Crystal: [00:00:00] I’m Crystal DiMiceli and welcome to the Forces for Nature show. Do you find yourself overwhelmed with all the doom and gloom you hear of these days? Do you feel like you, as just one person, can’t really make a difference? Forces for Nature cuts through that negativity. In each episode, I interview someone who is working to make the world more sustainable and humane.

Join me in learning from them and get empowered to take action so that you too can become a Force for Nature. Welcome to another episode of the Forces for Nature EarthX [00:00:45] Conference Series, where I bring you behind the scenes of my experiences during the EarthX Conference, and up close and personal with some of their incredible speakers. I remember when I first learned about the event, and I remember being floored that one of the biggest Earth Day celebrations in the world, which is this one, takes place in Dallas, Texas every year. Texas. Not the first state you think of when you think of environmental sustainability. And on the first day of the conference, Trammell Crowe, one of the founders, pointed that out. He himself is Texan, so the location makes sense in that regard, but he didn’t try to sugarcoat Texas’s [00:01:30] environmental reputation.

He said that Texas needed to learn to give a shi That Texas is one of the problems. If we can get Texas to go light green, then America will go dark green. I thought all of that was really bold to say, and a really interesting thought about the light green, dark green thing. When you look at the numbers, Texas is actually one of the leaders, if not the leader, in the country in all forms of energy. Yes, of course you think of coal, oil, and gas. We already know that. But did you know that they are neck and neck with California in terms of solar and wind? Yeah, I didn’t either. [00:02:15] But their reasoning for it isn’t to save the world, although I think that’s a pretty good reason. Instead, it’s that it makes financial sense. Wind and solar are increasingly cheap. I don’t know about you, but I don’t care what your reason is for doing something as long as we both end up at the desired goal of a clean energy future. A future that’s as much for us as it is for our kids. And speaking of kids, nothing inspires me more and lights my heart up than when I see kids doing all they can to make sure that the planet is healthy. That’s why when I learned about 12 year old Now 13. Brooke Carter at [00:03:00] EarthX. I really hoped to have an opportunity to chat with her. Brooke is the host of EarthXTV’s Wild Wonders with Brooke, where she travels the world joining wildlife and conservation experts to learn what it takes to protect animals and the planet. It’s kind of my dream job. She’s fearless and dedicated, which isn’t a surprise given that her dad is Ivan Carter, a well known conservationist and host of another one of EarthXTV’s shows. Though I do want to give credit to her mom, Ashley, as well. She’s obviously the glue that holds it all together and the rock of the family.

But yeah, Brooke. She’s such an impressive girl. She even flawlessly [00:03:45] presented at the conference to a large live audience. I’m still learning that skill. I did end up having a wonderful opportunity to connect with her, and I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

Hi, Brooke. Thank you so much for joining me on Forces for Nature. It’s so great to have you. Thank you so

Brooke: much for having me. I’m super excited that I’m here.

Speaker: EarthX has been so much fun all week long, but you get to experience EarthX TV all the time through the work that you do with them. What I want the listener to know before we even get further into it is how old are you?

Speaker 2: So I’m 12 years old. I’m super excited though, cause [00:04:30] my birthday is in July and I’m going to be turning 13. Happy

Speaker: birthday. How long have you loved animals?

Speaker 2: Well, my dad used to take me on some of his adventures, and like, ever since I was three, I was always like, I want this to be my job one day, I want to go with my dad everywhere and do all this cool stuff with animals.

Speaker: And when did it start to happen that he did start taking you with him?

Speaker 2: Well, we used to live in the Bahamas with me, my brother, my mom, and my dad, and my dad would have to come to South Africa and Africa to do safaris with other people. And sometimes he would take me or my brother on some of his trips.[00:05:15]

But when it really started to happen was probably when I was about nine.

Speaker: So ever since you were nine, you’ve been on some really amazing, or actually even before nine, but you’ve been on some really amazing adventures. Do you have any favorites that stand out to you?

Speaker 2: Well, I only have three that are on my top.

I’d probably have to say Costa Rica. We had to go into the huge rainforest with the most beautiful ecosystems and animals. And then we had to also go to Madagascar. And we went to beautiful caves in there. And they were just limestone caves and so it was so sparkly and everything. We saw a bunch of lemurs as well.

And then we went to the [00:06:00] Kalahari, where we met a nice Amur cat family. And it was so cute because you could go and sit there. Next to the little holes in the morning and they come and they climb on you and get curious. Yeah, very very

Speaker: curious I used to work with meerkats When I worked at a zoo and I love them.

