Tahoe Takes Action | UC Davis Tahoe Environmental Research Center | Stories of Climate, Hope, and Resilience

The Tahoe Science Center celebrates local community members who are taking action and leading the way in protecting our environment amid climate change. This exhibit sparks conversation about action and offers ideas practical ways to get involved. Together, we can share hope, build resilience, and take meaningful action to better understand and protect our environment. Visit Tahoe Takes Action: Stories of Climate, Hope, and Resilience at the Tahoe Science Center to learn more and become part of our community of hope, resilience, and action!

This exhibit was created by Mia Compton-Engle, a science education intern through the 2025 TERC Summer Internship for Scholars Program. Under the mentorship of Heather Segale and Alison Toy, Mia designed the exhibit based on the Seeding Action strategy “Framing Planetary Health: Communicating to Cultivate a Culture of Hope and Action.” She also collected data about Tahoe residents’ and visitors’ climate opinions. Additionally, Mia interviewed local community members about how they are taking action. Mia is grateful to have learned from Tahoe’s environmental activists and to be able to communicate optimistic, actionable narratives through this exhibit!

Brennan LaGasse (sustainability educator and activist, mountain guide)

Brennan is a sustainability professor at the University of Nevada, Reno at Lake Tahoe. He roots sustainability in Indigenous worldviews such as stewardship, reciprocity, and intergenerationality. Brennan describes himself as a “bridge where knowledge has been made available to [him],” sharing this knowledge with students. Because “education is a vehicle for action,” Brennan is not only a professor, but also an environmental activist. He runs Informed Experiences, a nonprofit organization making place-based experiential learning opportunities accessible and equitable. To Brennan, “the world doesn’t have to be as harsh as it is for so many.” An overarching environmental solution is systemic change towards regenerative ways of being and alternative forms of economy. However, this change depends on smaller scale, local community-driven action. Brennan’s advice: “Incremental acts lead to cumulative change.” Start by learning more, supporting the groups taking action, and caring for others and yourself so that you can continue taking action. “There’s a place for everybody” in environmental solution-making.

Read the rest of the list here