Christopher Wolff is a Hydrologist, Adventurer and Storyteller who is using his passion for the environment and his love for exploration to change the way we learn about this little blue planet we all call home.
For over decade, Chris worked as a Hydrologist for organizations such as the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, New Mexico Environment Department, and County of San Diego. Seeing the need for a new way to communicate water and natural resource science, Chris founded Adventure Hydrology in 2018.
Adventure Hydrology is a social media forward platform that uses the lens of adventure to teach people about our amazing world.
Chris is also working to make Adventure Hydrology a channel where other scientists, researchers, volunteers, and activists can share their stories, as we come together to inspire and engage others to explore, discover, and protect our amazing world.
Top Takeaways:
- People seem to know about geology, ecology, and biology but most don’t know what hydrology is. They don’t know the importance or value of water but take this challenge as an opportunity to think outside of the box. Chris is turning the tide by making water ‘sexy’ through adventures like white water rafting, climbing mountains, canyoneering and glissading.
- Three things we, in the water and environmental industries, can get in our way: using fear or scaring people about issues, letting politics lead the way, and not sharing data and knowledge to move the needle forward.
- Storytellers must fight through those with trepidations of sharing information to teach the value of water. Continue to bang that storytelling drum.
- Be aware of your surroundings to bring action and protection of the resources you love.
Resources:
Firefight (Reckoners Series) by Brandon Sanderson
Sponsor:
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Time Stamps:
[1:30] Shout out to Imagine A Day Without Water
[3:38] Chris explains ‘why water’.
[7:28] Adventure Hydrology brings the “sexy back” for water.
[11:18] Definitions of canyoneering and glissading.
[13:15] Sponsorship and partnership opportunities.
[14:58] What it’s like to work for the federal government, aka U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, according to Chris.
[17:40] Inspired by an experience on the Rio Grande, the idea for Adventure Hydrology was born.
[19:43] Holy discontent.
[20:30] See the Rio Grande River episode.
[22:37] Hurdles we face in the industry.
[24:09] There are “darn cool” things going on in our industry. Is there a fear of success?
[26:24] Stop waiting for people to come to us, we as educators have to go to them.
[31:35] Telling the “wild” water stories.
[33:57] #RealNews. Everyone has a water story to tell. Water creates connections.
[38:41] Dinosaur tangents are fun.
[40:49] Chris tells what’s important about education around water and natural resources
In the end we will conserve only what we love; we will love only what we understand; and we will understand only what we are taught.” – Baba Dioum
[44:03] A walk through of Chris’s video planning process.
[47:53] Chris breaks down Al Gore’s Climate Reality Leadership Corps he recently attended.
[53:34] The H2duO and Chris play a word scrambler game to demonstrate how literally everything can be connected to water.
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Disclosure of Material Connection: Some of the links in the post above are “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. Regardless, we only recommend products or services we use personally or believe will add value to our readers. We are disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”
