I’ll Go If You Go Podcast

Season 5

In Season 5, we explore how redwoods act as the ultimate “nature influencer” — and how these ancient giants guide us towards a deeper connection with ourselves, each other, and the natural world.
 

More Connected Than You’d Think!

In this seventh episode of Season 5 of “I’ll Go If You Go,” host Monica Carcamo-Binetti heads to San Vicente Redwoods to meet Sempervirens Fund natural resource manager Beatrix Jiménez-Helsley. Recorded among sweeping ocean views, fog, birdsong and the hum of a drone, their conversation explores the hidden connections between faraway Louisiana crayfish and the manmade ponds at San Vicente Redwoods, the complexity of fuel reduction projects and the return of native plant species. The 8,850-acre San Vicente Redwoods – ancestral land of the Awaswas-speaking Ohlone people – is stewarded by Sempervirens Fund, Save the Redwoods League and the Peninsula... Read more

Building More Than “Just a Bridge”

In the sixth episode of Season 5, Monica travels to Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park to meet with trail crew members Riley Dunn and Margarita Munguia, who are celebrating their work rebuilding the Pfeiffer Falls Bridge after a massive redwood tree destroyed it in a storm in 2023. They discuss building trails that feel natural and reveal the invisible work behind them. The Pfeiffer Falls Trail reopened in June 2025 thanks to support from Save the Redwoods League and California State Parks. This episode offers an inside look at the invisible trail work that goes into reopening the trail, and... Read more

Healing Begins on a Redwood Walk

In the fifth episode of Season 5, Monica sits down with Dr. David Rebanal, associate professor of public health at San Francisco State University, and Rizelle Jugarap, a master’s student researcher at San Francisco State. Together, they share insight from the Reclaiming Nature project. The project is a study that brought young people from Black, Latine, and Filipinx communities into the redwoods to explore whether walking among these ancient trees could reduce stress and even improve cellular health. With the support of Save the Redwoods League, participants had the chance to walk in the redwoods at Peters Creek and reclaim... Read more

A Naturalist Homecoming

In the fourth episode of season 5, Monica sits down with Daisy Prado, community organizer and founder of City Gurlz Hike. City Gurlz Hike is a collective that creates spaces for Black, Latina, Indigenous women and non-binary folks to feel at home on the trails across San Francisco. Through the support of a single Mom who made sure Daisy had the chance to explore, volunteer, and ask questions, Daisy grew up with a love of the outdoors. Although her life took many turns that pulled her away from the outdoors, Daisy shares how that foundation helped her build a path... Read more

Origins of a Green Hero

In the third episode of Season 5, host Monica Carcamo-Binetti settles into the Save the Redwoods League office on a chilly San Francisco morning with guest Rahsaan McFarland II. Rahsaan is a Stanford undergraduate, artist, photographer, and emerging science communicator whose early encounters with coast redwoods opened a path toward environmental justice. Rahsaan co-founded Nurtured by Nature to help Black students feel welcome in the outdoors and build community in wild spaces. He’s weathered a whirlwind from the start of his federal service. Hired by the Environmental Protection Agency’s water division supporting tribal water infrastructure, to then be let go... Read more

Backyard Giants

In the second episode of Season 5, host Monica Carcamo-Binetti heads out into the field to kick-off California State Parks Week beneath the soaring redwoods of Samuel P. Taylor State Park. This is the 4th year of celebration and the first time in a redwood park!  Guided by this year’s tagline “This Is Where You Live”, Monica captures stories from District Superintendent Maria Mowrey, Interpreter Kourtney Boone, community champion Kirstie Dutton, and a band of wide-eyed kids fresh off a hike. Plus we also had a surprise visit from a key player that helps shape California State Parks in a... Read more

Pass the Baton (But You Are Not Gone)

In the first episode of season 5, we celebrate transitions, transformations, and the quiet power of standing among ancient trees. Former host Emily Harwitz returns to pass the mic to new host Monica Carcamo-Binetti, a longtime advocate for nature connection and co-Founder of Bay Area GalVentures. Together they explore how the redwoods shape us, and how being outdoors can clear our minds, rest our intentions, and remind us of what truly matters. Emily and Monica find beauty, resilience, and a shared commitment to protecting the places that change us. This season, Monica will explore how redwoods act as the ultimate... Read more

About the host

About the editor

Season 4

• Who’s your host?
• Guardian of the redwoods
• Aqua Team Restoration Force
• The way of water
• Up to Interpretation
• Neida and the Giant Sequoias
• Reimagining Fire
• Stewardship: Keepers of the Land
• It’s only natural
• Outreach, where the people are
• Finding your path
• Talking Trees

About the host

Emily Harwitz (she/her) is a journalist, writer, and filmmaker who works at the nexus of science and art to catalyze social and environmental change. Trained as a scientist and journalist, she also draws from her experience working in conservation and the outdoors to tell stories that inform, inspire, and rebuild connection with the beauty of nature we’re all part of.

Season 3

• Conservation: now in technicolor!
• Have no fear, the gals are here!
• The Girl with the Redwood Tattoos
• Out with Outlandish!
• Trek long and prosper
• To Build a Trail—and the community that follows

About the host

Emily Harwitz (she/her) is a multimedia science writer and photographer whose work focuses on the environment and our connection to it. She tells stories that foster community, provoke curiosity, and inspire a sense of deeper connection with the natural world around us.

Season 2

• The fungus among us
• Nothing wrong with having a tree as a friend
• Bird is the word
• “Skate slow and live”
• When the river meets the sea
• Brown is a beautiful color

About the host of season 2

Emily Harwitz (she/her) is a multimedia science writer and photographer whose work focuses on the environment and our connection to it. She tells stories that foster community, provoke curiosity, and inspire a sense of deeper connection with the natural world around us.

Season 1

• Raised by the Oakland redwoods
• Rooting yourself in community and place
• If I could walk with the animals, talk with the animals
• A hike a week keeps your well-being at peak
• How to stand up (like a redwood)
• Come as you are (smells like team spirit)

About the host of Season 1

Leslie Parra (she/her) connects diverse communities to redwood and sequoia forests. She has garnered significant recognition for her leadership in community civic action, STEM and environmental education, and diversity, equity, and inclusion work over the past 15 years. Her professional calling is to cultivate enrichment programs with multicultural and international perspectives, driven by and in collaboration with communities. During her free time, she loves to go hiking with her partner Eric and their dog Mishqui (which means “sweet” in Quichua, the native language of Ecuador—a place she calls home).