Speaker 2: Yeah, they’re so inquisitive as well And my husband’s

Speaker: Costa Rican, so I’ve been able to also experience the beauty of Costa Rica and it’s so It’s special, right?

Speaker 2: It really is. We went to this one restaurant where there were hummingbirds everywhere and there was a feeder on each table and these hummingbirds had gotten so used to humans that you could go with your camera and go so close to them and get the most beautiful shots of these emerald hummingbirds and these [00:06:45] purple hummingbirds, but it was a really special place to be.

What’s the name of that restaurant I’m going to have to go? I’m actually not a hundred percent sure. We went with our guide and I don’t know, it was some Spanish name. I’ll look it up. I’m sure I can find it somewhere.

Speaker: What were some of your scariest adventures?

Speaker 2: I’ve got one that was very frightening to me.

Um, we were in Florida and we had to go film with the alligators. We had to go and do a night patrol and it was actually quite scary because we went in. a smaller boat and we had to go out and we had to count how many alligators there were and you’d shine with the light and it would just be this whole river just full of [00:07:30] eyes and I was scared that one was going to campsize our boat and then we’d obviously be goners.

And it was that small of a boat? Yeah it was a pretty, pretty tiny boat, pretty rickety, like if I were to go from one side to the other we’d definitely Definitely change a little bit of the balance. It would wobble. Yeah, it would.

Speaker: Okay, um, no thank you.

Speaker 2: That was pretty frightening, yeah.

Speaker: What have you learned that has surprised you the most?

Speaker 2: I have been very fortunate to know so much about animals, and I just really like knowing about all the different kinds of species and so many different facts about how each one is unique and different in their own way. [00:08:15] And yeah, I have learned so much about nudibranchs. I don’t know if you know what that is.

That’s my favorite animal. They’re like these sea slugs that are absolutely beautiful. A lot of people mistake them like a nudibranch because that’s how they’re spelled. Like N U D I B R A N C H. Okay. Where are they found? They’re found in the ocean, but only in like the most healthy ecosystems. And I’ve only ever seen one, and it was Such an incredible moment.

They were so beautiful. Where was that healthy ecosystem? That was in Mozambique. We went and we did a bit of snorkeling there along the edge of the reef of there. And it was just so beautiful and full of life.

Speaker: Do you

Speaker 2: also scuba dive? [00:09:00] I do. So I have not really got into the scuba diving part with the tanks and that kind of stuff.

Um, but I do like to snorkel a lot. Yeah, me too. It’s a whole different world. It really is, especially just under the water. It’s just so much life.

Speaker: What haven’t you done that is on your bucket list?

Speaker 2: So, I have never dived with sharks. So, in the Bahamas, my parents used to, you know, go down with all their scuba diving gear all the way down to the ocean floor and be able to be up close, just surrounded by all these beautiful different kinds of sharks.

And then my dad, it was actually kind of funny. He would throw a rope out the back of the boat and me and my [00:09:45] brother would be there looking down at all the sharks holding onto the rope. And so we didn’t drift away. It was so much fun. I really, I would really, really like to go and scuba dive. With the sharks.

Yeah, with the sharks in the bottom.

Speaker: I don’t remember if she’s in the Bahamas, but did you connect with Christina Zenuto? Yeah, you’re going with her? We know her very well. She’s, she’s a very good friend of ours. Oh, she’s amazing. She really is. I interviewed her, I have another podcast called the Healthy Seas Podcast.

Yeah. And I interviewed her there and the work that she does is so exciting. I

Speaker 2: know, it’s insane, like free diving with those huge great white sharks, it’s insane.

Speaker: Yeah, it’s. Will you get to be doing any of that, uh, [00:10:30] swimming with sharks?

Speaker 2: Well, um, we actually do have an upcoming episode that we’re going to do in the Bahamas.

Okay. Where, um, it opens with me learning how to scuba dive with all the gear and all the tanks and all that stuff. And then sort of mid episode, we know these very nice friends from where we used to live in the Bahamas. They get molds of these coral, and then they put cement into the coral molds, and then they take them out into the ocean, and they make this whole, like, line of this whole coral, and all the fish come, and they make their little homes in the coral, and then the end of the episode is going to be me freediving with sharks in my scuba gear and all that stuff, so that’s going to be really exciting.[00:11:15]

Speaker: And I think it’s really important that people, sharks have such a bad reputation, right? So it’s really important for people to see that they’re not all those bad things. And if you’re able to be around them and, and you’re like a little nugget for them. Yeah, exactly. It shows that, you know, these animals are very misunderstood.

