Across their work, Nova's guiding goal has always been to create visibility and access for marginalized communities. As part of this goal, they've been a public speaker, presenting and participating on panels for a variety of colleges and corporations, since 2014. Through these engagements they've not only been able to consult corporations and organizations on effective intersectional practices to better serve the queer community, but to help young minds find paths to achieving their goals. Showing the world what it looks like to be a trans person living their life authentically has proven time and time again to be highly impactful for the groups they meet with.
Nova working with Hunter, a great horned owl resident to Wolf Ridge Environmental Learning Center
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Nova has been speaking and teaching with college student groups since they were an undergrad at the University of Minnesota, Duluth. On top of their teaching courses, they volunteered on their student Pride Board and the Speakers Bureau, a student group dedicated to educating fellow classmates about marginalized experiences through scheduled classroom visits. Their background in Environmental and Outdoor Education combined with their experience serving on affinity groups has well prepared them to be an engaging storyteller and speaker.
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After graduating they started working at the National Geographic headquarters in Washington, DC and became the co-founder of the Nat Geo PRIDE employee resource group. While leading a committee of volunteers and organizing events to build internal and external community, as co-chair they had the opportunity to meet with company leadership, including the CEO and heads of the National Geographic Magazine, to discuss approaches to supporting queer employees and creating informed queer content.
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A snapshot of Nova and their board members leading the Nat Geo PRIDE group in the DC Pride parade
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Nova speaking with students about exploration opportunities after a presentation at Texas A&M University at Galveston
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Since leaving National Geographic to pursue a career in wildlife and expedition filmmaking, Nova now travels as a guest speaker, educator, and panelist to talk all things art, science, and what it's like to be a queer person in the field. Through wild stories, compelling visuals, behind-the-scenes glances, and bonus film screenings, Nova's approach to outreach and education is anything but run of the mill. While on campuses they also meet one-on-one with students to help advise them on their career path and find ways to help with the process. Their main takeaway in these visits is to show students that anyone can be an explorer, given the necessary access, tools, and resources.
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As Nova grows more prominent through their career as a filmmaker, they've been invited to submit films, serve as a judge, and speak as a panelist for film festivals such as Wildscreen Festival and the Jackson Wild Summit. They've also worked with National Geographic's Photo Camp as a Team Lead, bringing photography learning opportunities to disadvantaged youth across the globe. Opportunities like these have provided Nova a platform to speak with peers about the challenges queer storytellers face in the field, advise industry leaders, and create impactful change on the ground in local communities.
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Brady Valashinas, Moronke Harris, and Nova speaking on a panel centering queer perspectives from the field at the 2023 Jackson Wild Summit, photo by Angel Morris
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Nova and Ocean Exploration Trust's Director of Education and Outreach, Megan Cook, conducting a live Ship-to-Shore interaction with a Texas A&M classroom while sailing off the coast of Maui
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Nova's work as a speaker and educator doesn't stop at the shore. While at sea aboard the E/V Nautilus Nova also teaches in 'Ship-to-Shore' interactions, speaking with classrooms across the world to talk about deep-sea exploration. From dazzling third graders with shark sightings to engaging PhD students with the inner workings of mapping benthic zones, these frequent interactions are always fun and exciting for all parties and provide the opportunity to collaborate with their shipmates in a unique way. As part of their contracted engagements they also speak on the E/V Nautilus livestream about the important work the E/V Nautilus does, in addition to how Nova engages new audiences by bringing their whole self to this unique environment.
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National Geographic Explorers Brittney Beck, Sophie Dia Pegrum, Brandon Quintana, and Nova West work with cinema students
during the National Geographic Slingshot Challenge at the Los Angeles County High School for the Arts
Across their career, Nova has been invited to speak on several podcasts covering their story, work, adventures, projects, and personal anecdotes.
Click the tiles below to listen to the episodes released to date, and check out the 'News' tab to read more about their recent engagements.
Click the tiles below to listen to the episodes released to date, and check out the 'News' tab to read more about their recent engagements.
Take the Last Bite is a podcast directly countering the Midwest Nice mentality, highlighting advocacy and activism by queer/trans communities in the Midwest.
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Earth to Humans is a podcast about the interconnected nature of our planet’s overlapping crises, and the amazing humans who are fighting for a better future for all of Earth’s inhabitants.
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LGBT Outdoors is a podcast serving as a tool to connect the LGBTQ+ community to the outdoors and to each other while creating a more diverse and inclusive outdoor space.
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4Earth Podcast interviews guests from all over the world who share a passion for the environment, are raising environmental awareness, and are taking action to protect the environment.
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Impact Storytelling is a podcast featuring accomplished professionals in the realms of conservation, filmmaking, photography, and arts who share diverse paths to creating a positive impact on our planet.
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The Closing the Gap podcast highlights women and nonbinary professionals who are working in STEM & Trades fields to provide visibility for young people looking to enter the field.
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Nova is currently accepting requests to speak via a variety of engagements and platforms throughout 2024 and 2025. If you are interested in inviting Nova to speak, you can reach out to them via the 'CONTACT' tab in the navigation menu or at the bottom of this page. Nova operates on a sliding scale honorarium to limit financial barriers for smaller organizations and groups.
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Website created and updated by Nova West
