Convo: Chelsea Congdon on Handling Growth, Engaging a Broad Global Movement, and Transforming Our Relationship with the Planet
In this episode of Flanigan’s Eco-Logic, Ted speaks with Chelsea Congdon, Co-founder of the Global Biodiversity Narrative Project. She also served as a Water Resources Specialist for the Environmental Defense Fund, Water Program Director for Public Council of the Rockies, and is a Film and Media Producer.
Chelsea considers herself to be a western water junkie with two decades of work with Natural Heritage Institute (California) and Environmental Defense Fund (western US and Mexico), taking program designs from the energy world and applying them to the water world. Most recently, she has been consulting on collaborative projects to improve river management, stream flows, and water accountability in Colorado. She also serves on the boards of Western Resource Advocates, Colorado Rocky Mountain School, and Space for Giants.
She and Ted discuss her background – a Colorado native, born and raised in Denver, spending most summers and weekends in Aspen, and being a naturalist from the start, with the Roaring Fork Valley embedded in her life from the beginning. They also discuss her studies at UC Berkeley, her interest in water resources, her work with the Energy and Resources Group, wanting to specialize in being a generalist.
As a film and media producer, Chelsea is committed to bringing compelling stories about relationships to nature to a variety of audiences. She uses storytelling and multimedia communication to help people — especially young people — find a voice, get involved, be entrepreneurial and feel effective in promoting positive social change.
In her current role as co-founder of the Global Biodiversity Narrative Project, Chelsea is deeply engaged in creating and promoting the stories that help people see themselves as a part of nature and engage a broad global movement in transforming relationships with the planet.