to solve real-world problems. If you would like to support the completion of the Center, please consider making a tax-deductible donation.
Camera Captures Cosmos
The Vera C. Rubin Observatory in Chile released its first images this week, offering a detailed look into the distant universe. Funded by the US, the telescope features the world’s largest digital camera and an almost 28-foot-wide mirror, enabling it to capture enormous amounts of light and spot objects billions of light-years away with remarkable clarity.
Highlights include a composite of 678 exposures taken over seven hours, revealing new details in the Trifid and Lagoon nebulae—star-forming regions thousands of light-years from Earth—and a panoramic view of the Virgo Cluster. In 10 hours of observations, Rubin identified 2,104 previously unknown asteroids, including seven near-Earth objects, none of which pose a threat. There are an estimated 25,000 near-Earth asteroids large enough to destroy a city, fewer than half of which have been found.
Prepare Yourself for an Unparalleled Sensory Experience.
SAMSARA reunites filmmakers Ron Fricke and Mark Magidson, whose award-winning films BARAKA and CHRONOS brought a new visual and musical artistry to theaters. Dispensing with dialogue and descriptive text, SAMSARA explores the wonders of our world, from the mundane to the miraculous, looking into the unfathomable reaches of man's spirituality and the human experience, and illuminating the links between humanity and the rest of nature.
The Great Compassion Chant
The monastics chant the phrase “Namo’valokiteshvara.” This is a chant to invoke the name of the Bodhisattva of Great Compassion, Avalokiteshvara. A “bodhisattva” is a great being who has developed human qualities to a very high degree. We each have a bodhisattva of compassion within us, and this chant is an opportunity to get in touch with that seed of compassion in our hearts, to invite it to manifest right in the very moment of chanting. Turn the volume up on this- 20 minutes of soul nourishment and calm.
Thanks for reading. Have fun camping, hiking, exploring and experiencing all the joys of summer. Take care of each other and be kind.
xxx Sunniva
Family and friends from Canada, US and Norway camping on Quadra Island, BC!
