Sarabeth Brockley '10

Taking Action Toward Sustainability

In the summer of her sophomore year at Moravian College, Sarabeth Brockley ’10, then an art major interested in photography, took an environmental science class with Diane Husic, professor of biology. “It was the type of moment when you have someone in your life who is pretty powerful and who, without your realizing it, sets you on a course that later you can’t imagine would have been any different,” says Brockley. Since that moment, she has moved forward with increasing momentum along a path of tackling environmental issues—specifically climate change.

Brockley worked with Husic and others in restoring a federal Superfund site to a healthy, beautiful landscape. She attended several United Nations Climate Change Conferences, the first in 2009 with Moravian College—an experience that would steer her away from scientific research and toward environmental policy. She was awarded a fellowship to pursue a master’s degree in environmental design at Lehigh University, and while writing her thesis, interned at the United Nations, where she was later hired. For the UN, Brockley went to Jordan to work on water projects, then returned to the United States to work with the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs and UN Development Programme in New York City. Her résumé also includes the Climate Action Network, the Citizen’s Climate Lobby, a four-month project for National Geographic, and more.

“It was the type of moment when you have someone in your life who is pretty powerful and who, without your realizing it, sets you on a course that later you can’t imagine would have been any different.”

Today, Brockley is the partnerships coordinator for the nonprofit BSR (Business for Social Responsibility), which partners with more than 250 companies to develop global, sustainable strategies that produce positive outcomes in six areas: climate change, human rights, inclusive economy, supply chain sustainability, sustainability management, and women’s empowerment. “I do business development research on collaborative partners and make recommendations to BSR on how we should move forward with those partners,” says Brockley.

And remember her early interest in art and photography? Brockley has circled back to engage that medium in her efforts for sustainability. Three years ago, she, filmmaker Kaia Rose, and Nicole Crescimanno, who works with James Hansen at Columbia University, collaborated on the award-winning web series Climate Countdown, which maps out what people are doing to tackle climate change in engaging, accessible, bite-size video segments. 

Season 1 presents the Paris Agreement, and Season 2 looks at climate change in a post-Trump world. “The series is positive and optimistic,” says Brockley. “It’s one of the things I am most proud of.”

Reflecting on her work and all that has propelled her to where she is now, Brockley points to the example of Lehigh Gap Nature Center. “It was a group of citizen scientists who wanted to see change. They didn’t wait for government officials to say it was okay. They didn’t wait for experts to give them the green light. They acted. Sustained citizen work over a course of several years brought a barren, contaminated landscape back to a living, vibrant ecosystem.”

“That is the metaphor for what I like to do,” continues Brockley. “Not participating in climate change dialogues now would be a disservice to those who come after me. It’s impossible to have all the parts that you need to move forward. Taking a step matters.”

You can watch more episodes of Climate Countdown at climatecountdown.org.