Join the University of Alberta Environmental Studies Student’s Association on February 5th for a panel discussion between leading professors and scholars on how to meaningfully navigate personal eco-grief, as well as the ways we can use our grief for good. The discussion will cover the relationship between climate change and mental health, and the role for climate optimism in our efforts to address environmental change. An interactive element will allow for the audience to connect with the speakers, with the hopes of creating community around this topic.

Register here: https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/from-sorrow-to-solutions-addressing-eco-grief-through-action-tickets-789555290127

Speaker bios:

Chris Turner is one of Canada’s leading voices on climate solutions and the global energy transition. His latest book is How To Be A Climate Optimist, a survey of the first two decades of progress on solving the climate crisis. His previous books on climate, energy and technology include multiple bestsellers and winners of the National Business Book Award, the W.O. Mitchell Book Prize, and the Writers’ Union of Canada’s Freedom to Read Award. His essays and features on energy, climate and technology have appeared in The New Yorker, The Guardian, The Globe & Mail, Maclean’s, and many other publications, and won 10 National Magazine Awards.

Stephanie Olsen (she/her) is a Masters student from the School of Public Health at the University of Alberta. Her research focuses on the mental health impacts of climate change in Alberta, and the power of collective practices for honouring ecological grief and other difficult climate emotions. Stephanie is also a facilitator with Refugia, an Alberta organization that provides workshops and retreats on ecological grief, eco-anxiety, and the emotional impacts of living during times of planetary crisis. Stephanie is grateful to live, love, work and play in amiskwaciwâskahikan, Treaty 6 territory (Edmonton, AB).