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Meet 6 Women Fighting for Clean Water

Jill Jedlicka, Buffalo and Niagara Falls. For decades, Jedlicka has fought to repair waterways contaminated by industrial pollution on the U.S.-Canada border. Photo: Mark Schäfer for Culture Trip

Featuring voice recordings from celebrities like Lupita Nyong’o and Julia Louis-Dreyfus, an online photo gallery published today profiles 20 clean-water activists who have fought and won significant court battles in sites around the world. The “Waterkeeper Warriors” photo project celebrates the 20th anniversary of the Waterkeeper Alliance, a global nonprofit that focuses on increasing accessibility to clean water. To produce the portfolio, the nonprofit group teamed up with the travel site and app Culture Trip, which sent photographers to shoot portraits of Waterkeeper ambassadors in San Francisco, the Bahamas, Colombia, Senegal, and many more locales. The activists include Casi Callaway, who sued her local government in Alabama over violations of the Clean Water Act, and Rachel Silverstein, who fought against the expansion of Florida’s PortMiami.

“Our Waterkeepers are grassroots activists who are fighting horrific acts of pollution and environmental injustice every day,” the Waterkeeper Alliance’s deputy director, Mary Beth Postman, said in a press release. “Through the Waterkeeper Warriors project, Culture Trip’s photographers have captured their perseverance through a new lens and prove that heroes walk among us every day.” Scroll for a preview of the gallery, which you can view in full here.

Rashema Ingraham, the Bahamas. Ingraham works to implement better law enforcement to protect the coral reefs and islands of the Bahamas. Photo: Peyton Fulford for Culture Trip
Sejal Choksi-Chugh, San Francisco Bay. She works to protect the bay from pollution, suing companies that spill toxins in the water to curb repeat offenses. Photo: Chloe Aftel for Culture Trip
Rachel Silverstein, Miami. Silverstein works to protect Miami and the only nearshore coral reef in the U.S. from construction and expansion projects. Photo: Rose Marie Cromwell for Culture Trip
Casi Callaway, Mobile, Alabama. In 1999, Callaway discovered millions of gallons of raw sewage were spilling into the bay and filed Mobile’s first lawsuit for Clean Water Act violations. Photo: Andy Levin for Culture Trip
Liliana Guerrero, Bocas de Ceniza, Colombia. Guerrero is working against 200-gallon diesel spills and 10,000-gallon petroleum leaks that are common in the area. Photo: Stephen Ferry for for Culture Trip
Meet 6 Women Fighting for Clean Water