Speaker 2: Yeah. Another thing is that people making all these movies of all these sharks attacking people and jaws and the Megalodon and all that stuff. And you’re just like, Why do sharks have to do that? There’s such a bad reputation just because they’ve got sharp teeth doesn’t mean like they’re, like, so aggressive all the time.

Speaker: Yeah, absolutely. And they’re aggressive just when they, you know, they need to eat.

Speaker 2: Yeah,

Speaker: exactly. But they don’t want to eat [00:12:00] us. Yeah. We don’t taste that good.

Speaker 2: Yeah. Because, like, even sloths, they’ve got teeth. Like the most big teeth and everything. And they can actually be very aggressive, bite through bone and everything like that.

Seriously? Yeah, it’s, yeah, exactly. And so people judge these sharks when sloths basically have the same thing. I, that is like

Speaker: my takeaway of the week right there. I didn’t know that. What else do you like to do for fun? You have, you do fun things all the time, but what else is fun? Well,

Speaker 2: I’ve got a bunch of creepy critters at home.

I’ve got tarantulas and snakes and geckos. So a lot of the time I’m either playing with them, feeding them, [00:12:45] giving them water, or I’m out with my horses, , riding about. I really like to ride bareback with no saddle. , I’ve got two horses, Honeybear and Spirit, and they’re just such, such sweet little people.

They’ve got both very individual personalities, But they’re just so adorable. They’re so cute. That’s awesome.

Speaker: That’s very cool. What do you want kids and even adults to, at home, to know?

Speaker 2: I really want everyone to know that, um, our ecosystem actually really needs help. And that people don’t notice it because some other people just hide it a little bit better than others.

But, yeah, just [00:13:30] go outside, maybe have a bit of fun in the sun. That’s awesome. Maybe catch a butterfly or two, learn a bit about that stuff. I mean, I, we’ve just built an aviary in our backyard and I spend hours in there with my camera taking photos of them and trying to get a nice shot of them. What kind of birds do you have?

We’ve got lorries, we’re going to get some ducks, we’re going to get these parrot finches as well, and mini peacocks. They’re absolutely beautiful, they’re called peacock pheasants. Oh, I have to check those out. I don’t think I’ve heard of them. Yeah, we’re going to get those as well. They’re just so cool. So be able to sit there and just look at all this.

We’ve got a little pond there. And then we’ve got all of our lorries [00:14:15] bouncing around and all the different branches that we’ve put up for them. Eating fruit and banana and grapes. They’re just so happy. Very

Speaker: cool. That sounds like a lot of fun.

How can we watch your show? When are you on?

Speaker 2: Well, I’ve, I used to be on EarthX TV, the, the actual app, but now they’ve put me on to FuboTV and DirecTV, um, on a channel. So yeah, it’s called Wild Wonders with Brooke. Excellent.

Speaker: And I, I usually like to, to end my episodes with giving the listener a piece of advice, like something they can do to help, like with the work that you’re doing.

Speaker 2: Okay.

Speaker: Do you have any ideas? [00:15:00]

Speaker 2: One thing that I always like to tell people is that I can change the world and so can you. If we don’t look after and care for our wildlife now, then there’s going to be no wildlife and ecosystems to care for later.

Speaker: That’s very true. Brooke, you are a delight. I want to be like you when I grow up.

Thank you so much for having me. Thank you for all that you do. You’re making a difference.

Young people will be the ones to inherit the earth that we leave behind. For this important reason, we all need to do our little part to make sure that the magic that exists in the world now stays that way. To do what it takes to [00:15:45] protect beautiful, strange creatures like Brooke’s favorite, the nudibranchs.

But it’s also important to inspire the next generations to want to also make eco friendly choices. Brooke is doing just that. She’s showing kids, and us adults, that if a 13 year old can do it, We all can, and we all should. Don’t forget to go to forcesfornature. com and sign up to receive emailed show notes, action tips, and a free checklist to help you start taking practical actions today.

Do you know someone else who would enjoy this episode? I would be so grateful if you would share it with them. Hit me up on Instagram and Facebook at becoming forces [00:16:30] for nature, and let me know what actions you have been taking. Adopting just one habit could be a game changer. Because imagine if a million people also adopted that.

What difference for the world are you going to make today?