‘Climate Champions’

Hillary Hauser and Dr. Leah Stokes to be honored by AWC-SB

of Achievement award recipient, will emcee the event.

“This is an honor that takes every one of my words away!”

Ms. Hauser said. “As a longtime writer/journalist, this feels like I’ve just been awarded the ‘Oscar of writing.’ I’m very humbled to be among the great women recognized by this association.”

Ms. Hauser is an accomplished diving photojournalist who cofounded the nonprofit Heal the Ocean in 1998. As executive director, she has led the organization’s extraordinary success in protecting the ocean, focusing on wastewater infrastructure — sewers and septic systems — as well as ocean dumping practices that have contributed to ocean pollution. She is outspoken about climate change and the urgent need to plan for sea level rise.

Dr. Stokes is an associate professor at UCSB whose work focuses on energy, climate and environmental politics. Her recent book, “Short Circuiting Policy,” was named the Best Energy Book of 2020 by the American Energy Society, listed as a Top 5 climate book for 2020 by the New York Times and won three awards from the American Political Science Association.

For her engaged scholarship, Dr. Stokes was recently recognized on the 2022 TIME100 Next and Business Insider Climate Action 30 lists. Her academic work is published in top journals and is widely read and cited. She is quoted frequently in national media, has written for top outlets including the New York Times and hosts a popular climate podcast, “A Matter of Degrees.”

“We are in a race to address the climate crisis and keep our planet habitable,” Dr. Stokes said. “Our greatest challenge is to transform politics and policy — effectively and equitably — so that climate solutions become our default choices. To do so, we need powerful storytelling that invites us to give up despair, find a climate community and take meaningful action. That’s