Jennifer Atkinson Shares Climate Anxiety Strategies with ALA, EarthLab, and In the Meanwhile

IAS faculty member Jennifer Atkinson partnered with the American Library Association, UW EarthLab, and the podcast “In the Meanwhile” to share strategies for supporting young people facing climate despair.

Atkinson joined a panel on eco-anxiety hosted by the American Library Association (ALA). Alongside authors Kelsey LaPort, Noel Reich, and Heather White, she discussed eco-anxiety, burnout, sustainability and the challenges young people face today. The panel offered practical strategies for turning feelings of overwhelm into meaningful climate action in libraries and classrooms. Video of the panel is available on YouTube.

Burnout was also the focus of Atkinson’s work with interns in UW EarthLab’s Summer Internship Program, a cohort-based program that places UW undergraduates with EarthLab partner organizations to work at the intersection of climate and social justice. She helped the interns develop strategies for sustaining themselves as they build careers in environmental work.

Atkinson’s podcast “Facing It” also brought these conversations to a wider audience. Several episodes exploring the emotional toll of the climate crisis were re-aired on “In the Meanwhile” as part of a series on climate anxiety and grief that ran in the wake of the summer’s catastrophic heatwaves, fires and floods. Earlier in the summer she also appeared on UWave Radio to discuss emerging questions about technology and the environment for the episode AI vs. Earth? The Environmental Cost of Our Digital Future, available on Mixcloud.