Jennifer Atkinson

Expertise: Emotional/psychological toll of climate change; climate grief and eco-anxiety; building hope and resilience

Atkinson is an associate teaching professor in environmental humanities at the University of Washington Bothell. Her recent courses include “Eco-Anxiety and Climate Grief: Building Hope in the Age of Consequences” and “Ethics and the Environment.” She is the author of a 2018 book about gardening literature, “Gardenland: Nature, Fantasy & Everyday Practice.”

In recent years, her research has turned toward the emotional and mental health impacts of climate disruption and ecological loss. Atkinson created and hosts the podcast “Facing It,” which offers tools to channel eco-anxiety into action, and is currently working on a book titled “An Existential Toolkit for the Climate Crisis” that explores strategies for helping young people navigate the emotional toll of climate breakdown. In tackling the intersecting crises of racial injustice, climate change, pandemics and ecological degradation, her approach is rooted in the belief that the challenge is to ensure that students don’t just have the content they need to address these issues, but that they also have the existential tenacity to stay engaged in climate solutions and navigate the long emergency ahead.