Alizé Carrère is a National Geographic Explorer, filmmaker, and PhD candidate researching and documenting adaptation to environmental change. Raised in a house wrapped around a 300-year old oak tree, her childhood primed her for a unique perspective on what it means to live in a dynamic environment. After moving to Montreal to complete a B.A. at McGill University in Environmental Sciences and International Development, she spent time living in Panama before returning to McGill to complete an M.Sc. in Integrated Water Resource Management. During this time, she lived in the Middle East working on the relationship between electronic waste and water pollution in Israel and Palestine.
In 2013, Alizé received support from National Geographic to conduct research in Madagascar, where she spent several months uncovering an unlikely agricultural adaptation in response to severe deforestation. Learning of farmers who were turning erosional gullies into fertile pockets of farmland, her work evolved into a four-part film series covering human creativity and resourcefulness in the face of environmental hardship (premiered on PBS in 2021). She brings her social science background and extensive field experience to her filmmaking, with the goal of documenting and elevating the human dimensions of climate change.
Alizé is currently pursuing her PhD at the University of Miami in Ecosystem Science & Policy. Her research focuses on climate change utopias, or “climatopias”: the forward-looking plans that architects, designers and futurists are drawing up in response to imminent environmental change.
Alizé has spoken at a variety of educational and professional conferences. She delivers presentations on topics including her global adaptation research, climatopias, and the empowerment of women in science. For inquiries, please email: info@alizecarrere.com
