From Captain Planet to Gamifying Climate Action

What does a cognitive scientist's journey into climate tech reveal about the intersection of human behavior and environmental action? In this episode, I sit down with Dr. Pooja Paul, a former academic who traded her research into human cognition for a mission to make climate action fun and accessible. From watching Captain Planet as a child in India to founding Habitable Earth, a startup creating game-based apps that drive sustainable behaviors, Pooja's path shows how expertise in understanding the human mind can help tackle our greatest environmental challenges. We explore her transition from academia to entrepreneurship, dive into the science of behavior change, and discuss why solving the climate crisis might require fewer perfect environmentalists and many more imperfect ones. Get full access to Climate Swings at climateswings.substack.com/subscribe