Isaac Alderfer

Isaac Alderfer is the events coordinator for the Climate Ride.  A junior, environmental science major at Eastern Mennonite University, Isaac was the CSCS ambassador for his campus this year. That experience helped him discover his passion for facilitating engagement around climate issues.  

Isaac competes in cross country and track at EMU, is involved in researching stream water quality with one of his professors and is a barista at a coffee shop.  In his free time, Isaac likes to spend time outside, often accompanied by a camera, binoculars or a notebook. “I really love anything that happens in the mountains, woods, or on the water,” he said.  

Isaac, who grew up in Broadway, Virginia, wanted to join the climate ride because biking across the country had been on his bucket list for a long time and because “having the chance to do that while also advocating for action and policy changes for the climate is an incredible opportunity I couldn’t turn down.”

When thinking about climate change, Isaac said: “I love wildlife and appreciating delicate balancing acts in nature, and the thought of those unraveling and even disappearing is where I feel some of the most pain.”  He finds hope in the words of Author Robin Wall Kimmerer: “I choose joy over despair. Not because I have my head in the sand, but because joy is what the earth gives me daily and I must return the gift.