Bob Besso is the Recycling Program Manager for Norcal Waste System, and works in the city of San Francisco. He is credited with helping to created the “Fantastic Three” program of recycling, in which homes are provided three separate bins for sorting their trash. The recycling program in San Francisco is internationally recognized as one of the most effective urban programs for waste disposal. In December 2009, he was interviewed by Ignas Pavilonis about his experiences in recycling.

Mat Thomas is an animal rights activist, and is the author of the blog AnimalRighter. He has also written fror and contributed to Vegnews, and the Farm Sanctuary. He has been a vegetarian for over ten years, and a vegan for the last 6. In December 2009 he was interviewed by Hao-Wei Lin and the rest of the class about how animal rights relates to issues of sustainability and justice.

Scot Herbst is an industrial designer for Lunar Design, Inc, a Palo Alto based design firm. At Lunar he has worked on numerous projects, including the HP Touchsmart. One of his primary focuses at Lunar is to emphasize the importance of sustainability and implementing sustainable practices into the company’s designs. In December 2009 he sat down with Ivy Liu and the rest of the Global Issues class to talk about sustainability and product design.

Annie Leonard is an internationally known eco-activist, and creator of the online movie “The Story Of Stuff,” a critical look at the way in which humans make, buy, and then throw away stuff. Her movie is available for free online and also at youtube. The Global Issues class made a video response to Annie’s movie and posted it on youtube, which you can see here. Through youtube, Annie contacted the class, and came out to San Francisco to be interviewed by the whole class about the content, making of, and popularity of the Story Of Stuff.

Dr. Ron Morgan, in his spare time as an anesthesiologist, is the CEO of Faraday Motor Works, a newly created electric car company. They are currently working on the design of their first model, the Galatea. In December of 2008 Dr. Morgan sat down with Tim Lin, Robert Leumers, and Byrd Bannick to talk about starting a company and the engineering behind electric cars.

Silvestro Bakhiet fled South Sudan in the 1980s when the first Sudanese Civil War broke out. He eventually made his way to the United States, where he has become an advocate for raising awareness about the conflict in Sudan and creating a stable situation for the people of South Sudan. He has founded the New Sudan Generation to try and help re-develop the infrastructure of South Sudan. On December 15, 2007 he sat down with students Andras Helmeczi, Jodey Glaser, Max Magnusson, and Laura Christian to discuss his story, in addition to how students can get involved in the world at large.

Emily Sugihara is the founder and creator of Baggu Bag, a hip reusable shopping bag that is meant to be an eco-friendly alternative to using plastic bags. Her product has gotten rave reviews in magazines such as Teen Vogue. On December 5, 2007, Emily sat down with Jasmine Madavis, Sheila Mikailli, and Maddie Turner to talk about her product and starting a business.