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10 Inspiring Environmental Experts to Follow on Twitter

Keeping up with new ideas in sustainability isn’t easy. After all, some call sustainability “the ultimate innovation challenge.” So, how’s a busy professional to keep up?

Why not try adding some green reading to your daily social media intake? Whether you have a job in sustainability now or you’re on the hunt for a green career, these 10 Twitter gurus will keep your feed up to date with high-quality information and thought-provoking perspectives you can bring to your job or next interview.


1. Ariel Schwartz @arielhs

Schwartz is senior editor of the Fast Company blog, FastCo Exist, which is a mash-up of design, sustainability, tech, and social good. In her position as editor, she does the weeding out for you, publishing and tweeting only the most interesting green oddities and inventions out there.


2. Bill McKibben @billmckibben

The father of modern environmental campaigning, Bill McKibben was one of the first to publish a book on climate change back in 1989 and has just come out with a new book called Oil and Honey. This guy is also the founder of 350.org, the biggest new movement to raise awareness about climate change and combat climate change denial. (By the way, if you don’t know what 350 signifies, look it up before your next interview.) Follow him for frontline developments on the KeystoneXL pipeline.


3. Elaine Hsieh @elaineishere

Director at one of most respected energy-tech-data conferences, VERGE, Hsieh is a great source for energy industry insights. In a former life, she was a consultant at DNV GL (formerly DNV KEMA), so you know she’s got her facts straight. Follow Hsieh for 201-level information on clean transportation, microgrids, energy markets, and agriculture technology.


4. Hannah Jones @hjones_nike

Hannah Jones is as close to a celebrity as we’ll get in the corporate sustainability world. She is a visionary and also works for one of the coolest, largest companies in the world (Nike). Her ability to impact green consumer products is unparalleled, and she’s witty, to boot. Jones pioneered open data and green supply chains and is now working on high-tech green materials.


5. Hunter Lovins @hlovins

A true thought leader, Hunter Lovins coined the term “natural capitalism” on the eve of when companies started realizing they needed to get their act together on the environment. Lovins’ thesis, that green business can also be good business, is a modern tenant of corporate sustainability today. Lovins tweets about corporate sustainability, climate change, and life in the Rocky Mountains.


6. Janelle Heslop @jayhesl

Disclaimer: I used to work with Heslop at GreenOrder, but that’s how I know how legit she is. A Guardian Sustainable Business Top 30 tweeter and chemical and environmental engineer by training, Heslop ferrets out relevant stories on water technology, green chemistry, climate change, and corporate sustainability. All-purpose green Twitter feed? Check.


7. Jigar Shah @JigarShahDC

You can thank Jigar Shah for bringing solar energy to market in the United States. He basically invented the framework for utilities to get in the solar game in the 1990s through his company, SunEdison, and was the first CEO of the Carbon War Room. When he’s not keynoting sustainability conferences, Shah serves up data-driven insights on renewable energy.


8. Jonah Sachs @JonahSachs

I first heard of Sachs when I accidentally attended a storytelling workshop he gave at a GreenBiz conference in 2012. Sachs is head of Free Range Studios and author of Winning the Story Wars. If you like new media sites like OZY or Vox, you’ll love the way Sachs sucks you in and makes you want to change the world.


9. NASA Climate @EarthVitalSigns

Did you know that NASA does climate change? Not settling for rocket scientist status, the good folks at NASA are now out to save the planet with their cool machines and rockets. Check out Earth’s selfie, ride in a time machine, and access a sea level viewer all from the comfort of your cube.


10. CityLab from The Atlantic @CityLab

The Atlantic Cities’ feed bills itself as a purveyor of “the most innovative ideas and pressing issues facing today’s cities and neighborhoods.” But it’s more like taking a Magic Schoolbus ride through the innards of what makes cities so weird and wonderful. What do cities have to do with green? The density of urban centers is one area of sustainability that can help us minimize our ecological footprint as the global population booms.



Of course, 10 certainly does not a Twitterverse make, and this list is only a starter. Regardless, follow these folks and you’ll be well served to refresh your sustainability chops.



Want more suggestions? Did I miss your favorite? Talk to me at @EmilyMChan.


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