"At that time, I didn't have words to describe what I was feeling and I felt very deviant for even questioning whether or not it was okay to have kids in the climate crisis. I didn't really see it reflected. I figured, Okay, this is probably me getting a little bit loopy here, and I ought to do something to bring more perspective into my line of view.

And that started me on a research project looking at the psychological impacts of the climate crisis writ large beyond just the reproductive angle, but that was my on-ramp. And I very quickly discovered, Oh, I'm not alone in these concerns and fears. There's actually a very active, underground conversation of many people my age, millennials and younger, Gen Z, feeling the same. And it just hadn't risen to the surface as a topic that we knew much about. There weren't studies on it at the time."

Britt Wray is the author of Generation Dread: Finding Purpose in an Age of Climate Crisis. She's a writer and broadcaster researching the emotional and psychological impacts of the climate crisis. Born and raised in Toronto, Canada, she is a post-doctoral fellow at Stanford University and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, where she investigates the mental health consequences of ecological disruption. She holds a PhD in Science Communication from the University of Copenhagen. Her work has been featured in the New York Times, Washington Post Guardian, and Globe and Mail, among other publications. She has hosted several podcasts, radio, and TV programs with the BBC and CBC, is a TED Resident, and writes Gan Dread, a newsletter about staying sane in the climate crisis. She is also the author of Rise of the Necrofauna: The Science, Ethics, and Risks of De-Extinction.

www.brittwray.com

www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/647141/generation-dread-by-britt-wray

https://greystonebooks.com/products/rise-of-the-necrofauna
www.oneplanetpodcast.org

www.creativeprocess.info