What is a teacher if not a lifelong learner? Elizabeth Bennett Carroll, the new Chair of GBH’s Board of Advisors, wears both hats. An educator for nearly two decades, an environmental policy consultant before that, a self-proclaimed MASTERPIECE devotee and NOVA nerd, Carroll was a natural fit when GBH came calling.
Now, as a key advisor to the organization (as well as a Trustee), she intends to bring the ardency and inventiveness to her role advocating for GBH as she does to her classroom. We sat down with Carroll to get to know about her love for public media and teaching, what they have in common, and what she hopes to help GBH achieve going forward.
What’s your public media/GBH story?
I grew up on it — Sesame Street, Mister Rogers, ZOOM — and I loved it. As my mom would say, “We were MASTERPIECE devotees long before Downton Abbey.” It was part of our life, as was NPR.
I’ve had a two-part career. I spent the first 20 years as an environmental policy consultant in Washington, D.C. and Boston. About 15 years ago when my kids were young, I sold my company and decided to teach environmental science and policy. I fell in love with teaching, and that’s when I became a big NOVA fan. I use PBS LearningMedia and NOVA all the time in the classroom.
In 2019, a friend of mine invited me to a NOVA event and I thought it was great. Then, during the pandemic, I watched NOVA’s Decoding COVID documentary, and reached out to NOVA’s Co-Executive Producers, Julia Cort and Chris Schmidt, to see if they could put me in touch with Dr. Nahid Bhadelia, who was featured in the film. The three of them were kind enough to speak to all of the students at the Roxbury Latin School, where I teach. It was wonderful, and not long after, I was asked to join the GBH Board of Advisors.
What do you love about teaching?
I get to teach such a cool subject to academically promising students at Roxbury Latin. I love that not all of them go into environmental science, but whatever field they study, it equips them with this lens through which they can look at everything.
I love seeing the light bulb go off in their mind, when they’re like, “Wow, I can’t believe this is real,” or, “This is how climate change actually works.” I just love planting that seed with kids, seeing them get excited about something, and not knowing where it’s going to take them.
NOVA inspires that, too. Plus, the program is really mindful about diversity when they decide which of the brilliant scientists they’ll feature in a program, and that has resonated deeply with my students over the years. When they’re able to see themselves in a NOVA documentary, it’s impactful; they’ve told me that.
What excites you about this role in public media?
I love it. The short answer is the breadth of people you can reach. GBH and I are in the same business — teaching — which is all about communication, and trying to change a life by caring about a young person. It’s what gets me out of bed in the morning. GBH is just doing it on a much bigger scale.
When you teach, you’re in the one-at-a-time business, and it’s not always obvious whom you’re reaching and whom you aren’t. But at the end of every school year, I always get letters from a couple students saying something like, “Thank you for getting me excited about this.” It feels like a huge coup if I’ve moved the needle for half a dozen kids.
With GBH, you’re reaching millions of children. I know students who’ve watched GBH content — FRONTLINE, AMERICAN EXPERIENCE, NOVA, etc. — and it’s changed their view of our place in the world and what matters most. That’s the whole crux.
What’s your vision for the Board of Advisors’ contributions to GBH?
The whole point of the advisory board is to broaden GBH’s reach and get the perspective of a diverse array of people in the community about how GBH can do even better. Coming off this year without federal funding, I would argue the advisory board’s never been more important, because GBH has to rethink our model in some areas. The leadership of Susan Goldberg (President and CEO of GBH) has been extraordinary, in terms of setting GBH up to thrive and think about things in new ways.
Having a room full of smart people with such varied professional and personal experiences, I’m hopeful we can offer GBH some great perspectives on how public media can sustain and succeed going forward.
Why is it particularly important to support public media at this time?
So much of the media landscape is profit-driven. It’s clickbait and sensationalist stories more so than the news people need to hear. If your business model is beholden to ratings, profits, and advertisers, you’re going to inevitably focus on what’s sensational. But public media, done right, supported by the public, covers the stories that matter.
What are you watching right now?
My husband and I started the latest season of House of the Dragon. I love Game of Thrones. The Count of Monte Cristo is next on our list.
What are you reading?
I’m reading On Your Mark: Challenging Conventions on Grading and Reporting, as well as Richard Rhodes’ Energy: A Human History.
Favorite places you’ve traveled relatively recently?
When I was in my 20s, I did research in the Amazon rainforest in Brazil — Belém, Santarém, and Manaus. I loved it there. I also spent time traveling throughout Chile. In Europe, Greece is a favorite. I fantasize about retiring on this little island called Folegandros. You can’t get there easily — it has no airport or port for big yachts or cruise ships. It’s stunning and quiet.
What would Beacon Circle patrons be surprised to learn about you?
My students are always weirded out that I slept in a hammock for two months in the Amazon basin. Another piece that always surprises them is that I married my high school prom date. We went our separate ways for a decade but we ended up back together. I always tell my students when they’re getting ready for prom, “Just an FYI: Mr. Carroll was my high school prom date!”
What do you enjoy doing in your free time?
I love going to the beach. I also walk as often as I can in the woods — I call it my forest bath. I just like being outdoors, which isn’t surprising given what I teach. I also love any time I get to spend with my boys — I have three grown sons.
Every fall at Roxbury Latin, we take the seventh graders camping in New Hampshire. It’s one of my favorite nights of the year, introducing these kids — many of whom have hardly been in the woods, growing up in the city — to the outdoors, seeing them build a campfire, making their first s’mores, learning about trees. Those are really happy moments for me.
What do you find rewarding about staying engaged with GBH and its community?
First and foremost, the people I’ve met at GBH are phenomenal. I don’t know that I’ve ever met anyone at GBH whom I didn’t like or want to get to know better. People who care about public media — the news, the arts and sciences — tend to be interesting, kind people who want to give back to their communities.
Second, we all have to pick our spots. For me, it’s the environment and education: those are the issues I care about most. I think we’re a better, happier world when people are better educated, better informed, and coming together to solve problems. That’s what GBH does; it creates community.
