How the powerful tools and magical experiences from the Bluedot Institute’s Climate Leadership Retreat on Santa Cruz Island re-energized my climate activism

Campfires, island foxes, remote hikes, expert local guides, dolphins, sea snails, learning from UCSB students, bodysurfing, wading through creeks, riding on the backs of the coolest trucks I’d ever seen…. These are just some of the highlights from Bluedot Institute’s Santa Cruz Island retreat.

I had the incredible opportunity to go on Bluedot Institute’s Santa Cruz Island Youth Leadership Retreat in the spring of 2025. It was one of a series of retreats for high school students, taking place across the country. Our trip went to a 98-sq-mile protected island that’s a part of Channel Islands National Park, off the coast of Santa Barbara, California. This four-night sleep-away expedition tightly knit our small group of high school students, local university mentors, and group leaders, and taught us the skills to make meaningful change in our local communities.

The adventure started in Santa Barbara, where we had dinner with a local non-profit. We then drove to a nearby harbor and stayed the night in a hotel. The first magical moment took place on the ferry ride over the next morning. We walked outside of the boat into the whipping cold wind to see distant splashes.

Our captain slowed down and announced over the speakers, “We’re easing our speed to watch a pod of dolphins traveling alongside us toward Santa Cruz Island.” The pod of 30 majestic sea creatures guided our boat for 15 minutes, with our entire group gathering on the front of the vessel to watch. They swam in the front of the boat, playfully bumping each other and coming up for air. The island slowly grew as we sailed closer, and our boat slowed to a stop at the pier protruding beneath the steep mountainous terrain of Santa Cruz Island.

The 16 of us students loaded our gear into an assortment of off-road pickup trucks and trailers. Each truck had two three-seat benches in the bed, with peeling padding and worn handles. Our group carefully climbed on board and braced for the ride. We picked up speed, and took off on one of only a few bumpy dirt roads that traversed the island. Each pothole and creek crossing shook our energetic group as the engine groaned up steep hills and whipped us around tight turns.

After a long hour of driving, we arrived at our  base camp for the rest of the trip. We stayed at the UCSB (University of California, Santa Barbara)’s field station, tucked in the Nature Conservancy’s 80-square-mile portion of the island — with the remaining quarter being part of the public Channel Islands National Park. The remote cabin complex is complete with classrooms, bunk rooms, kitchen and common rooms, outdoor patio, and our favorite, a beat up pool table. In addition to guides from a local expedition company and the Bluedot Institute leadership team, we were accompanied by four Bren School of Environmental Studies PhD students. These experts brought a unique scientific perspective, and taught us about field research and analysis.

We dove into the climate leadership training. The course consisted of different modules, including leadership, communication, negotiation, narrative, and conversation. One of the takeaways for me was how to meet people where they are at when talking about the environment. Knowing and caring are two very different things, and this course helped me learn as a leader how to bridge that gap. I learned how to motivate and excite people to have conversations about climate, how to frame those conversations in the positive, and how to mobilize and lead people to support a cause. These important lessons were taught to us by Sarah Ream, who helped connect with us in group discussions, collaborative brainstorming and artwork, and brief lectures. These lessons have stayed with me and are continuing to help me in my path as a Bluedot writer and an environmental activist.

Leadership training was built around the day’s activities all over the island: hikes, beach walks, tidepooling, exploring waterfalls, and stargazing with the Bren mentors. Over the course of the week we prepared for individual presentations that we would give on the final day about a climate solution we had learned about, cared about, or wanted to learn more about. We heard about fast fashion, microplastics, kelp forests, reforestation, clean energy, public transportation, and more. 

While some environmental discussions are focused on difficult facts and depressing figures, Bluedot Institute worked really hard to make the course uplifting. I came back from the trip feeling so incredibly energized and motivated to go make a difference, and I am so grateful to Bluedot for bringing positivity, community, and excitement into what can easily be an incredibly difficult topic and conservation. 

I miss the island, and I hope that I can come to one of the future retreats. Thank you, Victoria Riskin, Sarah Ream, Leigh Anne Neal and everyone who supported and put this trip together. I carry what I learned on Santa Cruz with me every day, and it’s made me a more effective leader and more excited activist in the process. 

Hear a student capstone speech from our summer 2025 Climate Leadership Retreat on Martha’s Vineyard.