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If we avoid the worst and we're able to adapt in a way where we really kind of change our approach to things like equity and how we deal with the environment, if we do that,

and I want my son to know I was a part of it, even just a small part of it, but part of it. And if we don't and we fail, I want him to know that I tried.

Nicole Hernandez-Hammer was an established climate scientist and respected academic. But a few years ago, she left it all behind. Her sense of urgency about climate change pushed her to direct advocacy.

Since then, her work has made her a national leader in environmental justice,

even earning her an invitation to join Michelle Obama at the 2015 State of the Union.

Today, she and I trace her passion for saving the planet back to her upbringing in rural Guatemala

and discuss the loneliness of being a Latina in STEM.

Like me, you'll end up inspired to do your part.

Welcome, Nicole.

Thank you.

You are born in Guatemala of Cuban heritage. How did that happen?

My dad went to medical school in Guatemala, and he met my mom there.

And she's Guatemalan?

With Guatemalan, yes.

So can I as a Cuban count you as one of my own?

Sure. Okay, good. That'd be great. Early on, what was your awareness of the environment?

So my father being Cuban and going to medical school in Guatemala, he was at a disadvantage.

So Guatemalan doctors got to do their residency in the city and foreign

doctors had to find it somewhere else in the country. And so we went to Kichet in the highlands

...