Jennifer Atkinson featured on KUOW’s Speakers Forum

Unaltered stomach contents of a Laysan albatross fledgling, Midway Island, 2009. (Courtesy of the artist, Chris Jordan)

IAS faculty member Jennifer Atkinson's work on eco-anxiety and her podcast Facing It were featured on KUOW's Speakers Forum in a segment titled Solastalgia and you. ‘The pain was necessary to know the truth.’ From producer John O'Brien:

The oppression of racism; the Covid-19 pandemic; climate change. We face multiple existential crises on Planet Earth. All affect our mental health.

“Climate depression” is the subject of this talk by Dr. Jennifer Atkinson. Professor Atkinson teaches one of the first college classes on “Eco-Grief and Climate Anxiety.” Here, she addresses how climate change impacts our emotions. Her approach includes strategies for staying resilient in the long-term struggle to deal with the climate crisis.

Dr. Jennifer Atkinson teaches at the University of Washington, Bothell. She also hosts Facing It: a podcast about love, loss, and the natural world. She presented this talk — Climate Depression: Confronting Eco-Anxiety in the Age of Crisis– on February 28 at Seattle's Pacific Science Center. The event was part of their Science in the City series.