Youth Climate Activists
IN THE NEWS
BC student fought her school board for composting and recycling
In Grade 10, Melody Silva began pressing her Saltspring Island, BC, school to provide plastic recycling and composting. To her frustration and despite a strong economic argument and widespread student and community support, the school board remains mostly intransigent.
BC teen turns nature walks into climate action
Leonie Murdoch, 18, of Nanaimo, BC believes people will protect what they know and respect — and so she leads guided walks and publishes Instagram videos that focus on wildlife within their own environments.
A Calgary teen turned fruit peels into a plastic-free farming solution
Gayatri Sakharkar has invented a substitute for agricultural plastic film that leaves no toxic trace because it is made from orange and pineapple peels. She is a 15-year-old, Grade 10 student from Calgary.
Student climate leader is rallying youth to take on the plastic crisis
Payal Mehta has a plastic dream. This young climate leader from Guelph, Ont., was named a 2026 Starfish Canada Fellow for her work starting Reimagining Plastic , a youth-led initiative to raise awareness and take action on the impact of plastics in our environment and bodies.
Toronto teen is passing climate hope on to children — one story at a time
Ahmad Chattha is passing on climate hope to the children who come next. This 18-year-old Toronto highschool student is determined to ensure that young children have stories of climate hope and resilience to lift them up.
BC youth builds community power to drive environmental change
Ashton Kerr connects and empowers people to take action for the environment. As acting director of partnerships and programs for Green Teams Canada, this 28-year-old North Vancouver resident shares the power and value of community organizing to create meaningful change.
Montreal student turned a thrift fashion show into an annual college tradition
Anne Liang, a 19-year-old Dawson College student in Montreal, organized and ran a thrift fashion show so successful that the college now plans to make it an annual tradition.
Vet student teaches youth how climate change impacts wildlife and human health
Veterinary medicine student Mikayla Astroff earned a Starfish Canada 2026 Climate 75 Fellowship for her work helping youth understand the impacts of climate change on our ecosystems.
A Montreal youth hosts Climate Death Cafés to help people grieve a changing planet
Victor Yin shows people they are not alone in their grief and mourning over the climate. With his co-facilitator Christina Joy, the 25-year-old from Montreal hosts “Climate Death Cafés” to create safe spaces for these conversations. Victor is a 2026 Starfish Canada Climate75 Fellow.
Meet the young researcher trying to stop an invasive crab from threatening Pacific marine ecosystems
Sofia Panzetta is helping restore balance to Pacific marine ecosystems. As climate change warms the ocean, the invasive European Green Crab thrives, threatening the health of clams, mussels and even salmon stocks.
