CLIMATE

  CALIFORNIA  
OUR TEAM
 
 
RedCarpet smCongratulations to the Climate California team on their 2025 Regional Emmy win! This honor is a testament to the incredible work of our small but mighty team, whose passion and talent brought this series to life.
 
 
Copy of Charles LoiCHARLES LOI (director/host, "Climate California", and host/producer, "A Fighting Chance")is a storyteller who harnesses stories to solve complex problems. In the past, he’s worked on wildlife, action, animation, music, and civil society projects with Disney, USAID, and many others. He studied political science at Yale University.
 
 
 
 
 
HANNAH LEE (co-director, co-writer, producer, editor, "Climate California") is a storyteller of climate change, maker of documentaries, and enthusiast of the outdoors. Her work aims to bring fresh perspectives to the most pressing environmental issues of our time and foster a deeper connection to the natural world, utilizing a strong creative style to engage viewers in an ever-changing media landscape. She has been a part of numerous award-winning media projects, from television shows to feature documentaries. She currently writes a monthly newsletter for NorCal Public Media that bridges environmental education with justice, art, culture, and community.
 
 
 
 
 
JEREMY JUE (co-director, co-writer, producer, editor, "Climate California") is a dedicated storyteller committed to amplifying the voices of underserved and underrepresented communities. He has traveled the world, collecting the stories of individuals and organizations that are working to promote positive change in their communities. His past collaborations include working with organizations such as Not In Our Town, Planned Parenthood, Kiva, My American Dreams, Soccer Without Borders, and WorldTeach in the Marshall Islands.
 
 
 
MIGUEL BRIERLEY (composer, editor, "Climate California") is a musician and creative who aims to elevate others' voices through music. He began as an intern at NorCal Public Media and joined the Climate California team as the show's composer. He is grateful to be a part of a project that shares so much insight and heartfelt storytelling around the climate crisis. He later joined NorCal as a Promotions Producer, creating promotional content for Climate California and many other projects of the station. Miguel studied at San Francisco State University and The Abbey Road Institute. He has worked in numerous recording studios across the Bay Area and honed a wide array of media skills.
 
 
  
MEG HAYWOOD SULLIVAN ("Climate California: Explorations") is the Host and Writer of Climate California’s digital spin-off series, Explorations. She has dedicated her life's work to the convergence of art and science, with fifteen years of experience in the non-profit and photography industries, aiming to inspire action through meaningful steps toward a more sustainable future. Meg recently finished her masters degree at Harvard, where she explored the power of community-driven environmental action. Outside her commercial and environmental work, she is a co-founder of the Plastic Free Fridays movement, an ambassador for Surfrider Foundation and Protect Our Winters, a board member for TreePeople and the Environmental Media Association, and an active member of The Explorers Club. Watch Climate California: Explorations on PBS and YouTube!
 
 
 
 
 
Meg’s website
 
 
 
 
DARREN LASHELLE (executive producer, "Climate California") is the President & CEO of Northern California Public Media and has led a concentrated media focus on environmental reporting and documentary storytelling, as well as community engagement efforts. LaShelle is an Emmy award-winning Executive Producer for the science and technology TV series "Plugged-In." He has written and produced documentaries, live and recorded TV and radio series, and breaking news coverage. LaShelle is the Executive Producer of a number of nationally-broadcast documentary programs on public television.
 
 
 
PAUL SWENSEN (executive producer, "Climate California") is the Executive Producer for Video Content and National Distribution at Northern California Public Media and serves as Executive Producer in Feature Film Production at New Regency-Los Angeles. He is an Emmy award winning Producer and has produced and directed over 400 thirty-minute programs for PBS and American Public Television such as Made in Spain with Jose Andres and Jacque Pepin’s Heart and Soul and America’s Test Kitchen.
 
 
 
 
WILLIAM MEESE (post production supervisor, "Climate California") comes to Climate California with over two decades of post-production experience that includes commercials, films, and hundreds of episodes of nationally distributed programming for public television. As Post-Production Coordinator at Northern California Public Media, he works with in-house and independent producers to manage technical quality and delivery of the many programs produced or presented by NorCal.
 
 
 
 

ANNA LOI (environmental consultant, "Climate California"), has a deep understanding of environmental issues at the levels of both practice and theory. She has a background in forestry with a BSc from Germany and a Masters in Forestry from Yale, followed by several years of working in Asia-Pacific on forest restoration issues, and is a PhD candidate at the MINT Lab at the University of Murcia, Spain. She's contributed to reports on climate impacts on forests, including for the FAO.

She now uses her knowledge of forest ecology to explore how theories of consciousness and intelligence relate beyond the individual to the community and group level in plant groups and forest ecosystems. To explore this, she uses knowledge from across many fields such as evolution, dynamic systems theory, perception, cognition and philosophy to look at specific phenomena such as mycorrhizal networks, clonality, succession and forest ecology at large.

 

 
 
 
 

NATE TOBEY (executive producer, "A Fighting Chance") is a podcast developer, executive producer and content executive. His work has received DuPont and Peabody recognition. He led podcast development at American Public Media and served as Head of Content at 10% Happier. He developed the official Downton Abbey podcast for PBS, and has helped launch dozens of shows. He has also served as a lead producer at Penn State Public Broadcasting, and as digital engagement lead at FRONTLINE.

 

 
 
 
 

TAYLOR COFFMAN (senior producer/editor, "A Fighting Chance") is a writer, producer, editor, and project manager. She's been involved in the launch of nearly 20 podcasts in the last five years. She was the former Operations Manager of LAist Studios establishing an award-winning podcast studios featured as Best of Apple and Best of Spotify. Taylor is also a Substack author and her work has been featured in STAT, Huffington Post, and others including having the #1 Trending Article on Apple News.

 

 
 
 
 

KRISTEN HAYFORD (marketing support, "A Fighting Chance") is a marketing strategist whose work sits at the intersection of governance systems and emerging media. She has advised cultural and international players on how storytelling shapes public understanding and institutional legitimacy. Currently based in The Hague, Netherlands, Kristen drives high-level communication strategies for complex global stakeholders.

 

 
 
 
 

JENNIFER DeFILIPPO (editor, "A Fighting Chance") is a filmmaker who has worked for the last two decades building a multi-hyphenate career across film, television, documentaries and podcasts. She’s been honored to work with companies such as NPR, LAist, Greenpeace, and now PBS. A career highlight was working with Larry Charles, the writer/producer of her favorite episode of Seinfeld, as well as Tina Fey and Ted Danson on NBC’s, Mr. Mayor. She loves dogs and hopes to one day be a champion pinball player.

 

 
 
 
 

HANK LIU (editor, "A Fighting Chance") is an editor and producer working across documentary and branded content. He focuses on shaping story in post and keeping projects moving under real-world timelines.
Based in San Francisco, he works with teams across the U.S. and internationally, bringing over a decade of experience, a clear editorial voice and a practical approach to production.