Speaking

Cynthia Barnett speaks on water, the environment and what’s ahead as climate change accelerates. Her themes include water and climate ethics; water as a unifying force in a fractured world; and what our water history has to teach us about the stormy times.

She has served as a featured speaker in more than 100 venues, from the Royal Geographic Society in London to college commencement, TED-x stages, and Edinburgh Castle in Scotland, where her opening address at BlueTech Forum, “Witchcraft and the Weather: A History for Stormy Times” was named best environment/sustainability speech of the year in the 2024 global Cicero Speechwriting Awards.

Barnett is available for her regular book programs listed below, or for custom keynotes and other special events with plenty of lead time. Please make your request by email and include your event date; sponsors and venue; and audience details.

Programs

A black and white photo of a little boy holding a horse conch on the beach

The Sound of the Sea: Seashells and the Fate of the Oceans

The human fascination with seashells is primal. Neanderthals collected empty cockle shells on the coast of what is modern Spain, showing a preference for those they found beautiful. In her program The Sound of the Sea, Barnett explores the profound relationship between humans and seashells, uncovering the ancient history of shells as global currency, their use as religious and luxury objects—and the rarely appreciated but remarkable creatures that make them. Today, seashells are revealing how humans have altered the climate and the sea—down to its very chemistry. But they are also sentinels of hope for alternative energy, carbon sequestration and other solutions that lie beneath the waves.

An illustrated poster that shows a woman sitting on a small boat with a large wave about to crash down on her. The headline on the poster says "High Water Blues"

Rain: A History for Stormy Times

A wellspring of life, rain also has a place in our souls. In an ancient perfume region in northern India, villagers bottle the scent of rain from the monsoon-drenched earth. In Manchester, England, and Seattle, leaden skies helped inspire Morrissey and Kurt Cobain’s grunge. The scents and songs capture rain in small ways. Humans have long been convinced we could control the atmosphere in ways much bigger, from the Roman rain god Jupiter Pluvius to the 2,203 miles of levees that seek to straightjacket the Mississippi River. Too much and not enough, rain is an experience we share. Its history has much to tell us about coming together adapt to the stormy times ahead.

A man throwing his daughter in the air in a natural spring

A Water Ethic for America

Epic drought followed by floods in the American West. Toxic algae blooms shuttering drinking-water plants in the East. New water wars in the historically wet American South. For the first time since the nation passed the Clean Water Act and created the EPA, today’s children have not inherited waters as clean and abundant as when they were born. But it doesn’t have to be this way. In A Water Ethic for America, Barnett makes the case for a shared water ethic that will enable Americans to live and prosper in ways that don’t jeopardize fresh, clean water for our children, ecosystems or the economy.

Nature photographer John Moran on his “JohnnyPod”; photo by Jenny Adler.

For Florida audiences: A special joint program with “Florida’s Photographer Laureate,” John Moran

A Water Ethic for Florida

With beaches on three sides, ten thousand miles of rivers and streams, nearly eight thousand lakes and a thousand freshwater springs, water defines the good life in Florida. Yet newcomers to the state, and the latest generation of children growing up here, are as likely to experience pea-green seas and algae-slicked springs as the clean and abundant waters enjoyed by previous Floridians. In this special joint program, Barnett teams up with acclaimed nature photographer John Moran on a love letter to Florida and message of hope for its future. A Water Ethic for Florida is a memorable look at a Florida seldom seen, a call to action, and a path forward to preserve and protect our freshwaters and coasts for future generations.