SY41D – Acknowledging and Sharing Our Climate Grief I Poster
As scientists researching the Earth System, many of us are confronted daily with the unnerving realities of climate change. Our work and research may therefore cause feelings of anxiety, anger, and hopelessness. For our own mental health, we must acknowledge and give space to our grief about the devastating impacts of climate change. In this session, we want to hear how scientists are channeling their climate grief into activism, teaching, and mentoring. We also invite behavioral scientists to share their research investigating the mental health of climate scientists and people experiencing climate grief. Lastly, at the end of this session, we will invite all attendees to share their experiences of climate grief and listen to other members of our scientific community who have similar concerns.
Poster Session Conveners
- Caitlin Hicks Pries, Dartmouth College
- Rose Z Abramoff, Wintergreen Earth Science
- Kristan Childs, Climate Psychology Alliance – North America
- Teddy Kellam, Climate Psychology Alliance – North America
iPoster Gallery
Research-based Rebellion: How scientists can work together for effective change – SY01-19 –
We scientists have spent decades writing papers, advising governments, briefing the press: all have failed. What is the point in documenting in ever greater detail the catastrophe we face, if we are not willing to do anything about it? Many of us are stuck not knowing an effective way to handle the anxiety that naturally arises from this. Scientist Rebellion is a global organization dedicated to using our voices as scientists in new ways to acknowledge and address the multiple crises we face. Scientists are perfectly placed to wage a rebellion: we exist in rich hubs of knowledge and expertise; we are well connected across the world, and to decision-makers; we have large platforms from which to inform, educate and rally others all over the world, and we have implicit authority and legitimacy, which is the basis of political power. We can make a difference. Non-violent civil resistance has proven to be one of the most effective tools to catalyze societal change, and has been a major driver behind historic victories for decolonization, labor rights, women’s rights, LGBTQ+ rights, and civil rights. It is a last-resort, but one that members of Scientist Rebellion, alongside many other members of society, are increasingly embracing to protest the glaring injustice of the policies, laws, and systems that continue to fuel the climate and ecological crises. When we stand up to a more powerful authority, we can engage the public and mount political and economic pressure in ways that other forms of action cannot. Behind every person you see risking arrest in civil resistance, there is a vast, multi-disciplinary team supporting them behind the scenes. You can think of it as an iceberg. No matter where you are in your life and career, there is a place for you
In Person (2 posters)
Hall B-C (Poster Hall) (Convention Center)
SY41D-2605 The radical practice of emotionally connecting with your research
Western traditions of science emphasize objectivity and dispassion, separating “the observer from the observed” as noted by Indigenous ecologist Prof. Robin Wall Kimmerer. It is from this dispassion that we should be able to do our best thinking. However, by placing us at a distance from our subjects, into the figurative ivory tower, our research questions and practices may not be relevant to the needs of vulnerable ecosystems and the communities that depend on them. We further are not immune to the social, political, and economic forces that dictate how we practice, fund, and evaluate our research. Throughout academia we are struggling towards new practices that de-colonize and de-atomize our work.
The philosopher Prof. Olúfẹ́mi O. Táíwò points out that deference to identity politics without constructive action and intersectional solidarity places undue burden on marginalized groups and fails to address the fundamental injustices embedded in existing class, political and economic structures. A more effective way to make change is to engage in and train others in constructive programs of action against an unequal distribution and abuse of power.
Yet, fighting the power is scary and can often feel overwhelming. Therefore, an important first step is to both build community and begin a practice of emotional self-regulation by accessing our feelings of grief, fear, anger, exhaustion, and finding safe ways to externalize those feelings and support each other. Let’s tell our stories.
SY41D-2606 Approaches to Managing Scientists’ Eco-distress
Multiple studies show that grief and anxiety about climate destabilization and the extinction crisis are growing among the general public. This can be even more pronounced in well-informed scientists, including those of us who study living systems, hydrosphere and cryosphere researchers, and of course climate and atmospheric scientists. While evidence of disruption surges around us, the emotional toll of our work and our knowledge grows. This can lead to a range of feelings and thought-patterns that can be labeled eco-distress.
This poster offers starting points for scientists to manage their eco-distress. It reviews approaches that climate-aware therapists and organizations employ to help manage climate emotions and other kinds of eco-distress without pathologizing these experiences. It includes preliminary research on the success of such approaches at The Resilient Activist. Approaches to managing such emotions include suggestions to find a community who can relate to your eco-distress, and to build a sense of efficacy by engaging in actions to influence future outcomes.
Notes:
- For examples, see https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9089437/, https://spiral.imperial.ac.uk/bitstream/10044/1/88568/9/3343%20Climate%20change%20and%20mental%20health%20BP36_v6.pdf, https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-021-02582-8, https://ecoamerica.org/american-climate-perspectives-survey-2022-vol-ii-part-ii-blog/
- https://eos.org/features/the-emotional-toll-of-climate-change-on-science-professionals, https://www.theguardian.com/environment/ng-interactive/2024/may/08/hopeless-and-broken-why-the-worlds-top-climate-scientists-are-in-despair, https://www.isthishowyoufeel.com/this-is-how-scientists-feel.html, https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1755458617301251, and https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-024-02605-0
- G. Spooner, 2024, SY44A-04: Next Level: Can Defining and Communicating the Range of Activist Roles and Tasks Increase the Engagement of “Activism-Curious” Scientists?” (oral session at AGU 12/12/24, 4pm)
- According to Yale psychiatrists Drs. B.X. Lee andD. Reiss , as quoted in https://www.salon.com/2020/06/14/why-protests-are-actually-good-for-your-mental-health/. See also the work on “collective effervescence” in https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.974683 and effects of activism on eco-distress in youth at https://srcd.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdfdirect/10.1111/cdep.12342
- Turner & Brown, 2010 “Social Support and Mental Health” in https://www.academia.edu/download/49769850/A_Handbook_for_the_Study_of_Mental_Health__Social_Contexts__Theories__and_Systems___2nd_edition.pdf#page=222, Kawachi & Berkman, 2001 “Social Ties and Mental Health” https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3455910/pdf/11524_2006_Article_44.pdf
- Climate cafés are offered at The Resilient Activist https://www.theresilientactivist.org/events/action~agenda/request_format~json/tag_ids~778/ & Climate Psychology Alliance https://www.climatepsychology.us/climate-cafs-for-the-public-1.
- https://www.goodgriefnetwork.org/ggn10steps/ & https://workthatreconnects.org/
- https://novasutras.org/, https://religious-naturalist-association.org/ and https://gaianism.org/ were all founded by people with science research backgrounds. Other ecospiritual groups are listed at https://www.ecospiritualhub.org/.
- Summary and reference list at https://novasutras.org/2019/07/08/forest-immersion-shinrin-yoku-as-novasutras-practice/
- Reviewed in https://www.nccih.nih.gov/health/meditation-and-mindfulness-effectiveness-and-safety & https://www.psychologytoday.com/intl/blog/feeling-it/201309/20-scientific-reasons-to-start-meditating-today.
- Preliminary results reported by T. Staples at https://www.theresilientactivist.org/mindfulness-and-resilience-training-pilot-data-from-a-novel-9-week-curriculum/ & https://www.theresilientactivist.org/mindfulness-and-resilience-training-for-victim-services-staff-research-results/ . A 6-hour workshop called “Four Steps for a Resilient Life” also showed benefits — https://www.theresilientactivist.org/research/four-steps-prelim-research/ .
- https://dragonflymentalhealth.org/
- https://www.climatementalhealth.net/, https://www.climatepsychology.us/ & https://www.climatepsychiatry.org/