Rochelle Strauss is on a mission to change the world – one book at a time!
As an environmental educator and award-winning children’s author, Rochelle is dedicated to building environmental literacy and inspiring people to become active stewards of our planet. Through her work, she uses compelling storytelling to bring complex ecological processes and environmental issues to life, helping young people better understand the natural world and empowering them to have a positive impact. Most importantly, Rochelle also brings HOPE by sharing good new stories of action and innovation from around the world.
Rochelle’s children’s books have won several awards, been translated globally, and incorporated into curriculum in the US. The Global Ocean is a UNESCO endorsed Ocean Decade Activity. One Well: The Story of Water on Earth has sold over 650,000 million copies globally and is embedded into the Grade 3 Language Arts curriculum in the United States, via EL Education. It was also selected as part of the UN’s SDG Book Club in support of SDG 6 – Clean Water and Sanitation. Rochelle has several new books arriving soon, including: All the Water on Earth (Kids Can Press, June 2026), a lyrical picture book adaptation loosely based on One Well, and Well Aware: Stories of Hope about Water on Earth (Kids Can Press) a sequel to One Well, arriving in 2027. An active speaker and presenter, Rochelle can often be found building environmental literacy in classrooms around the world and raising the profile of non-fiction books as tools for STEM education at conferences and teacher training workshops.
Two different school workshops are offered:
1. The Global Ocean
What if Earth had a beating heart that powered everything on the planet? In a way, the Global Ocean is like Earth’s heart.
Using this powerful premise and the principles of ocean literacy, award-winning author Rochelle Strauss builds students’ Ocean Literacy – an understanding of the ocean’s influence on us, and our influence on the ocean.
Through this dynamic, engaging and interactive presentation, students will dive into the global ocean to discover that while Earth is home to five distinct oceans, these oceans are actually connected to form one global ocean and this one ocean sustains all life on Earth. The presentation will highlight the important roles the global ocean plays in supporting all life on Earth, such as regulating Earth’s climate, controlling weather, providing habitat, and as a source of food for many animals on the planet (including people).
But the global ocean is in trouble, with many human activities having a huge impact on the global ocean. Students will explore how pollution, overfishing, acidification, habitat destruction, warming water and rising sea levels are all affecting the health of the global ocean.
Through stories called Ripples of Change, Rochelle will share that the news isn’t all bad. By showcasing leading ocean conservation initiatives and other good news stories from around the world, Rochelle will demonstrate the actions people and organizations are taking to protect the global ocean.
The final, and perhaps most impactful and dramatic moment of the presentation comes with an interactive activity that engages the full audience and which clearly demonstrates to each student the power of just one person to make a change. This activity leaves students feeling empowered and inspired. It will also build their capacity for making informed and responsible decisions when it comes to protecting the Earth’s global ocean.
2. One Well: The Story of Water on Earth
Imagine for a moment if all water on Earth came from just one well.
The Earth is a watery planet. Its surface is about 71% water, which sounds like a lot, doesn’t it? But of all the water on earth, humans depend mostly on freshwater. Freshwater makes up about 3% of all water on Earth. And while that may not sound like a lot of water, it should be more than enough, if we are all well aware.
This Presentation supports Rochelle Strauss’s global best-selling non-fiction book: One Well: The Story of Water on Earth by taking students on a journey to become well aware. Using a dynamic, engaging and interactive approach, Rochelle builds students’ water literacy—teaching them how all water on Earth is connected and looking at the issues that impact Earth’s one well, such as the limited amount of freshwater on Earth, access to the well, demands on the well and pollution in the well. The presentation also explores the water cycle that connects all water on Earth, the importance of water as habitat, and stories about how plants and animals (including people) use and depend on water.
The presentation wraps with good news stories and an opportunity for students to brainstorm actions they can take to protect all the water in the well. A final dramatic moment comes with an activity that clearly demonstrates to each student the power of just one person to make a change. This activity leaves the students feeling empowered and inspired.
