Jennifer Atkinson and Pulitzer-Prize winner Elizabeth Kolbert speak about climate impacts

IAS faculty member Jennifer Atkinson teamed up with Elizabeth Kolbert, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Sixth Extinction and Under a White Sky, to discuss solutions to our climate crisis, as well as reasons for hope as we face the challenges ahead. Their joint talk at the 2022 Environmental Summit was sponsored by The Delta College President’s Speaker Series, which invited Atkinson and Kolbert as keynote speakers. View a recording of the talk.

Elizabeth Kolbert is a journalist, author and visiting fellow at Williams College. She is best known for her Pulitzer Prize-winning book, “The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History,” and as an observer and commentator on environmentalism for The New Yorker magazine.

Jennifer Atkinson is an author and associate teaching professor at the University of Washington, Bothell. Her seminars on eco-grief and climate anxiety have been featured in the New York Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Seattle Times, NBC News and many other outlets. Dr. Atkinson is currently working on a book titled An Existential Toolkit for the Climate Crisis, which offers strategies to help young people navigate the emotional toll of climate breakdown. Her podcast “Facing It” also gives people tools to channel eco-anxiety into action.

The Delta College President’s Speaker Series is funded by the President’s Office and the Peter and Barbara Boyse Endowment through the Delta College Foundation. Each year, Delta brings nationally and internationally renowned speakers to talk about current events and important issues.

The series aims to help broaden knowledge and widen the classroom experience, while focusing on civic engagement and challenging the community to think deeply and act responsibly.