Bodhi Patil - Environment & Sustainability and Management
Studying Environment and Sustainability, and Management
University of British Columbia, Canada, class of 2026
“We’re working together with Indigenous stewards, who have been protecting the Earth for thousands of years, so that we can reverse the climate crisis and create the healthy, regenerative future that our world needs.”
One of Bodhi Patil’s earliest memories is swimming through a coral reef and finding himself in awe of its marine life. As a child, he had stumbled upon what would become a lifelong passion — protecting the ocean and its inhabitants.
Bodhi has taken his calling as a “guardian to improve planetary wellbeing” to the University of British Columbia, where he’s majoring in Environment and Sustainability, and completing a Master’s Degree in Management. As a leading Gen Z, United Nations-recognised ocean climate solutionist, he’s also the co-founder of activist platform Ocean Uprise and Impact Advisor at OnDeck Fisheries AI, a software start-up focused on providing scalable fisheries monitoring solutions for marine conservation.
It’s a lot to keep organised and he leans heavily on Apple technology to do it all. Mac powers his presentations and helps him stay on top of uni assignments. While iPhone connects him with colleagues and allows him to create meaningful social media content that motivates others to take action on ocean climate issues.
“I’m not a tech whiz. My strong suit is organising and building connections with people to create change. And Apple technology helps me do that — it allows me to build bridges between communities and organisations that are passionate about ocean conservation, all around the world.”
Together with other organisations, Ocean Uprise leaders recently held a student-led, Indigenous-guided event to defend international waters against deep sea mining. They were able to collect over 300,000 signatures in person and via social media to support their cause. “We gathered forces with ocean allies from across the planet,” Bodhi said about the event. “And using AirDrop on iPhone, we were able to accelerate the rate of action we could take — which ultimately helped result in Canada changing federal policy by declaring a deep sea mining moratorium.”
Apple technology also helps Bodhi conduct and synthesise his university research — like illustrating the impacts of marine vessel activity on the endangered Southern Resident Killer Whale population in the Salish Sea. Taking his MacBook Air, iPhone and binoculars, he tackles the project’s fieldwork out on the water. He charts whale sightings by using Numbers and Keynote to create flowcharts and density maps that show where the locations intersect with popular ferry routes — helping to identify potential disturbances on resident whale populations. And on iPhone, he takes compelling photos and videos that document his findings.
Throughout his work as a student and solutionist, Bodhi keeps a sharp perspective on who he is and what he’s working towards.
“I'm just a young person who wants to have a positive impact on the planet. My goal is to bring people together so we can reach our climate goals and create a future where humans and nature can co-exist in harmony.”
