Fiji will be the first small island nation to lead a U.N. conference on climate change when global talks commence in Germany this November. The country also has the distinction of overseeing the first round of talks since President Trump began the slow process of withdrawing the United States from the Paris Agreement.

Life in the Trump administration has been anything but ordinary for Dan Simmons.

Nikki Martin is not the typical oil and gas industry trade association executive. The 34-year-old Alaskan leads the Houston-based International Association of Geophysical Contractors, making her the first female president in the group's history.

Environmental lawyer Rob Verchick isn't optimistic about the state of global efforts to slash carbon emissions, but he still has hope.

Military veterans have vocally protested recent pipeline projects, but some, like Garett Reppenhagen, have also worked more quietly behind the scenes, lobbying lawmakers on issues from national monuments and the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to methane flaring restrictions.

Jane Zelikova helped launch a grass-roots science advocacy group in the wake of President Trump's election last fall that has attracted more than 20,000 women.

Jerry Taylor was raised in a household of Republican activists. The eldest of three sons, he moved to Washington in 1991 with the dream of becoming the next Lee Atwater, then the "flavor of the day" for campaign consulting.

Sen. Michael Bennet's office coffee table is neatly stacked with dozens of books that, from their well-worn look, don't appear to be merely set pieces.

Stuart Pimm, one of the world's leading researchers on species extinction, is appalled by the Trump administration's attitude toward science.

Bill Becker ends his nearly 37-year run next Friday as executive director of the National Association of Clean Air Agencies.

Jennifer Rokala is a Westerner through and through.

Mustafa Ali is busy.

Utah Republican Rep. Rob Bishop knows that timing is everything in theater, music and politics.

Land Tawney knows public lands.

Earl Devaney has a way with words.

Kathleen Sgamma has a hint for people unable to pronounce her last name: Replace the Sg with an Sk.

Richard Lazarus is known as the "dean of environmental law," but he'd rather be called the "solicitor general for environmental law."

Rep. Earl Blumenauer loves "Portlandia," the parody of his hometown that skewers hipster Pacific Northwest culture with sketches featuring raw vegan restaurants, feminist bookstores and allergy pride parades.

Carol Browner is an aspiring beekeeper.

Jim Moran doesn't expect the Trump administration to get much of its budget wish list.

Mike McKenna isn't embarrassed by anything.

Long before he was a top House watchdog patrolling energy and environmental agencies, Rep. Blake Farenthold was a disc jockey in the Lone Star State.

Kathleen Hartnett White — rumored to be a contender for a key energy job in the Trump administration — says carbon dioxide has gotten a bad rap.

Coal executive Robert Murray sometimes spends time at his second home near Tampa, Fla., but it's never a vacation.

Former U.S. EPA Administrator William Reilly is keeping a close eye on his former agency.

President Trump has made chopping down government regulations a big priority.

Lincoln Chafee thinks Bernie Sanders should have been on the Democrats' 2016 ticket.

Die-hard Hillary Clinton supporter Jennifer Granholm helped lay the plans for an administration that never happened.

Rep. Ted Lieu wishes he could veto President-elect Donald Trump's pick to lead U.S. EPA.

North Dakota Republican Rep. Kevin Cramer didn't get picked to be the next Energy secretary, but he's in a prime position to help shape energy policy during the Trump administration.

Michael Brune thinks Democrats should nominate Oprah for president in 2020.

Gina McCarthy swears more than she likes.

Tom Carper is a jokester.

For Ray LaHood, being a Republican in a Democratic Cabinet never got awkward.

Former U.S. EPA boss Christine Todd Whitman thinks President-elect Donald Trump is going to make the George W. Bush administration's environmental record look "pretty good."

Sen. Barbara Boxer, who has gained a reputation as the Senate's staunchest environmentalist during her more than two decades in the chamber, is ready to hand off the baton.

Climate scientist Michael Mann thinks a Donald Trump administration might be "game over" for climate change.

Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein isn't offended that some have called her campaign a fairy tale.

Before she was dubbed the "Keystone Killer" by Rolling Stone, environmentalist Jane Kleeb was called Midget, Janie or sometimes even Jane the Pain by her family.

Former Interior Secretary Gale Norton flirted with both the Democratic and Libertarian parties before becoming a Republican.

Bill Ruckelshaus — who led U.S. EPA under Presidents Nixon and Reagan — thinks Donald Trump is "scary."

Ed Whitfield, a Kentucky Republican who served in Congress for more than 20 years before stepping down last month, launched his political career as a Democrat.

Since energy guru Byron Dorgan left the Senate five years ago, he's penned two action-packed eco-thriller novels.

Mike Leavitt has been Utah's governor, U.S. EPA's boss and the head of the Department of Health and Human Services.

Environment and Public Works Chairman Jim Inhofe is the Senate's best-known global warming skeptic — and he's proud of that.

Jane Lubchenco has been called "the bionic woman of good science." She'll also answer to J-Lu, a play on the pop star Jennifer Lopez's nickname, J-Lo.

Dave McCurdy got fired from his first job as a grocery bagger.

Former Congressman Sherwood Boehlert (R-N.Y.) goes by Sherry, "like the wine," he tells people.

Michael Bean, the Interior Department's Endangered Species Act guru, is known for taking creative approaches to wildlife conservation and sporting a signature mustache.

Rhea Suh has been at the helm of the Natural Resources Defense Council since January 2015.

Republican Rep. John Shimkus is having a big year.

John Cruden has been the Obama administration's top environmental attorney since late 2014.