Ocean Hero Finalists: McKenzy Haber - Oceana USA
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May 20, 2011

Ocean Hero Finalists: McKenzy Haber

This is the eighth in a series of posts about this year’s Ocean Hero finalists.

Today’s featured junior ocean hero finalist is Homer, Alaska native McKenzy Haber, who hosted the first ever TEDxHomer Teen conference in 2010, with a theme of sustainability.

McKenzy and several other teens adapted the TED model to get the word out about ocean conservation to 140 teens and adults in Homer, Alaska and 1,800 livestreaming online. The conference included talks about the oceans, climate change in the Arctic and Antarctica, and ecological economics.

At the 9th World Wilderness Congress, also known as WILD9, he gave a plenary speech called “Dear Developed Earth,” to world leaders about teen leadership and protecting wild Alaskan waters. “Many delegates came up to me afterward crying and saying how moving it was,” McKenzy wrote via e-mail. Watch it and see why McKenzy is such an inspiration:

WILD9 – McKenzy Haber (English) from The WILD Foundation on Vimeo.

After learning about ocean acidification, McKenzy also made a movie called Melting Giants as part of the Alaska Youth for Environmental Action summer training.

Have you voted yet? Check out the other finalists, cast your vote and spread the word! And stay tuned for more spotlighted finalists in the coming days!

Special thanks to the sponsors of the Ocean Heroes Award for making all of this possible: Nautica, Revo and For Cod & Country, the new book by chef and National Geographic fellow Barton Seaver.