Ocean Wise Youth Voted As Top Environmentalists

The Starfish Canada welcomed their new group of Top 25 Environmentalists Under 25 for 2022! Ocean Wise is excited to announce that 3 of our youth ambassadors were selected. Congratulations Caio Krause Conradt, Cogie Cogan, and Iman Berry! 

From coast to coast to coast, young Canadians have been inspiring and leading the environmental movement with their creativity and passion. With young people feeling the climate burden and sometimes struggling with eco-anxiety it is so important to see their hard work being recognized.  

To celebrate their passion for the environment, the Top 25 Program rewards these young leaders creating positive change in their communities by sharing their story through a national platform. 

Check out the great work our very own Ocean Wise Youth ambassadors are doing below! 

Caio Krause Conradt (he/him) 

Age: 17   

Location: British Columbia   

Traditional Territory: Traditional, ancestral, and unceded territory of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), sel̓íl̓witulh (Tsleil Waututh), and sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish) Coast Salish peoples.  

Caio is originally from Brazil where he grew fond of local biodiversity from a young age and learned about the environmental issues the planet is facing. This led Caio to participate in the COP24 youth #Decarbonize paper and help clean up the Guarapiranga Reservoir. Caio considers himself an environmental activist and a change-maker. His love for nature and passion for climate justice and environmental conservation pushed him to continue to take action after moving to Canada and sign up to be an Ocean Wise YouthToSea ambassador in 2021. During his time at YouthToSea, Caio and other ambassadors created “Schooling Fish,” a program aimed to inspire youth advocacy for ocean literacy. Through educational workshops, meetings, and experiential learning opportunities, Caio and fellow ambassadors brought their program to 5 high schools in Vancouver/Burnaby. At his own school, Caio helped implement sustainability as the Earthwise Club president, continuing to inspire change through engaging activities, games, workshops and managing the greenhouse. 

Cogie Cogan (they/them)   

Age: 20   

Location: Ontario   

Traditional Territory: The traditional territories of the Anishinaabek, Haudenosaunee, Lūnaapéewak, and Chonnonton Nations.  

Cogie is an environmental and animal rights advocate pursuing a bachelor’s degree in Globalization Studies at Huron University College. In 2020, they founded Western Environmental Business (WEB), a club at Western University that fosters the next generation of environmentally aware business leaders. From 2021-2022, Cogie served on the Youth Advisory Council for Jane Goodall Institute of Canada, became the Huron Sustainability Commissioner, and joined Ocean Wise’s Ocean Bridge program. As Sustainability Commissioner, Cogie successfully campaigned to make Huron a Blue Community, thus ending the commodification and sales of water on their university campus. In March of 2022, Cogie travelled to Nairobi, Kenya as a delegate to the United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA 5.2). Over the summer, Cogie worked as a Business Analyst Intern in the Royal Bank of Canada’s Amplify program where they won the Industry Disruptor Award with their team for creating a U.S. patent pending product to help the bank reduce their carbon footprint. They are currently working as a part-time Climate Change Business Analyst for RBC and as a Research Assistant exploring humane vegan businesses. 

Iman Berry (she/her)  

Age: 21   

Location: Ontario   

Traditional Territory: The traditional territory of the Attawandaron (Neutral), Anishnaabeg, and Haudenosauonee peoples.  

Iman is passionate about environmental justice and ensuring that everyone is able to access environmental education. Iman is a co-founder and board member at Green Ummah, a non-profit that raises awareness amongst Canadian Muslims of the Islamic environmental teachings and to empower them to become leaders in the green movement. Through her work at Green Ummah, Iman has been able to focus on voter education around the environmental space. Iman has been a part of lobbying Members of Parliament to take climate action through policy. For the past Municipal and Provincial elections, Iman was part of organizing environment-focused debates where members of various communities could learn about climate-focused policy points and different candidates’ stances on these topics. Iman has also worked to create multiple education campaigns focusing on each level of government and the delineation of their environmental responsibilities. On top of this, Iman was an Ocean Wise ambassador, joining the Ocean Bridge Great Lakes team in 2021. Iman hoped to continue her environmental advocacy work to spreading education about oceans and waterways and why protecting these spaces is a significant part of tackling climate change. Iman will attend IMPAC5 this year as a delegate to help further this mission.