The RCC is Building the Next Generation of Environmental Leaders

By Diego Tovar, Director of Campus and Civic Engagement

From July 19-23, 2026, the Rachel Carson Council welcomed a national cohort of emerging environmental leaders to Washington, D.C., for its 2026 American Environmental Leadership Institute (AELI). RCC Fellows traveled from campuses across every region of the country, bringing with them experiences shaped by the forests, rivers, coastlines, mountains, farms, cities, and neighborhoods they call home.

Some aspire to organize climate campaigns on their campuses. Others hope to conduct environmental research, advocate for public policy, write for student newspapers, or lead sustainability initiatives in their communities. Although each student’s path is unique, they all arrived with a shared purpose. They came to strengthen their leadership and discover new ways to create meaningful environmental change.

The RCC American Environmental Leadership Institute brings together collegiate environmental leaders, Rachel Carson Council Fellows, elected officials, scientists, nonprofit leaders, educators, writers, and advocates to explore what environmental leadership looks like in practice. Rather than offering a single blueprint for creating change, AELI demonstrates that leadership takes many forms.

Throughout the week, Washington, D.C. became a place where participants built lasting friendships, learned from nationally recognized environmental leaders, explored the intersection of policy and storytelling, and developed the skills to carry Rachel Carson’s legacy back to their campuses and communities.

Building a National Community

Before students could strengthen the environmental movement, they first had to strengthen one another.

On the opening evening, participants gathered at the Rachel Carson Council’s Washington, D.C., office, where introductions quickly turned into conversations that stretched across dinner tables. Students shared stories about the environmental challenges facing their hometowns, compared organizing experiences, discussed research projects, and exchanged ideas about the work unfolding on their campuses and in their communities. Although they represented different regions, backgrounds, and disciplines, they soon discovered that many of the challenges they faced and the hopes that motivated them were remarkably similar.

The room buzzed with curiosity and excitement as new friendships formed, and future collaborations took shape.

Dr. Robert K. Musil, President and CEO of the Rachel Carson Council, welcomed the cohort by reflecting on Rachel Carson’s enduring legacy and the responsibility of the next generation to continue protecting both people and the planet. His remarks reminded students that environmental progress has always depended on the willingness to organize, collaborate, and find intersectional connections to the work needed to build a just, environmental movement.

By the end of the evening, AELI accomplished one of its most important goals. Students no longer saw themselves as individual leaders working in isolation. They were now part of a national movement committed to learning from one another and advancing environmental change together.

Learning to Lead Through Advocacy

The following morning shifted from building community to building confidence.

Environmental leadership involves translating science into policy, communicating across differences, and advocating effectively with communities affected by environmental injustice. During advocacy and policy workshops led by Joy Reeves, Director of Policy and Strategic Development, and Margaret Cantrell, Senior Advisor and Counsel, students explored how environmental legislation moves through Congress, how advocates prepare for meetings with elected officials from local to national levels, and how personal stories can strengthen conversations about complex policy issues.

Rather than memorizing talking points, participants practiced weaving together scientific evidence, local experiences, and the voices of their communities. Students learned that the most effective advocates do more than present facts. They help decision-makers understand the people behind those facts.

That afternoon, the classroom expanded beyond the Rachel Carson Council office and into the halls of Congress.

Walking together through the Capitol complex, students carried the lessons they developed that morning into conversations with policymakers. A meeting with U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island allowed participants to engage with one of Congress’s leading voices on climate policy while learning about careers in public service during a Capitol Hill career discussion that followed. For many students, the experience reinforced that they belonged in these spaces, and their perspectives mattered.

The day’s conversations continued over dinner with Maryland State Senator Sara Love, who shared her experiences advancing environmental legislation at the state level. She reminded students that environmental leadership extends far beyond Washington. Meaningful change happens in city councils, state legislatures, classrooms, nonprofit organizations, and neighborhoods across the country. Every level of leadership matters, and every voice has the potential to shape the future.

By the end of the day, advocacy no longer felt like something reserved for professionals or elected officials. It had become a skill students could carry home and put into practice in their own communities.

