EXPLORE WILD HOPE

Innovative biochemist Pat Brown is the man behind the Impossible Burger. Now, he's set his sights on a rewilding project on a ranch in Arkansas.

Efforts to break our dependence on large-scale animal agriculture are real... and they're working on two fronts! First to create alternative options for protein that don't come from animals, and second, to transform defunct cattle ranches into revived forested ecosystems.

Scientist Pat Brown has made a name for himself in biochemistry, and more recently in the initiative to reduce humanity’s reliance on animal agriculture. Throughout his journey, he’s championed one particular philosophy: “Blast Ahead!”

Biology Pat Brown has influenced the fields of biochemistry, virology, and genomics throughout his career. Now, the renowned scientist sets his sights on the largest problem of all: climate change.

Bringing biodiversity back to a clearcut ranch in Arkansas is a daunting task, but the mission is clear: use trees and native plants as powerful tools for capturing and sequestering carbon.

When Pat Brown recognized that replacing the use of animals as a food technology could rapidly arrest global heating and reverse the global collapse of ecosystems and biodiversity, Pat founded Impossible Foods, a company that makes delicious, nutritious, affordable and sustainable meats directly from plants.

It was a late-career epiphany that led “wacky genius” Pat Brown to abandon his academic career and commit himself to fighting global warming and biodiversity collapse. He did it, against all odds, by developing a surprising product: the revolutionary and delicious plant-based Impossible Burger.

Two Wild Hope episodes filmed in Gorongosa National Park and produced by NEWF African Science Film Fellows provide a model for empowering local film crews. 

The red-cockaded woodpecker, a longleaf pine specialist that lives in the southeastern U.S., was one of the first species listed under the Endangered Species Act of 1973.

Economic growth and wildlife conservation often run in conflict, but Mozambican scientist Cesária Huo hopes to support a new sustainable and economically viable model for harvesting a potent natural resource: bat guano.