Jonathan Bricker is an internationally recognized scientific leader in a bold approach called acceptance and commitment therapy. A Stanford researcher called his use of the approach “a breakthrough in behavioral research [that] has major public health implications for the major causes of preventable death.” Bricker and his team, having received $10 million in total federal research grants to study this topic, are rigorously testing this intervention on multiple platforms, including smartphone apps, websites, and telephone coaching. His SmartQuit app for quitting smoking was recently launched and is now in distribution worldwide.
Sarah Bergmann is the founder of the Pollinator Pathway, a participatory ecology and design initiative that rethinks the relationship between urban, agricultural and wilderness landscapes. The Pollinator Pathway connects existing isolated green spaces to foster greater biodiversity, and in urban areas works by piggybacking on existing infrastructure (curb space, rooftops, etc.). In Seattle, the original Pollinator Pathway connects Seattle University’s campus to a small woods with a mile long corridor of native plants and pollinator- friendly gardens. The Pollinator Pathway crosses art, ecology, urban planning and design, and is a public extension of Bergmann’s interdisciplinary work and ideas in museums, institutions, talks, and a book.