I’m a professor, filmmaker, and storyteller interested in the question of how we can transform ourselves—as individuals, as societies, as an entire species—in ways that allow our planet’s ecological systems to thrive.

I began this work through the study of environmental history and cultural geography. I then became a filmmaker and photographer focused on stories of transformation in the face of ecological peril.

Most recently, I launched the Chrysalis newsletter and podcast to have conversations with a wide variety of environmental thinkers, as well as to share my writing on our relationship with the natural world.

My newsletter, podcast, and photographs are available for free to anyone. By becoming a paid subscriber on johnfiege.earth—what we call a Butterfly Subscriber—you can also stream my films and post on the community comments section of the newsletter. Your support provides essential resources for the newsletter and podcast to grow and remain free and ad-free for everyone.

Humanity has been a very hungry caterpillar, eating everything in sight. Can we now transform into a beautiful butterfly ready to pollinate the flowers, rather than just eat the leaves?

This is the question that animates me—and I believe that digging deeply into the question itself can catalyze transformation.