Yesenia Garcia founded Ecological Rites out of a realization she had in college, when she noticed that much of the environmental science she was being taught was rooted in the lived knowledge of farm workers and indigenous communities who rarely got credit for it. Her organization focuses on environmental education and ethnobotany, using indigenous knowledge as the foundation for a more grounded and effective approach to climate action than the traditional methods alone have offered. Through weekly scientific articles and accessible educational content, Ecological Rites helps people take pride in their traditional ecological knowledge while building new tools to protect their local environments and choose careers that do not harm the planet. Yesenia's bigger goal is to grow the next generation of indigenous scientists and shift how indigenous people are seen in the field, recognized as scientists in their own right rather than only through the lens of environmental justice.
