Glenn Switkes
Encyclopedia
Glenn Ross Switkes was an American
environmentalist
and film-maker.
and filmmaking at the University of California, Berkeley. While finishing his degree in filmmaking, Glenn co-produced with Randy Hayes and Toby McLeod the award-winning Four Corners: A National Sacrifice Area? about the effect of mining on the people and land of the southwestern United States. After visiting the Amazon, he and his first wife Monti Aguirre made a documentary film: Amazonia: Voices of the Rainforest.
as its Western Amazon oil campaigner. In 1994 he joined International Rivers
and moved to Brazil with his second wife Selma Barros de Oliveira.
, California
-based International Rivers
(formerly known as International Rivers Network, or IRN).
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
environmentalist
Environmentalist
An environmentalist broadly supports the goals of the environmental movement, "a political and ethical movement that seeks to improve and protect the quality of the natural environment through changes to environmentally harmful human activities"...
and film-maker.
Film career
Switkes studied history at Columbia UniversityColumbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
and filmmaking at the University of California, Berkeley. While finishing his degree in filmmaking, Glenn co-produced with Randy Hayes and Toby McLeod the award-winning Four Corners: A National Sacrifice Area? about the effect of mining on the people and land of the southwestern United States. After visiting the Amazon, he and his first wife Monti Aguirre made a documentary film: Amazonia: Voices of the Rainforest.
Environmental Activism Career
After completing Amazonia: Voices of the Rainforest, Switkes joined Rainforest Action NetworkRainforest Action Network
Rainforest Action Network is an environmental organization based in San Francisco, California, USA. The organization was founded by Randy "Hurricane" Hayes and Mike Roselle in 1985, with the financial help of Fund for Wild Nature....
as its Western Amazon oil campaigner. In 1994 he joined International Rivers
International Rivers
International Rivers is a non-profit, non-governmental, environmental and human rights organization based in Berkeley, California, United States...
and moved to Brazil with his second wife Selma Barros de Oliveira.
Personal life
Glenn Switkes was born in New York City to working class parents and had one brother, Daniel. With his second wife, Selma, he had one son Gabriel (Gabo). He was a lifelong fan of the New York Yankees and the music of the Grateful Dead and Bob Dylan.Death
Switkes was diagnosed with lung cancer in December 2009 and died 10 days later. He was survived by his wife Selma and son Gabriel. At the time he was serving as Amazon Program Director of the BerkeleyBerkeley, California
Berkeley is a city on the east shore of the San Francisco Bay in Northern California, United States. Its neighbors to the south are the cities of Oakland and Emeryville. To the north is the city of Albany and the unincorporated community of Kensington...
, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
-based International Rivers
International Rivers
International Rivers is a non-profit, non-governmental, environmental and human rights organization based in Berkeley, California, United States...
(formerly known as International Rivers Network, or IRN).