Dr. Richard Gragg’s Call for Environmental Balance

On September 9, 2025, I found myself in a room full of trail hikers, conservationists, and the usual meeting chatter. It was a chapter gathering of the Apalachee Chapter of the Florida Trail Association in Tallahassee. The first twenty minutes were eaten up by announcements, leaving the guest speaker — Dr. Richard D. Gragg III, Professor of Environmental Science and Policy at Florida A&M University — with a rushed slot to deliver a lecture that deserved an hour.

Still, in his clipped 20 minutes, Dr. Gragg sketched a framework that stuck with me: relationship, respect, responsibility, action, and impact. He called it the foundation of human–environment interconnection. Lofty? Sure. But every point he made has evidence behind it. I went digging to test his claims — and the results show just how urgently we need to pay attention.

Libraries We Burn Before Reading

Dr. Gragg reminded us that ecosystems are more than pretty landscapes; they are knowledge systems. If we bulldoze a forest, we don’t just lose trees — we lose potential cures, chemical blueprints, and information we haven’t even discovered yet.

He’s not wrong. Over 70% of cancer drugs approved in the last 25 years originate from natural compounds, many of them sourced from rainforests and coral reefs (Newman & Cragg, 2020). National Geographic has reported extensively on how rainforest biodiversity underpins modern medicine (National Geographic, 2017). And yet, half of Earth’s rainforests have been leveled in the last century. We’re burning the library before we’ve finished reading.

National Security Isn’t Just About Missiles

One of the more surprising pivots in his talk was a national security angle. Gragg warned that sea-level rise could cripple naval bases along the U.S. coast. That sounded dramatic, but the Department of Defense has confirmed it. Norfolk Naval Base in Virginia, the world’s largest, is already experiencing regular flooding (CBS News, 2019).

The Pentagon itself has released multiple reports stating that climate change is a “threat multiplier,” undermining readiness and infrastructure (U.S. Department of Defense, 2019). Translation: you can ignore wetlands, but when your aircraft carriers can’t dock, the conversation shifts.

Six Boundaries Broken

Gragg also mentioned planetary boundaries — nine thresholds scientists say define a “safe operating space” for humanity. Six of those nine are already crossed (Richardson et al., 2023). Among the most alarming? “Novel entities” like PFAS and microplastics.

These so-called “forever chemicals” are now detectable in human bloodstreams and placentas (Ragusa et al., 2021). A PBS NewsHour investigation highlighted how PFAS contamination is embedded in U.S. drinking water systems (PBS NewsHour, 2023). It’s not fringe science. It’s mainstream public health.

The Collapse of Pollinators

Then came the bees. Gragg was blunt: “If you don’t have bees, you don’t pollinate plants that produce food.”

According to Cornell University, pollinators contribute nearly $29 billion annually to U.S. agriculture (Losey & Vaughan, 2006). Without them, our grocery aisles collapse. NPR’s science desk has covered how pesticide use and habitat loss are accelerating pollinator decline (NPR, 2022). It’s not a distant risk — it’s today’s grocery bill.

Students Driving the Change

Not all was doom. Gragg credited students at FAMU with sparking most campus environmental changes. This matches broader trends: young people are leading climate strikes, fossil fuel divestment campaigns, and urban greening projects worldwide (Han & Ahn, 2020). Gen Z may not hold all the political levers, but they’re shaking institutions.

Why It Matters

Dr. Gragg ended where he began: with his five pillars. Relationship. Respect. Responsibility. Action. Impact. He wasn’t offering a bumper sticker. He was offering survival ethics.

My takeaway? Respect is what’s missing. We legislate “action” without the respect part, and the results are predictable: toxic chemicals in babies, naval bases underwater, cancer cures logged for timber.

Everything really is connected. And when professors, the Pentagon, farmers, and scientists all echo the same point, the smart move is to listen.

References

CBS News. (2019, November 8). Rising seas threaten Norfolk Naval Base. CBS News. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/navy-norfolk-base-rising-seas-climate-change/

Han, H., & Ahn, S. W. (2020). Youth mobilization to stop global climate change: Narratives and impact. Sustainability, 12(10), 4127. https://doi.org/10.3390/su12104127

Losey, J. E., & Vaughan, M. (2006). The economic value of ecological services provided by insects. Bioscience, 56(4), 311–323. https://doi.org/10.1641/0006-3568(2006)56[311:TEVOES]2.0.CO;2

National Geographic. (2017, July 5). Rain forests may hold cures to diseases. National Geographic. https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/article/rain-forests-may-hold-cures-to-diseases

Newman, D. J., & Cragg, G. M. (2020). Natural products as sources of new drugs over the nearly four decades from 01/1981 to 09/2019. Journal of Natural Products, 83(3), 770–803. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jnatprod.9b01285

PBS NewsHour. (2023, July 5). ‘Forever chemicals’ are widespread in U.S. drinking water. PBS NewsHour. https://www.pbs.org/newshour/science/pfas-forever-chemicals-are-widespread-in-u-s-drinking-water

Ragusa, A., Svelato, A., Santacroce, C., Catalano, P., Notarstefano, V., Carnevali, O., Papa, F., Rongioletti, M. C., Baiocco, F., Draghi, S., D’Amore, E., Rinaldo, D., Matta, M., & Giorgini, E. (2021). Plasticenta: First evidence of microplastics in human placenta. Environment International, 146, 106274. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envint.2020.106274

Richardson, K., Steffen, W., & Rockström, J. (2023). Earth beyond six of nine planetary boundaries. Science Advances, 9(37), eadh2458. https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.adh2458

U.S. Department of Defense. (2019, January). Report on effects of a changing climate to the Department of Defense. U.S. Department of Defense. https://media.defense.gov/2019/Jan/18/2002088960/-1/-1/1/CLIMATE-RELATED-RISK-TO-DoD.PDF

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Join the Conversation

What do you think about Dr. Gragg’s five pillars — relationship, respect, responsibility, action, and impact? Do they resonate with your own community or work?

👉 Share your thoughts in the comments at TerraOnTheBench.com, or tag me on social media. Let’s keep this conversation alive — because everything really is connected.

Dr. Gragg’s five pillars highlight a framework that deserves broader scrutiny and application. How should journalists, researchers, and policymakers integrate relationship, respect, responsibility, action, and impact into their own reporting and decision-making?

👉 I invite colleagues, editors, and fellow environmental communicators to engage with this conversation at TerraOnTheBench.com or connect directly to exchange ideas, sources, and collaborative opportunities.