Origins of a Green Hero

In the third episode of Season 5, host Monica Carcamo-Binetti settles into the Save the Redwoods League office on a chilly San Francisco morning with guest Rahsaan McFarland II. Rahsaan is a Stanford undergraduate, artist, photographer, and emerging science communicator whose early encounters with coast redwoods opened a path toward environmental justice.

Rahsaan co-founded Nurtured by Nature to help Black students feel welcome in the outdoors and build community in wild spaces. He’s weathered a whirlwind from the start of his federal service. Hired by the Environmental Protection Agency’s water division supporting tribal water infrastructure, to then be let go by an administrative shift, then rehired, only to be placed on administrative leave. Yet, Rahsaan continues to show up for people and places. Rahsaan continues partnering with tribal communities in the Sierras this summer and is shaping a future in water and environmental protection while finishing his degree.

This episode is a message of hope filled with reflections of belonging. You’ll hear how community, access, and days spent beneath giants can spark a lifetime of awe and stewardship.

About our guest

Rahsaan McFarland Ⅱ (he/him) is an artist-photographer, science communicator, and civil servant for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). As an undergraduate, he studies the oceanic and atmospheric circulation of the Earth system, with a particular fascination for coastal fog. He enjoys transcribing his maritime adventures (and curiosities) into creative nonfiction — most affectionately, an anthropomorphic portrait of San Francisco’s ever-changing, ever-erratic, ever-enigmatic marine layer, Karl the Fog. In his leisure time, Rahsaan delights in walking old-growth redwood trails, skateboarding around Stanford campus, and meandering the squiggly spine roads of his favorite scenic byway, Skyline Boulevard (CA-35).

Find him on social media: ⁠Instagram⁠ | ⁠LinkedIn