Traveling through New Zealand’s Southern Alps, I am mesmerized by the green smoky mountains and glacial blue braided rivers. Lost in thought, I wonder (as I always do when immersed in a new place) has this stunning eco-scape always looked this way?

I came to NZ to work on a project called “The Last Ocean.”  Collectively we are trying to tell the story of the Ross Sea, Antarctica, a region that’s been deemed the last intact and healthy marin...