Speaker: Sean Schrader, Clearwater, Florida, United States
How (and why) are you taking action on climate change solutions in, for, and with your community?
Sean Schrader: Hey, I'm Sean Schrader. I'm currently in the final semester of my MB A or my master's program in Business Administration here at the University of South Florida. I'm so excited and honored to share my story of why I think it's important to get involved in the climate, opportunities to protect our environment and and ultimately protect our collective future. You know, it's coincidental. I'm here on our ST Petersburg campus today based in the Tampa Bay region where I've seen firsthand the impacts of climate impacts relating to sea level rise and destruction of storms and things of that nature. And that's really what got me involved and what got me motivated to get involved. And I think it really starts with taking small steps. I've been fortunate to do it in a number of ways over the last few years, taking steps to implement the sustainable Development goals within our campus community and the broader Tampa Bay region. So people understand the individual power they have in being able to take action as it relates to advancing the Sustainable Development Goals project. I'm really proud of while I served as the student governor here on our ST Petersburg Campus last year was to implement a water goat project and a water goat installation. Thanks to a very talented team of staff and students who oversaw this. It essentially is a device in our waterway in the bay here that siphons off trash so that the trash collected then does not harm marine life and that's so important. And I think the biggest thing that's lost in practicing the Sustainable Development goals is there's this kind of mindset and thinking. Well, hey, the challenges we face are incredibly significant, so significant to the point where I don't have a role to play and I don't need to do anything to make a difference because there's no value to it when in fact, it's the exact opposite. Our problems didn't start overnight. And as such, they won't be solved overnight. We all have a role to play in connecting passions with opportunities for impact so that together we can strengthen our collective future, which is so incredibly important.
Who or what inspires/inspired you to care about climate change and climate solutions?
Sean Schrader: Hey, I'm Sean Schrader. I'm really excited to share my perspective on why I think it's so important and what inspires me to care about climate solutions and protecting our future. I'm currently in the final semester of my MB A or my master's program in Business Administration here at the University of South Florida. It's coincidental to be here in ST Petersburg and be here in the Tampa Bay Region where firsthand there have been many impacts that this region has faced because of the climate, things like sea level rise, uh affecting those and line communities where I live in Clearwater, Clearwater Beach being prone to many impacts of the climate. And that's so incredibly significant when you think about the role that protecting our beach plays, not only for marine life and sea life, but the economic impacts of a beach and tourism to the region and offering those services to those who are interested. And so that's really kind of what got me inspired is this idea that you don't need to be an environmentalist. I mean, I business student, I'm interested in this stuff. It takes everybody, it takes finding your passion, it takes knowing that we all have a role to play in protecting our future. Because if nobody gets involved, that's the challenge that is putting our future in jeopardy, which nobody wants to do. And so I think for me, it's really about understanding the role we all can play as you know, these challenges we're talking about. There are no small feats. I mean, they are massive, significant problems and it takes everybody, it takes collective buy in. It takes that ability to recognize where you may have a strength, that others may have a weakness. Or others may have a strength where you have it and being able to understand those relationships and understanding the role everybody can and should hopefully play in protecting our future because that's what it's going to take. If we want to ensure our environment is protected and together we're collecting input from everybody to protect our climate and ultimately protect our future and for future generations.
