{"id":12266,"date":"2024-10-23T12:00:25","date_gmt":"2024-10-23T12:00:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.golive.clarku.edu\/news\/2024\/10\/23\/our-fate-is-tied-to-theirs\/"},"modified":"2026-05-11T13:01:15","modified_gmt":"2026-05-11T17:01:15","slug":"our-fate-is-tied-to-theirs","status":"publish","type":"story","link":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/2024\/10\/23\/our-fate-is-tied-to-theirs\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Our fate is tied to theirs\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n<p class=\"intro news-subhead\">Sea turtles personify connection between humans and nature amid climate crisis<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n<iframe allow=\"autoplay *; encrypted-media *; fullscreen *; clipboard-write\" frameborder=\"0\" height=\"175\" style=\"border:0;width:100%;max-width:800px;overflow:hidden;background:transparent;\" sandbox=\"allow-forms allow-popups allow-same-origin allow-scripts allow-storage-access-by-user-activation allow-top-navigation-by-user-activation\" src=\"https:\/\/embed.podcasts.apple.com\/us\/podcast\/sea-turtles-and-the-role-charismatic-creatures-play\/id1608025510?i=1000673560079\"><\/iframe>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/academics\/undergraduate\/programs\/majors-minors\/english\/\" aria-label=\"major in english\">English<\/a> Professor <a href=\"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/faculty\/profiles\/stephen-levin\/\" aria-label=\"professor bio\">Stephen Levin<\/a> spent his summer with the turtles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image alignright size-large is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"683\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2024_Stephen_Levin-10-683x1024.jpg\" alt=\"Stephen Levin, associate professor of English\" class=\"wp-image-12321\" style=\"aspect-ratio:0.6669991980126362;width:212px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2024_Stephen_Levin-10-683x1024.jpg 683w, https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2024_Stephen_Levin-10-200x300.jpg 200w, https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2024_Stephen_Levin-10-768x1152.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2024_Stephen_Levin-10-1024x1536.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2024_Stephen_Levin-10-1365x2048.jpg 1365w, https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2024_Stephen_Levin-10-1200x1800.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2024_Stephen_Levin-10.jpg 1500w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 683px) 100vw, 683px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">STEPHEN LEVIN<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>He traveled to Barbados and Trinidad to observe sea turtles and how they\u2019ve become a focal point in tourism \u2014 a fellow tourist told Levin her motivation for visiting the turtles was \u201cevidence of divinity.\u201d It\u2019s part of his latest research in the environmental humanities, which underscores the role that literature and the arts play in seeking solutions to problems such as climate change.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cOne of the questions in the environmental humanities is how much has to disappear before we realize that we are at risk of disappearing,\u201d says Levin. \u201cThere&#8217;s a profound awareness watching these turtles that our fate is tied to theirs.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>On this episode, Levin discusses what it was like to watch six-foot-long turtles bury their eggs at the Grand Riviere&nbsp;beach&nbsp;in Trinidad, challenges the idea of human exceptionalism, and examines the costs and benefits of using charismatic creatures like lions, tigers, bears, and turtles to spread messages about the climate and environment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cHow do we understand the marketing of these turtles and their status as commodities with the attendant reality that the focus on this charismatic species has brought attention to conservation efforts and it appears to have created a reverence among the tourists who encounter and visit these turtles,\u201d says Levin. \u201cI think it&#8217;s important to recognize the complexity.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This research is part of Levin\u2019s forthcoming book, \u201cFigures of Disappearance: Selfhood in an Era of Mass Extinction,\u201d which examines loss and absence in the era of the climate crisis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Challenge. Change.<\/strong>\u202fis produced by Melissa Hanson for Clark University. Listen and subscribe on\u202f<a href=\"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/show\/4UuYAjq1d3Hq45cjwxoCNL\" aria-label=\"listen on spotify\">Spotify<\/a>\u202for\u202f<a href=\"https:\/\/podcasts.apple.com\/us\/podcast\/challenge-change\/id1608025510\" aria-label=\"listen on apple podcasts\">Apple Podcasts<\/a>. Find other episodes wherever you listen to podcasts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-28f84493 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image alignnone size-medium-large wp-image-62416\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/37\/rescued-baby-turtles-410x280-2.jpg\" alt=\"baby turtles on sand\" class=\"wp-image-62416\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Rescued baby turtles in Grand Riviere, Trinidad. Photo by Professor Stephen Levin.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image alignnone wp-image-62415\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/37\/single-rescued-baby-turtle-314x280-3.jpg\" alt=\"hand holding baby turtle\" class=\"wp-image-62415\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">A rescued baby turtle in Grand Riviere, Trinidad. Photo by Professor Stephen Levin.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Sea turtles personify connection between humans and nature amid climate crisis<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":12267,"template":"","meta":{"story_color":"#525250","story_headerImg":12267,"section_label":"Challenge. Change. Podcast","footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[225],"displayed_author":[237],"featured":[],"topic":[250,131,117,150,160,196,118,176],"class_list":["post-12266","story","type-story","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-arts-humanities","displayed_author-melissa-hanson","topic-arts","topic-climate-change","topic-english","topic-faculty","topic-faculty-research","topic-humanities","topic-major-in-english","topic-podcast"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v27.6 (Yoast SEO v27.6) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>\u2018Our fate is tied to theirs\u2019 | ClarkU News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/2024\/10\/23\/our-fate-is-tied-to-theirs\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"\u2018Our fate is tied to theirs\u2019\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Sea turtles personify connection between humans and nature amid climate crisis\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/2024\/10\/23\/our-fate-is-tied-to-theirs\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"ClarkU News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-05-11T17:01:15+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/37\/rescued-baby-turtles-scaled-1.