Meet Morgan C. Block | Climate Change Communicator

We had the good fortune of connecting with Morgan C. Block and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Morgan C., what do you want people to remember about you?
I fell in love with our planet and the people, animals, and plants that live on it at an early age. When I was younger, I was in girl scouts. We spent a lot of time outside in nature, camping or doing other outdoor activities. There was this motto that our troop leaders always told us: “leave the place better than you found it.” That message really stuck with me, not only while I was outside camping, but for everything. I knew I wanted to leave the world a better place than it was when I was born into it. As I got older, my affection and love for science, the earth, and people only grew. I took every earth sciences or environmental class that I could in high school and in college, but it wasn’t enough. I learned so much about the planet and about the plants and animals that live here alongside us. But I also learned that humans are destroying it. We’re polluting our atmosphere with heat-trapping gases, primarily from digging up and burning fossil fuels like coal, oil, and methane gas. This human caused carbon pollution is disrupting our planet’s climate system. Heat waves, forest fires, and heavy downpours are intensifying. Sea levels are rising, and all of this comes with great consequences to us! People and the planet are hurting, but I want to help. I want to inspire others to pay attention and learn more about our only home. I want to communicate the science and the solutions to our current problem. I want people to fall in love with our planet again and protect it. I want to use the power of communication to connect with others, so that we all leave the world knowing that we did all that we could to make it better than when we found it.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
I am a climate change communicator. More often than not, people don’t know what that means, but it’s really simple actually. I spend my time and energy communicating to others what is happening to our planet, why it is happening, and what can be done about it. I work with journalists, scientists, politicians, nonprofits, students and the public. I am basically the “middle-man” in all of these different situations because I understand what the science says, and I help people who do not have a science background understand it as well. I also communicate to scientists what people need to know and what might be too technical or too confusing for a certain audience to understand. As a young professional in the climate movement, I am on social media a lot. I am really proud of my ability to take climate science or climate policies and make it easy and fun for people to learn about and understand! I love creating content on TikTok and Instagram that resonates with people, and hopefully, inspires them to take action in their communities! Climate communication is a very niche field, so I didn’t really know it was a career option when I first started college. When I started undergrad, I thought I wanted to study international relations and political science, but my love and passion for earth sciences led me to the geology department at Trinity University. The first class I took was oceanography, and I was hooked. But for me, it wasn’t the full picture. I wanted to connect science to people. It felt like two different worlds on campus: STEM classes versus liberal arts, but I loved both. I took an English literature class my first year because it was required. Then I took another one because I needed a writing credit. Then I took another one because I wanted to. Then I realized that I gained so much from my English classes. I learned how to write, persuade, and analyze stories. My english classes were making me a better scientist, and my science knowledge was making me a better writer. I realize it was hard to double major in two subjects that seemingly didn’t have any crossover, but it made me unique. And it was the start to my career as the “middle-man.” As I was getting towards the end of my undergraduate career, I realized the one missing piece, that I needed to succeed as a science communicator focused on climate change, was the climate change expertise. Although, I didn’t want to be the researcher. I wanted to find a graduate program focused on climate science and climate solutions, communication, and policy, which is how I ended up at Scripps Institution of Oceanography, UC San Diego. Now it’s easy to say that, but it was much harder to actually do it. I needed to pick up my life in Texas and move across the country to San Diego, CA. I am so glad that I did. I completed my master’s degree in climate science and policy at Scripps. I had that missing piece now. I spent countless hours alongside some of the world’s top climate scientists learning and understanding our climate system and why it’s changing. I also gained a renewed appreciation for global policy, an interest I had going into undergrad. Climate change is a global issue with global solutions, but we also studied the importance of communication because that’s really where things stall in real life. I knew that I was going into such an important and time sensitive career. When I graduated, I wouldn’t accept any position that wasn’t 100% aligned with my goals and values and interests, which is how I met Susan Hassol. Susan is a long-time climate change communicator and director of the nonprofit, Climate Communication. She and I met over Zoom one time and we knew this was it. I could work as an independent contractor with her and make a huge impact! And that’s what I’ve done. It took a lot of work to get here and a few serendipitous encounters, but now I couldn’t imagine doing anything else.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
San Diego is amazing. I love my city. We would start out, where I started here, on the Scripps campus. There is this cute cafe called Caroline’s Seaside Cafe overlooking the ocean in La Jolla. I would take them there for some coffee and brunch. Then, we could stroll down the beach, and maybe catch a few waves, if we want. After being out in the sun on my favorite beach, I would take my friend to North Park Beer Co to cool down with a great beer and lunch. North Park is full of great local restaurants and breweries that are all worth checking out. Unfortunately, we only have a week, so we hit 5 or 6 of them! Haha! I would definitely take us to Torrey Pines one day to hike the beautiful coastal trails there, and hopefully, spot a whale or dolphin out in the waves. Finally, I would suggest we go to Convoy district for dinner. The Asian food is unbeatable. A few of my personal favorites are Dumpling Inn & Shanghai Saloon for dinner and MNGO cafe for dessert. Honestly, it’s hard to find anywhere in San Diego that isn’t amazing, but these are just a few of my favorite places.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I would like to dedicate my shoutout to Susan Hassol, Director at Climate Communication. Susan has been doing this amazing climate communication work for over 30 years, and has inspired me and so many others! Susan is such a wonderful mentor, and I really owe a huge part of where I am today, to her recognizing my potential and supporting me.

Website: https://climatecuriosities.buzzsprout.com/

Instagram: @happyclimatenerd

Twitter: @moreblock19

Other: TikTok: @happyclimatenerd

Image Credits
Grey wall photo with me in black shirt and me in a red dress on the beach: pc Evan Perkins