I am a Human and Planetary Health Postdoctoral Fellow at the Stanford Center for Innovation in Global Health, Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment and London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine. My research focuses on the mental health impacts of climate change on young people, as well as socioemotional resilience and capacity building for youth mental health in the planetary health crisis.

I am the creator of the newsletter about “staying sane in the climate crisis” Gen Dread gendread.substack.com and author of a new book that investigates the psychological underpinnings and impacts of the climate crisis (Generation Dread: Finding Purpose in an Age of Climate Crisis – Knopf 2022). I hold a PhD in Science Communication from the University of Copenhagen, am the author of Rise of the Necrofauna: The Science, Ethics and Risks of De-Extinction (Greystone Books 2017) and have worked as a broadcaster for more than a decade. Specifically, I’ve produced and hosted podcasts, TV and radio programs with the BBC, CBC, and Radiotopia network shows.

I’ve recently given talks about my work at Netflix, Google, Teach for America, Danish Refugee Council, Earth Day, March for Science, and universities around the world. My TED talk is called “How climate change affects your mental health”.

(Published in The Lancet Planetary Health)
Climate change has important implications for the health and futures of children and young people, yet they have little power to limit its harm, making them especially vulnerable to climate anxiety (a state that can affect anyone of any age, but has specific relevance for the young). This is the first large-scale investigation of climate anxiety in children and young people globally and its relationship with perceived government response.

(Published in Allergy)
There is increasing understanding, globally, that climate change and increased pollution will have a profound and mostly harmful effect on human health. This review brings together international experts to describe both the direct (such as heat waves) and indirect (such as vector-borne disease incidence) health impacts of climate change.

A full list of research and publications is available here.

My newsletter offers tools for how to cope with our dangerous climate reality and cultivate resilience in these times. Consider Gen Dread the clearing house for new, old, and emerging ideas to strengthen our emotional intelligence, psychosocial endurance, and mental health for our moment of formidable planetary health challenges.

In my new book Generation Dread, I merge scientific knowledge with emotional insight to show how these intense feelings are a healthy response to the troubled state of the world. The first crucial step toward becoming an engaged steward of the planet is connecting with our climate emotions, seeing them as a sign of humanity, and learning how to live with them.