017: National Geographic CEO Dr. Jill Tiefenthaler

Dr. Jill Tiefenthaler, the first female CEO of the National Geographic Society, joins App State Chief Sustainability Officer Lee Ball in the podcast studio to discuss the journey that led her to her current position. She shares her thoughts on the importance of higher education and the history of the Society’s National Geographic magazine, as well as a few of her favorite National Geographic Explorers.

 

 

Show Notes

https://www.nationalgeographic.org/society/our-leadership/

sustain.appstate.edu

 

Transcript

Lee Ball:

Welcome back to another episode of Find Your Sustainability, where we talk to many of the world's experts about sustainability and what the heck that means. On today's episode, we spoke with Dr. Jill Tiefenthaler, who is the CEO of National Geographic. Jill was on App State's campus for the 11th annual Appalachian Energy Summit, and it was my pleasure to have a chance to interview her on the podcast. As Chief Executive Officer at the National Geographic Society, Dr. Tiefenthaler oversees the development and implementation of the society's mission driven work and programmatic agenda. She leads our global community of explorers, scientists, innovators, educators, and storytellers in our mission to illuminate and protect the wonder of our world. Jill sits on the Society's board of trustees and the Board of National Geographic Partners. To read more about Jill, you can find a link to her bio on our show notes. Dr. Jill Tiefenthaler, welcome back to North Carolina.

Jill Tiefenthaler:

Thanks. It's great to be back, Lee. It's fun to be with you today.

Lee Ball:

You did your graduate work at Duke, you were the provost at Wake Forest and more recently you were the president of Colorado College for nine years. How's it feel being back on a college campus and especially back in North Carolina?

Jill Tiefenthaler:

Well, it's wonderful to be back on a campus. It's one of the things I miss most about leaving higher ed and being in my new role at National Geographic is the dynamism and excitement of a college campus. And back when I was college president and provost too, I used to teach every year, so I really miss teaching and being in the classroom and that interaction with students, especially. It's also great to be back in North Carolina, especially up here in Boone. I used to enjoy escaping the heat of Winston-Salem and coming up here and hiking and camping. I have very fond memories of my time both at Duke and Winston-Salem.

Lee Ball:

Yeah, it's funny, I go to Winston-Salem and I tell people that, "Yeah, we just came here for the day." They're like, "Oh my gosh, it's so far away." I'm like, "No, it's not. You should be coming here often."

Jill Tiefenthaler:

Yeah, just a couple hours.

Lee Ball:

What role do you think higher education plays or can play to help promote the type of education that is in line with Natural Geographic's mission?

Jill Tiefenthaler:

Well, I think higher ed is critical. I'm obviously a true believer in getting students to have awareness of these critical issues. And now more and more, I think they have that awareness through the media and through high school education, but they really still need those skills to figure out how to put them to work. To get the work done, we need to do both for climate change and biodiversity loss. I think they see the urgency. I also hope higher education really focuses on solutions, because I don't want our students to feel hopeless about the future. I want them to feel hopeful and motivated, inspired to make the change that we need to see in the world.

Lee Ball:

Yeah, that's definitely something that we focus on here is engagement opportunities, and I'm a real big believer that it does inspire hope when you can get your hands dirty or whatever.

Jill Tiefenthaler:

Yeah, when you can see something change. When you can see something get better and you can see how the power of collaboration and community can make that happen, I think it can be really inspiring. I love that you're all doing that hands-on education opportunities here.

Lee Ball:

May I ask you a little bit about your childhood?

Jill Tiefenthaler:

Sure.

Lee Ball:

I'm fascinated by the stories I get to hear about my guest connection's to nature and place. Is there a memory or experience from your childhood that helped contribute to your development as such a strong advocate for the natural world?

Jill Tiefenthaler:

Well, I grew up on a farm in Iowa, so my everyday was being part of the natural world. And in fact, when a lot of people, as a grownup, I escape and had to the nature for my vacations. As a child, we escaped nature for the c