People around the world can watch Gainesville local Mac Stone talk about preserving the Everglades on the Philips Center for the Performing Arts stage.
Starting Sept. 30, his TEDxUF talk, "Everglades: America’s Wetland," will be featured on TED.com, a nonprofit organization that hosts a yearly conference where people give talks on a variety of subjects.
"I don’t think I’ve actually wrapped my head around it yet," said Stone, a 31-year-old conservation photographer.
Kristia Watkins, a UF public relations senior and public relations coordinator for TEDxUF 2016, said she was there when Stone gave his talk in March. He said more kids go to Disney than go camping, meaning children don’t like to spend as much time in nature. Watkins said she resonated with this.
"I was like, ‘Yeah, I’ve been to Disney so many times, but I went camping once, and I hated it,’" the 21-year-old said.
Although next year will be the seventh year of TEDxUF, it’s still pretty small, Watkins said. She said she hopes the exposure from Stone’s talk will increase attendance for the March 2016 conference.
Stone said he hopes his video will inspire people to protect the Everglades.
"Once they see it, you can’t help but fall in love with it and want to protect it," he said.
Contact Alexandra Fernandez at afernandez@alligator.org and follow her on Twitter @alexmfern
Update: TEDx has postponed featuring the Mac Stone talk on its website until Sept. 30. As of our original press time, the talk was supposed to be featured starting Sept. 23.
Mac Stone, a local conservation photographer, speaks about preserving the Everglades on the Philips Center for the Performing Arts stage during a TEDxUF conference. His talk, “Everglades: America’s Wetland,” will be featured on TED.com.