Discovering the Power of Storytelling

If advocacy helps shape policy, storytelling helps shape culture.

Rachel Carson understood that scientific knowledge alone rarely inspires action. People protect what they understand, and they understand what they can connect to through story. AELI’s third day challenged students to explore the many ways environmental storytelling can inspire curiosity, build empathy, and move people to action.

The morning began with a creative environmental storytelling presentation led by Sydney O’Shaughnessy, Director of Communications, Joy Reeves, Director of Policy and Strategic Development, and Diego Tovar, Director of Campus and Civic Engagement. Students then explored visual advocacy through an engaging cartooning workshop led by Rebecca Bratspies and Charlie LaGreca. Together, these sessions demonstrated that environmental communication reaches audiences through many forms, from essays and journalism to illustration, humor, and art. Every medium offers another opportunity to make environmental issues more accessible, memorable, and deeply human.

Students then turned their attention to one of Rachel Carson’s greatest practices, observation.

During Nature Journaling 101, led by O’Shaughnessy and Reeves, participants learned how slowing down, paying attention, and documenting the natural world strengthens both scientific thinking and creative expression. The lesson continued outdoors at the United States Botanic Garden, where students traded conference rooms for winding garden paths and living collections representing ecosystems from around the world.

Pens replaced laptops. Conversations softened into quiet reflection. Students paused beneath towering plants, examined intricate flowers, and filled journals with sketches, observations, and reflections. In a city often defined by fast-moving schedules and political debate, the gardens offered something equally important. Stillness.

The afternoon reminded participants that environmental leadership begins with noticing the world around us. Before we can protect nature, we must first learn to see it.

That evening, Matt Scott of Project Drawdown challenged students to imagine a future defined not only by environmental problems but also by environmental solutions. His presentation highlighted climate initiatives already making measurable progress around the world while encouraging participants to see themselves as contributors to those solutions. The conversation left students with an important reminder that hope is not passive optimism. Hope grows from informed action, collaboration, embracing identity, and the willingness to keep building a better future.

Carrying Leadership Home

By AELI’s final full day, the conversations had shifted once again. Students no longer asked what environmental leadership looked like. They asked how they would put it into practice.

Rachel Carson Council Fellows refined their National Environmental Leadership Fellowship (NELF) projects, strengthening ideas they would continue developing throughout the coming year.

Students also explored strategies for expanding civic engagement on their campuses through nonpartisan voter participation and community organizing, recognizing that environmental progress depends upon an engaged public willing to participate in democracy.

During afternoon reflections, students looked back on everything they experienced throughout the week while also looking ahead. Ideas that existed only as early conversations during Sunday’s welcome dinner evolved into concrete plans, new partnerships, and shared commitments to continue supporting one another long after returning home.

In the evening, students gathered to hear from Steve Roady, Founding President of Oceana. Drawing upon decades of environmental leadership, Roady reflected on the persistence required to build lasting environmental change. He reminded students that meaningful progress rarely happens overnight. It grows through patience, collaboration, resilience, and the willingness to continue showing up even when solutions take years to achieve.

The week concluded over a final dinner filled with laughter, reflection, and promises to stay connected. What started only days earlier as introductions among strangers had grown into friendships, professional relationships, and a national network of emerging environmental leaders committed to supporting one another long into the future.

Carrying Rachel Carson’s Legacy Forward

As students packed their bags and departed Washington, D.C., the following morning, they carried home friendships, practical skills in advocacy, storytelling, organizing, and civic engagement. They carried renewed confidence in their ability to influence conversations on their campuses, within their communities, and in the institutions shaping environmental policy.

Most importantly, they carried a deeper understanding of what environmental leadership truly means.

The American Environmental Leadership Institute does not seek to create one kind of leader. Instead, it helps students discover the unique strengths they already possess and challenges them to use those strengths in the service of people and the planet. Whether participants become scientists, policymakers, educators, journalists, nonprofit leaders, or community organizers, they leave with a shared understanding that lasting environmental progress depends upon people willing to listen carefully, collaborate generously, and speak with courage. That is the legacy Rachel Carson is leaving behind. It’s also the legacy this new generation of environmental leaders now carries forward.