Help accelerate the Safina Center’s values-changing work

"The Safina Center is the leading organization at the intersection of creativity, nature, science, and action.” — Chip Blake, former Editor of Orion magazine

“Considering the modest size of your operation, the out-sized impact you are having is astonishing.” —   Scott McVay, co-discoverer of humpback whale song

Led by the MacArthur “genius fellowship” winner, ecologist, and author Carl Safina, The Safina Center is a unique non-profit organization based in Setauket, NY, and working on several continents. Our purpose is to advance a case for life on Earth.

In the world of environmental conservation not-for-profits, the Safina Center stands out. We recognize that society cannot tackle climate change, global change—or any necessary change—unless we simultaneously change values to support the needed changes. The Safina Center compellingly articulates the why, and the how, of values change. Our work fuses scientific information, emotional connection, and a call to action. The Safina Center is running a long, deep, ideas-driven game whose effects reverberate globally. 

In 2015, the Safina Center established a fellowship program, offering our financial and promotional support to exceptionally talented early- and mid-career folks working in the realm of conservation. We nurture and help propel mainly two sorts of people: connectors who build incredible communities that spreading positive change through conversations, education and action; and creators who are making world-class artistic works capable of informing, uplifting, and guiding changes in hearts and minds. In 2021 Safina Center Early Career Fellows Jasmin Graham and Alex Troutman helped organize the “Black in Marine Science Week” and other projects to raise visibility of people of color working in the marine sciences; Mid-Career Fellow Jacqueline L. Scott co-authored an important report on race and nature in Canadian cities; and Mid-Career Fellow Amy Gulick illustrated the interconnectedness between salmon, people, and the health of Alaskan ecosystems in her photography and writing….

We know of no other group in our field whose focus is on changing people’s view of the world by fusing scientific knowledge with an emotional connection and the inspiration to act. We are excited to announce that we are presently working on expanding our fellowship program, so we can better serve the amazing people in our network—so they can best continue connecting, creating, and changing the world.

So how do we make our ideas more ubiquitously known and more influential at this high-stakes time? We need your help. Please consider donating to our Endowment Campaign today. Here’s how.