Anna Erickson began taking climate action at just eight years old, turning her love of BC’s forests into a children’s book fundraiser. She went on to fight to protect a neighbourhood park and lead climate strikes, before taking that same drive for change into green civil engineering.

Ziya Merchant is tackling plastic waste one reusable bottle at a time. Through Phasing Out Plastic Bottles (POPPY), she collects unwanted bottles and gets them to students and people who need them, while raising funds for clean water access and pushing to expand the program across Burnaby schools.

Caio Krause Conradt takes climate action from the classroom to the creek, the garden and even the bird-banding table. Through wildlife conservation, ocean advocacy and hands-on environmental education, he helps young people understand the ecosystems around them and discover practical ways they can help protect them.

Finnegan Brown uses art to make people stop, look and care about the natural world. From painting bumblebees and creating films about salmon to imagining bio-inspired buildings, he combines creativity with climate activism and is discovering how art, architecture and even politics can inspire more sustainable ways of living.

A Grade 4 class in Delta, BC, turned a lesson about climate change into school-wide action, inspiring the creation of NYCAA’s first Inspirational Classroom Award. Led by teacher Barbara Woodside, the students tackled waste reduction, taught other classes about recycling and composting, and put their $1,500 award toward a school environmental mural.

Wesley Splinter from Saskatchewan became a “water warrior” after learning how climate change and pollution affect Mother Earth. Inspired by his family, Wesley saves water and energy, recycles and picks up litter, and even dreams of inventing a fruit-powered police bike that creates compost as it goes.

Matthias Spalteholz from Vancouver Island, BC, isn’t afraid to tackle environmental problems on a big scale. From beach cleanups and creek restoration to helping advance electric vehicle charging, he turns ideas into action and is now working to remove massive abandoned docks threatening a local beach and marine environment.

Teegan Walshe from Qualicum Beach, BC, has been striking for climate action every Friday since September 2021. What began as a protest has also become a way to connect with her community, including people who don’t always share her views. Through persistence, conversation and empathy, Teegan is showing how climate activism can create common ground and inspire change.

Parker Morrison from Kamloops, BC, asked a simple question about the rusted cars buried along the North Thompson River: why was no one doing anything about them? She turned that question into Restoring Our Riverbanks, an ambitious project bringing together schools, government, conservation groups and engineers to restore damaged habitat and create a safer riverbank for her community.