Humans of: Climate Change

“People often think ecological restoration is something that can be finished in five or ten years. But it isn’t.” I met Zhou during a volunteering trip in Inner Mongolia. Originally from Shanghai, he is pursuing a PhD in Forest Ecology at the University of British Columbia. “I spend most of my time looking at models (using data to understand forests, landscapes, and entire ecosystems),” he said. “But if I want to do meaningful research, I need to understand what fieldwork act

Wei’s childhood was much like that of many children growing up in Beijing during the 1990s. As the summer sun stretched long shadows along the narrow alleyways, he would ride his bicycle home from school. Though the years have faded in memory, nature remains vividly preserved in fragments. “Every day after school, I would spend twenty minutes watching ants before going home. I would pick up an ant with each hand and watch them fight with each other with their antennae,” he re

There was no dramatic turning point that made Liu care about the environment. It started quietly. Growing up in a small village in Jilin, the freezing breeze of the north filled her childhood with warmth and joy: jumping into snow piles, slipping across ice sheets on frozen rivers, hiding in snow caves. Back then, environmental protection was hardly a topic of discussion. Nature was intertwined with everyday life. As she grew up, leaving for work in Shanghai, nature also s