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2560\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1749\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.clarku.edu\\\/news\\\/2024\\\/10\\\/23\\\/our-fate-is-tied-to-theirs\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.clarku.edu\\\/news\\\/2024\\\/10\\\/23\\\/our-fate-is-tied-to-theirs\\\/\",\"name\":\"\u2018Our fate is tied to theirs\u2019 | ClarkU News\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.clarku.edu\\\/news\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.clarku.edu\\\/news\\\/2024\\\/10\\\/23\\\/our-fate-is-tied-to-theirs\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.clarku.edu\\\/news\\\/2024\\\/10\\\/23\\\/our-fate-is-tied-to-theirs\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.clarku.edu\\\/news\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/37\\\/rescued-baby-turtles-scaled-1.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-10-23T12:00:25+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-05-11T17:01:15+00:00\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.clarku.edu\\\/news\\\/2024\\\/10\\\/23\\\/our-fate-is-tied-to-theirs\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.clarku.edu\\\/news\\\/2024\\\/10\\\/23\\\/our-fate-is-tied-to-theirs\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.clarku.edu\\\/news\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/37\\\/rescued-baby-turtles-scaled-1.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.clarku.edu\\\/news\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/37\\\/rescued-baby-turtles-scaled-1.jpg\",\"width\":2560,\"height\":1749,\"caption\":\"Rescued baby turtles in Grand Riviere, Trinidad. Photo by Professor Stephen Levin.\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.clarku.edu\\\/news\\\/wp-json\\\/wp\\\/v2\\\/story\\\/12266#breadcrumbs\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":0,\"name\":\"ClarkU\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.clarku.edu\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"ClarkU News\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.clarku.edu\\\/news\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Stories\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.clarku.edu\\\/news\\\/wp-json\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"Stories\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.clarku.edu\\\/news\\\/wp-json\\\/wp\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":4,\"name\":\"Stories\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.clarku.edu\\\/news\\\/wp-json\\\/wp\\\/v2\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":5,\"name\":\"Stories\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.clarku.edu\\\/news\\\/wp-json\\\/wp\\\/v2\\\/story\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":6,\"name\":\"Stories\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.clarku.edu\\\/news\\\/wp-json\\\/wp\\\/v2\\\/story\\\/12266\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.clarku.edu\\\/news\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.clarku.edu\\\/news\\\/\",\"name\":\"ClarkU News\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.clarku.edu\\\/news\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"\u2018Our fate is tied to theirs\u2019 | ClarkU News","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/2024\/10\/23\/our-fate-is-tied-to-theirs\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"\u2018Our fate is tied to theirs\u2019","og_description":"Sea turtles personify connection between humans and nature amid climate crisis","og_url":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/2024\/10\/23\/our-fate-is-tied-to-theirs\/","og_site_name":"ClarkU News","article_modified_time":"2026-05-11T17:01:15+00:00","og_image":[{"width":2560,"height":1749,"url":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/37\/rescued-baby-turtles-scaled-1.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/2024\/10\/23\/our-fate-is-tied-to-theirs\/","url":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/2024\/10\/23\/our-fate-is-tied-to-theirs\/","name":"\u2018Our fate is tied to theirs\u2019 | ClarkU News","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/2024\/10\/23\/our-fate-is-tied-to-theirs\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/2024\/10\/23\/our-fate-is-tied-to-theirs\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/37\/rescued-baby-turtles-scaled-1.jpg","datePublished":"2024-10-23T12:00:25+00:00","dateModified":"2026-05-11T17:01:15+00:00","inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/2024\/10\/23\/our-fate-is-tied-to-theirs\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/2024\/10\/23\/our-fate-is-tied-to-theirs\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/37\/rescued-baby-turtles-scaled-1.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/37\/rescued-baby-turtles-scaled-1.jpg","width":2560,"height":1749,"caption":"Rescued baby turtles in Grand Riviere, Trinidad. Photo by Professor Stephen Levin."},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/story\/12266#breadcrumbs","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":0,"name":"ClarkU","item":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"ClarkU News","item":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Stories","item":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/wp-json"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Stories","item":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":4,"name":"Stories","item":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":5,"name":"Stories","item":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/story"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":6,"name":"Stories","item":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/story\/12266"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/","name":"ClarkU News","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"}]}},"fimg_url":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/37\/rescued-baby-turtles-scaled-1-1024x700.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/story\/12266","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/story"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/story"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/story\/12266\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":28312,"href":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/story\/12266\/revisions\/28312"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12267"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12266"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12266"},{"taxonomy":"displayed_author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/displayed_author?post=12266"},{"taxonomy":"featured","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/featured?post=12266"},{"taxonomy":"topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/topic?post=12266"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}