December Young Planet Leader Bernice Deng
Bernice Deng is a high school student, environmental advocate, and speaker committed to advancing youth-led climate solutions. Her passion for environmentalism began in 6th grade during a climate change unit—an interest that intensified as she witnessed the accelerating impacts of the climate crisis. Since then, she has dedicated herself to creating meaningful change locally and globally, earning recognition from SDGs Today, the National Trails Workshop, The Nature Conservancy, and other international platforms.
At Inspirate Earth, Bernice leads a team focused on reimagining climate education through accessible resources, workshops, and policy initiatives. Educational materials she helped develop were featured in The Nature Conservancy’s Youth Climate Action Toolkit. She also collaborated with Columbia University’s CIPHER and The Climate Club to design a climate education course that introduces students to climate science, sustainability, and environmental justice.
As Director of People Operations at Climate Cardinals, the world’s largest youth-led climate organization, Bernice manages a core team of more than 100 young leaders. Climate Cardinals works to build capacity for youth and for the 6.5 billion non-English speakers worldwide by translating climate information into 105 languages, supporting grassroots education, and developing multilingual climate action campaigns. Bernice oversees recruitment, internal programming, and team engagement for their 16,000 volunteers across 134 countries.
Bernice also has a strong academic interest in environmental science, particularly geology. She conducted research at USC on deformation, shear zones, and geological processes, and independently studies plastic pollution—specifically nurdles, the small plastic pellets used in manufacturing. Using machine learning, she hopes to predict ocean-based nurdle spills. Her advocacy inspired the launch of No Nurdles, a campaign dedicated to preventing pellet spills; through her Instagram account @nonurdles, she shares hand-drawn educational infographics to raise public awareness.
Driven, curious, and unwavering in her commitment to the planet, Bernice continues to champion innovative climate solutions—on land, at sea, and within her community.
Like, and share to support December’s Young Planet Leader Bernice Deng.
Follow Bernice’s work:
Instagram: @bernicedeng
Inspirate Earth’s Website: https://inspirateemail.wixsite.com/inspirate
No Nurdles’ Instagram: @nonurdles
Climate Cardinals’ Website: https://www.climatecardinals.org/
