Nick Hardigg

Nick has strived to increase Earth awareness since his teenage years. He studied environmental science at Wesleyan University and received an MBA at Yale. Before dedicating his life to conservation, he worked as an environmental filmmaker and travelled the globe helping to teach eye surgery. Nick views Alaska’s conservation challenges as a microcosm of global disconnect. Alaska’s people are divided: those whose Earth awareness is greatest are economically and politically divided from each other and from positions of power. Alaska’s most influential people often lack the long-term connection with place that creates awareness. Effective conservation is a process of healing divisions, growing respect, and empowerment. For 30 years ACF has been the hub of Alaska conservation, supporting grassroots groups statewide. Current issues include raising awareness of one of the world’s largest open-pit mines, proposed at the headwaters of our nation’s greatest remaining salmon fishery, Bristol Bay.