Expedition-Backed Sustainability That Cuts Through the Noise

There's no shortage of sustainability content out there. Reports, pledges, net-zero targets, glossy campaigns with stock footage of wind turbines. The problem isn't a lack of information. It's that none of it makes people feel anything.

I know because I used to be part of that machine. Fifteen years at Ogilvy and Huge, helping brands craft sustainability messaging that checked all the boxes but rarely moved the needle. Then I left corporate to co-found Edges of Earth, and everything I thought I knew about sustainability communication got rewritten.

When you sit with a former dynamite fisherman in Raja Ampat who's become a coral gardener, or watch a ten-year-old in Cebu present reef monitoring data to her municipal council, you realize that the most powerful sustainability stories aren't being told in conference rooms. They're happening in the field, and they're being missed.

This talk brings those stories to your audience. Not as feel-good filler between panels, but as a strategic lens for understanding what actually works in conservation and sustainability. Your audience leaves with a different way of seeing the problem and real frameworks for communicating their own sustainability work with honesty and impact.

Talk Topics

I tailor every talk, but here are the core themes I draw from depending on the audience.

Ocean Conservation: What the Frontlines Actually Look Like

I've logged hundreds of dives documenting marine conservation projects across the Pacific, Indian Ocean, Caribbean, and Mediterranean. This talk takes your audience underwater and onto remote coastlines to see what ocean conservation looks like when it works. Not the version in the nature documentary. The messy, complicated, inspiring version where real communities are solving real problems with limited resources. I share specific stories, actual outcomes, and the patterns I've seen repeated across dozens of countries.

Climate Storytelling: From Doom to Agency

Climate communication has a despair problem. Decades of catastrophe framing have left audiences numb, not mobilized. I break down why doom narratives fail and what replaces them: positive deviance, protagonist-driven storytelling, and a narrative framework I developed in the field called the Frontline Narrative Arc. This talk is practical. Your audience walks away knowing how to tell climate stories that actually move people to act.

Positive Deviance: The People Solving Problems Nobody Thought They Could

In every country I've visited, I've found people solving environmental problems in ways that defy the narrative. Women-led mangrove collectives building carbon credit programs from scratch. Fishermen turned conservationists protecting the reefs they used to dynamite. Youth networks generating real scientific data that changes policy. These "positive deviants" are the heart of my work, and their stories are the most powerful tool I've found for making audiences believe change is possible.

Who Books This Talk

This keynote works across very different audiences, and I adjust the framing for each:

  • Corporate sustainability events and ESG summits where leaders need to hear what's happening on the ground, not just in the reports. I connect frontline stories to business strategy, brand authenticity, and stakeholder communication.
  • Sustainability conferences and climate summits looking for a speaker who brings field experience, not just research citations. I've been invited to events aligned with COP and regional sustainability summits across Asia, Europe, and the Americas.
  • Conservation organizations and marine nonprofits that want to learn storytelling as a tool for fundraising, advocacy, and community engagement. I share frameworks that work for small teams with limited budgets.
  • University programs and youth leadership events where the audience is looking for tangible ways to get involved. I show what early-career conservationists are accomplishing around the world and how to follow similar paths.
  • Outdoor, adventure, and dive industry events where sustainability intersects with recreation and tourism. The dive industry in particular resonates with my work, given my background as an SSI Divemaster and years of underwater documentation.

Credentials and Field Experience

I don't speak about sustainability from behind a desk. Here's where the work comes from:

  • SSI Divemaster with hundreds of logged dives across reef systems in Indonesia, Philippines, Fiji, Galapagos, Maldives, Mozambique, and beyond.
  • Explorers Club Flagholder, carrying the Flag on expeditions that document frontline conservation solutions.
  • UN Ocean Decade collaborator, contributing storytelling and communication strategy to ocean science and conservation efforts.
  • Forbes Business Council member, bridging conservation storytelling with business strategy and thought leadership.
  • Co-Founder of Edges of Earth, a global expedition series documenting 375+ frontline stories across 53 countries.
  • COP30 documentary currently in production, featuring frontline conservation voices from around the world. Premiering at COP30 in Belem, Brazil.
  • 15 years of agency experience at Ogilvy and Huge, building brand and sustainability communication strategies for Fortune 500 companies.

This combination matters because it means I can talk to a room of conservation scientists and a room of corporate executives with equal credibility. The stories are the same. The framing adapts.

Past Speaking

Selected sustainability and conservation speaking engagements:

  • COP-aligned events - Talks on frontline storytelling and ocean conservation communication
  • Explorers Club Annual Dinner - Expedition storytelling on marine conservation
  • DEMA Show - Keynote on ocean storytelling for the dive industry
  • Global Sustainability Forum - Panel on positive deviance in climate solutions
  • Our Ocean Conference - Presentation on community-led conservation
  • SXSW - Sustainability storytelling in the age of impact
  • Forbes Under 30 Summit - Keynote connecting brand strategy and sustainability
  • University programs - Guest lectures at marine biology, sustainability, and communications departments
  • Corporate events - Private keynotes for organizations in consumer goods, technology, outdoor recreation, and financial services

Frequently Asked Questions

What topics does Andi cover in sustainability keynotes?

Ocean conservation, climate storytelling, positive deviance, corporate sustainability communication, and frontline conservation leadership. Every talk draws from first-hand fieldwork across 53 countries and 375+ documented stories. I tailor the content to your audience, whether that's corporate leaders, conservation professionals, or students.

Can Andi customize a sustainability talk for a corporate audience?

Absolutely. For corporate events, I connect frontline conservation stories directly to business strategy, ESG communication, and brand authenticity. I've spent 15 years in the corporate world at Ogilvy and Huge, so I know how to frame sustainability in language that resonates with leadership teams and stakeholders.

What are Andi's credentials in sustainability and conservation?

SSI Divemaster, Explorers Club flagholder, UN Ocean Decade collaborator, and Forbes Business Council member. I've documented 375+ frontline conservation stories across 53 countries through Edges of Earth and I'm currently producing a documentary premiering at COP30. I also bring 15 years of corporate brand strategy experience from Ogilvy and Huge.