about us
Climate change is not only a policy challenge—it is a crisis of meaning, imagination, and connection. While technical solutions are essential, lasting change depends on the stories, relationships, and creative practices that help movements take root.
We work in that layer.
Inspired by the underground networks of mycelium and grounded in the philosophy of ikigai, Mycelia Arts Lab helps individuals and institutions find their purpose within the climate movement and activate it through creative expression—cultivating climate action that is purposeful, imaginative, and built to last.
what we do
Learning & Facilitation
We design workshops, public talks, and cohort experiences that help participants clarify their role in climate action and expand their strategic use of art and narrative. We have presented conference sessions, keynote talks, and musical performances that inspire the arts as integral to the environmental movement.
Curriculum Design
We develop structured learning experiences for educators, institutions, and independent learners that integrate climate literacy, creative practice, and purpose-driven reflection. Whether you are a K-12 or college educator, an independent artist, or a nonprofit institution, we design curricula to teach purpose and creative expression strategic to climate action.
1:1 Purpose & Career Coaching
We have decades of experience as artists and advocates. We support individuals seeking alignment within the climate movement — particularly those career transitions or the integration of creative identity and advocacy.
how we do it
Our approach
Mycelia Arts Lab emerged from the lived practice of creating art and music as climate expression.
The Mycelial Ikigai Framework
At the core of our work is the Mycelial Ikigai Framework — a model that integrates personal purpose with collective climate advocacy.
Traditional ikigai asks four questions:
What do you love?
What are you good at?
What does the world need?
What sustains you?
We adapt this framework specifically for climate work — and extend it through a mycelial lens.
Just as mycelium connects and nourishes ecosystems beneath the surface, we help people identify the deeper threads connecting their skills, values, creativity, and community. From that foundation, we explore how art and cultural expression can act as a motor for change — translating purpose into public impact.
meet the team
Ranjani Prabhakar
Ranjani Prabhakar, based in Washington DC, is a multifaceted personality: a musician, educator, and climate justice advocate, deeply rooted in ancestral storytelling and the healing of our collective ecology. Through her brainchild, Mycelia Arts Lab, Ranjani amplifies decolonized ecological narratives, intertwining her passion for the arts and storytelling with her proficiency in environmental policy and activism. As its Executive Director, she helms the creative direction, right from music to storyboard.
A first-generation Tamil American, Ranjani’s roots in the arts trace back to her formative years when she trained in South Indian Carnatic music, majoring in classical vocal. She has showcased her talents both in the U.S. and India and played a pivotal role in helping establish the inaugural Carnatic ensemble at her alma mater Emory University. Her musical skills, spanning voice, violin, and guitar, blossomed in her teen years as she ventured into songwriting. This led to her co-founding Lil Idli, an experimental pop duo exploring the essence of human responsibility in a changing climate. Watch her PBS documentary segment on the “Climate Artists” series here.
Professionally, Ranjani is part of the Earthjustice policy & legislation team, focused on championing potent climate actions and grassroots expertise in Congress and the Administration. Before Earthjustice, she worked on the Mayor’s policy team at the City of Chicago, spearheading multiple clean energy and climate programs. Recognized for her contributions in public policy and the arts, she was a 2022 awardee of the US Grassroots Accelerator by the Women’s Earth Alliance. Ranjani has degrees in city planning and civil engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology.My
Deepak Gopinath
Deepak began his studies in Physics at the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay (IITB) before his passion for music led him to the Berklee College of Music in Boston, MA. At Berklee, he mastered classical composition, jazz, and electronic music, studying under notable experts like Ralph Peterson Jr., Dean Anderson, Tibor Pusztai, and Dr. Richard Boulanger.
Deepak’s work with Dr. Boulanger ignited a passion for blending arts and technology. At the Georgia Tech Center for Music Technology, he teamed up with Dr. Gil Weinberg, significantly contributing to the development of the world’s first robotic drumming prosthetic arm. Later, at Northwestern University, he pursued a Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering, focusing on human-robot interactions and assistive solutions at the Shirley Ryan AbilityLab with Dr. Brenna Argall. This expertise led him to joining Risk Aware Driving group at Toyota Research Institute as a researcher, focusing on projects enhancing driver safety.
In his artistic pursuits, Deepak is the music producer and percussionist for Lil Idli, a band he co-founded with his partner Ranjani. As a composer, he primarily works in the contemporary classical idiom with a focus on small-form ensembles utilizing electronic as well as acoustic modalities. His compositions have been played by ensembles such as Triple Helix Trio, Zodiac Trio, and GTLork (Georgia Tech Laptop Orchestra).
