Here's a name to remember.

Juan Hoffmaister, a senior at College of the Atlantic in Bar Harbor, has been a force in the global youth network trying to engage world leaders in the fight against climate change. We wrote about Hoffmaister and fellow COA students at the United Nations Conference on Climate Change in Montreal in December 2005. He led the youth lobbying contingent and thought nothing of challenging international delegates on the finer points of Kyoto as they headed to the cafe, or the bathroom.

Hoffmaister has since been to Nairobi and other parts of the world, formally addressing UN representatives as well as organizing youth activists. Now he’s about to go even further – and farther.

Starting in August, the 23-year-old will travel around the globe to see the effects of climate change on rural communities. Destinations include Greenland, Namibia, the Maldives and Chile. Adjustments the communities have made to water crises and other changes, he believes, hold lessons for the rest of us, and for global policy makers.

His travel will be paid for by the Thomas J. Watson Foundation Fellowship, which awards 50 fellowships a year to passionate college seniors who are destined to become leaders. Or, as in the case of Hoffmaister, seniors who already are.

For a profile of Juan and his project, check out this COA press release.

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