Nishant Shah Is Thinking Global, Acting Local

Young conservationist and NWF staff member Nishant Shah brings his work on the Great Lakes to the United Nations’ Ocean Decade

By Delaney McPherson
Next Generation
Mar 26, 2025

“WHEN YOU THINK ABOUT THE U.N. AND THEIR WATER WORK, you don’t really consider the Great Lakes, but water is all interconnected,” says Nishant Shah, a newly named member of the U.S. Youth Action Council for the United Nations Ocean Decade. Established by the nonprofit Heirs To Our Ocean, the council brings young people to the U.N.’s decision-making table on issues related to water.

As a Chicago-based community partnerships specialist for the National Wildlife Federation’s Environmental Justice team, Shah, age 25, works to create relationships with frontline communities, building on his previous experience. As an undergraduate at University of Illinois Chicago, he worked with The Freshwater Lab and Great Lakes communities to learn how people are affected by issues such as water pollution. He also participated in the Chicago Desi Youth Rising (CDYR) program, which teaches leadership skills to teens of South Asian descent. After graduation, Shah went back to CDYR as a coordinator to empower teens.

Now he is taking his expertise on the Great Lakes and applying it to his work with the U.N. council. As part of this effort, he is interviewing Indigenous groups in the Great Lakes region to learn how the plastic industry affects them. He is also conducting an audit to determine how much plastic waste is generated by various companies. When it comes to plastic pollution, “people focus on the oceans, but plastic waste isn’t just an ocean issue,” says Shah. “We need to center community voices.”