Humanity faces an accelerating crisis of climate change, biodiversity loss, and cultural homogenization — eroding the ecosystems and cultural knowledge that sustain our collective thriving. Addressing these challenges requires a shared reimagining of our relationships to ecosystems and to each other. Stories are the foundation of our shared belonging and values, and in a fractured and extractive media landscape we have lost our collective connection to a shared set of stories about our purpose, goals and responsibilities as caretakers of our communities and ecosystems. Wild salmon, and the communities who have stewarded them for generations, offer a powerful story of what’s possible when we embrace place-based belonging — a felt sense of connection to land, water, and community that grounds us even amid crisis. 

Drawing on two decades supporting Indigenous and community-led salmon stewardship, Will and Olivia will share case studies illustrating how place-based stewardship, reciprocity, shared story-telling, and a plurality of cultural knowledge and values can restore lasting resilience — and a renewed sense of belonging — to both ecosystems and communities across the planet.

About The Speakers:

Olivia Leigh Nowak and Dr. William Atlas are a husband and wife duo working at the nexus of salmon conservation, story, and community-led solutions to tackling environmental and social challenges.

Olivia Leigh Nowak is a story facilitator, filmmaker, and founder of le colibri STUDIO, a creative practice dedicated to ethical story facilitation that upholds the authenticity, integrity, and agency of storytellers. Her work spans documentary, cultural liaison, and creative direction, including Running Wild, an IMAX film about salmon, and the CBC Short Docs series “Black Rock” and “Pandemic Elementary.” Through years of collaboration with Indigenous communities across British Columbia and South America, she honors storytelling as a living relationship connecting people, place, and possibility.

Dr. William Atlas has spent two decades working at the nexus of salmon conservation and community food security. He serves as Director of Innovation and Sustainable Fisheries for Wild Salmon Center, a non-profit working around the Pacific Rim to support the conservation and long-term sustainability of wild salmon populations. He is also a co-founder of the Salmon Vision collaborative, building and deploying artificial intelligence tools to support sustainable fisheries and advance conservation outcomes. His work includes long-standing collaborations with the Heiltsuk, Nuxalk, and Kitasoo Xai’xais Nations and the Skeena Fishery Commission, where he supports community-led salmon stewardship initiatives, serving as a member of the Central Coast Fisheries Technical Working Group and as the Central Coast First Nations’ representative on the Northern Panel of the Pacific Salmon Commission.