My ‘why’: From dental school to a fateful beach trip

Editor’s note: This story is part of My ‘Why’, a video series about the unexpected twists and turns that led people to choose conservation as a calling. These are real-life journeys — sometimes hair-raising, sometimes humorous, always heartfelt — told by the people who lived them.

“I was thoroughly convinced I was getting eaten by a crocodile.”

Stephanie Kimball was on night patrol on a black sand beach in Costa Rica. Her mission: Collect sea turtle eggs for a volunteer conservation project.

Then came a thunderstorm, an ill-timed brush with a beached log in the darkness, and a pivotal experience that stayed with her long after she returned home and began training for a very different career — dentistry.

Now, Kimball leads climate strategy at Conservation International. How did she get here? Why did she leave a stable career to leap into the unknown? Watch the video to hear her story.