Brittany Hayward-Brown

I'm an NT local and an ecologist. And as a born and bred Territorian, I feel deeply connected to my home. I really love it here.

I feel a sense of responsibility to look after it so future generations can enjoy it the way I have.
Being in a healthy environment makes me truly happy. I love walking through the bush and looking at all the plants and animals, especially the birds, and learning about why things are growing in certain places.

Here in Darwin, I'm deeply concerned about a lot of impacts from climate change...

One of the most important ones is sea-level rise which is about 6mm per year, three times higher than the global average.

That means huge risk to the world heritage-listed Kakadu freshwater wetlands… The entire ecosystem is changing as mangroves push into the wetlands with the incoming saltwater.

I'm also a firm believer in that you don't have to be a scientist to make a difference.

You have real power in your own personal sphere of influence. By talking about climate change, we bring it out of the dark and into the light, we make it less about politics and more about human health and the health of the environment we are so intrinsically linked to.

We need it to be healthy so we can be healthy.

We already have the solutions to climate change and there's no time to waste because the window is closing.

If we all work together across Australia, no matter what our story is, we can come together to demand the climate action we deserve to create a better future for us all.