Britt Wray and Leah Thomas in Conversation

Dr. Britt Wray, Director of CIRCLE at Stanford Psychiatry and author of Generation Dread: Finding Purpose in an Age of Climate Crisis, joined Leah Thomas, Founder of Intersectional Environmentalist, to discuss navigating climate anxiety by fostering hope through taking action and building meaningful community.

Listen to the full session now below.

Resources for further learning:

  • Support energy efficient and carbon neutral snowmaking technology; volunteer for restoration projects (e.g., tree planting, wetland restoration, stream bank stabilization).

  • Find something that aligns with your passion, strengths, and motivations for doing climate work - and do it. You don't need to do everything, and you don't need to be perfect. You just have to try, and keep going. 

Take Action!

About the Speakers

  • Dr. Britt Wray is the Director of CIRCLE at Stanford Psychiatry, a research and action initiative focused on Community-minded Interventions for Resilience, Climate Leadership and Emotional wellbeing at the Stanford School of Medicine.

    Britt is the author of two books, Generation Dread: Finding Purpose in an Age of Climate Crisis, which was a finalist for the 2022 Governor General’s Award, and Rise of the Necrofauna: the Science, Ethics and Risks of De-Extinction (Greystone Books 2017). She is the recipient of the 2023 Canadian Eco-Hero Award and a top award winner of the National Academies Eric and Wendy Schmidt Awards for Excellence in Science Communications, given by The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine in partnership with Schmidt Futures.

  • Leah Thomas is a celebrated environmentalist based in Los Angeles, CA. Coining the term ‘eco-communicator’ to describe her style of environmental activism, Leah uses her passion for writing and creativity to explore and advocate for the critical yet often overlooked relationship between social justice and environmentalism. With this intersection in mind, Leah founded and launched the non-profit Intersectional Environmentalist, a platform and resource hub that aims to advocate for environmental justice, provide educational resources surrounding intersectional environmentalism, and promote inclusivity and accessibility within environmental education and movements.

    Building on her work in the field, Leah penned The Intersectional Environmentalist: How to Dismantle Systems of Oppression to Protect People + Planet. Published in March 2022, the book serves as an introduction to the intersection between environmentalism, racism, and privilege, and as an acknowledgment of the fundamental truth that we cannot save the planet without protecting all of its people.