Sachi Rai

Independent Research Pd. 1

March 12, 2015
Interview
Shaye Wolf
Climate Science Director at Center for Biological Diversity
March 4, 2015
I was put in touch with Shaye Wolf while trying to reach a polar bear scientist named Kassie
Seigel. In my last interview with Jon Mooallem, he advised me to email Kassie Seigel. I emailed
Seigel my business letter, and Shaye Wolf responded stating that Seigel had forwarded her my
letter and that she would be happy to help me with my project. We emailed back and forth, and
she allowed me to interview her on March 4th.
The interview begun by her asking me more about my project and what I was doing. I explained
that I was taking the Independent Research class and told her what it was, and then described my
project and how I got into it.
I then asked her about her job and what she did in relation to polar bears. She begun by
describing the Center for Biological Diversity and told me about their mission, and how they
believe that human welfare is linked to nature and that their goal is to keep wildlife thriving.
Wolf then described her own position, stating how she has degrees in biology and ecology and is
now the Climate Science Director at the Center for Biological Diversity. Wolf explained that she
does a lot of science research on global warming, and has worked on projects specific to polar
bears.
After hearing about her extensive background and qualifications, I asked Wolf about her thoughts
on global warming. We talked about the controversy, and she made it clear that she felt very
strongly global warming was real and needed to be solved. Wolf said that science very clearly
proves global warming, and that those who dont believe it are the ones preventing adequate
measures to be taken. She said that already more and more research is being released completely
proving that global warming is real, and that it is only a matter of time before many people are
convinced.
When she finished explaining I asked her what her thoughts were on polar bear conservation, and
whether they were being adequately conserved. She then went on to give me a large amount of
background information on polar bear conservation that I already knew due to the research I had
already conducted. Wolf gave lots of facts and statistics I already knew, but I was polite and
acted like it was helpful. She told me about the Endangered Species Act, which I already knew
about, and explained that she believed this had helped the bears tremendously, and that they were
doing okay now. Wolf believes that the Endangered Species Act has helped, and will continue
helping polar bears in the future.
I noticed a large amount of Wolfs information was based on science, so I asked her about what
role she though media played in polar bear conservation, and whether she believed it was as
important, more important, or less important then the science aspect of it. Wolf said that she

believed that while media played a vital role in convincing the public of the polar bears plight,
the science aspect of conservation is what will play the determining factor in whether or not they
survive in the future. She did however, continue on to say that without the media it would have
been difficult to gain the publics attention on issues such as global warming and polar bear
conservation.
After hearing her response to this question, I asked her whether she thought that polar bears
brought attention to global warming, global warming brought attention to polar bears, or if they
mutually helped each other. This was a confusing question and we had to talk it through before
Wolf was able to formulate an answer. She said that she believed it was mutual, since the polar
bear is used as a global symbol for climate change and gains a lot of media attention, and in turn
global warming gains attention from the plight of the polar bear.
Reflection
The interview went well, and I learned some new things and heard about polar bear
conservation from a different perspective then I was used to. I was nervous before the interview,
because I didnt know a lot about Wolf, and was worried she might not have the answers to my
questions. Because of this, my questions were good but aimed generally, so she answered them
with a lot of background knowledge I already had. Although I tried to say things indicating that I
already knew the information she was telling me and letting her know I had read the studies the
information was coming from, I wish I had made my questions more specific so that I could have
gotten deeper answers. Overall, Wolf was very nice and I enjoyed talking to her, and think that
although I could have gotten more information, I did come away from the interview with new
knowledge and ideas.