Listen to Noomii's interview with Robert Cabin PhD

About Me

I grew up in a small farming town; my first paid job was picking cucumbers at age 12 for $1.10 an hour. Ever since then I have been passionate about hard work, farming, and growing, cooking, and eating good food.

I loved sports and played soccer and basketball in high school. Years later, while living and working in Hawaii, I became obsessed with surfing and wilderness marathons.

As a child, nature was my refuge, and my escape. The destruction of the woods and streams surrounding my childhood home ultimately led me to the science and practice of ecology and conservation.

I poured my heart and soul into my career after earning a PhD in Biology. I got big grants, published important books and papers, taught thousands of students… I also did everything I could to inform people about our climate change crisis and inspire them to help solve it.

Then I started burning out. My joy and passion were fading, my eco-anxiety and climate fatalism were increasing, and my mental and physical health were declining.

I noticed that the same things were happening to many of my friends and colleagues. I watched several of them ultimately die, some of whom were unhappily still grinding away at work, while others had only recently retired and finally begun to pursue their long-deferred dreams. I vowed that this would not be my fate.

The things that have been most effective at helping me reclaim and revitalize my life are regular exercise, quality time in nature, intentional cold exposure, insight meditation, and skilled coaching. Now my mental and physical health are better than ever, and I believe I am finally utilizing my greatest gifts and doing my best work.

I am passionate about helping others find the things that work best for them so they can be their best selves, live their best lives, and make the biggest difference.

Finally, I have been happily married to an amazing woman for 25 years. We are the proud parents of a son, a daughter, and a highly enlightened cat.