[Photo Credit: Ashley Rodgers]
Dr. Katharine Hayhoe is a world-renowned climate scientist, professor, and Chief Scientist for The Nature Conservancy, where she leads and coordinates the organization’s scientific efforts. She is also the author of Saving Us: A Climate Scientist’s Case for Hope and Healing in a Divided World, an excellent book you’ve likely heard me reference on the podcast. Whether you are interested in learning more about the facts, data, or projections regarding climate change, or if you are seeking guidance on how best to approach challenging conversations about climate, I highly recommend Saving Us. It’s an optimistic, solutions-oriented guidebook for finding common ground and having productive conversations.
Katharine was born and raised in Canada and has been obsessed with science, the natural world, and the universe for as long as she can remember. Her undergraduate studies focused on physics and astronomy, but as she was finishing up her degree, she happened to take a climate science course, which captured her imagination and changed the focus of her education and career. Today, Katharine is a distinguished professor at Texas Tech, a highly respected researcher, and a sought-after speaker with a TED Talk that’s been viewed more than 4 million times. And to top it all off, in 2021, she joined The Nature Conservancy as its Chief Scientist.
Katharine and I met up in Steamboat Springs, Colorado, where she was the keynote speaker at a community event focused on climate and climate change in the Yampa Valley and beyond. Katharine and I chatted for an hour before her event, and we managed to cover a lot of ground. We discussed her book Saving Us, her TED talk, and a concept known as “The Six Americas of Global Warming.” We discuss how and why her Christian faith plays such an important role in her work to solve climate change, and she offers some common-sense, optimistic approaches to having challenging conversations with smart people who do not think that climate change is a threat. She also talks about her role at The Nature Conservancy, specific climate opportunities and challenges facing the American West, and she offers a ton of excellent book recommendations.
Thank you to Dr. Hayhoe for taking the time out of her busy schedule to chat with me, and thank you for listening. Hope you enjoy.
Header photo and headshot by Ashley Rodgers
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EPISODE PARTNER:
This episode is brought to you in partnership with the Colorado chapter of The Nature Conservancy. Guided by science and grounded by decades of collaborative partnerships, The Nature Conservancy has a long-standing legacy of achieving lasting results to create a world where nature and people thrive.
On the fourth Tuesday of every month throughout 2023, Mountain & Prairie will be delving into conversations with a wide range of The Nature Conservancy’s leaders, partners, collaborators, and stakeholders, highlighting the myriad of conservation challenges, opportunities, and solutions here in the American West. You can access all of the 2023 episodes here.
To learn more about The Nature Conservancy’s impactful work in Colorado and around the world, visit www.nature.org/colorado
RESOURCES:
Topics Discussed:
- 3:30 – Why Dr. Hayhoe wrote Saving Us
- 5:45 – Regarding Dr. Hayhoe’s TED Talk
- 8:15 – Discussing The Six Americas of Global Warming
- 12:00 – The relationship between Dr. Hayhoe’s faith and climate work
- 17:45 – When religion and climate change dismissal historically became tied together
- 21:30 – Discussing the balance between fear and guilt as motivating and stagnating forces
- 28:00 – What surprised Dr. Hayhoe in writing the book
- 33:45 – Role-playing how to interact with intelligent people who doubt climate science
- 37:30 – Applying lessons learned from COVID-19 to climate change
- 41:30 – Dr. Hayhoe’s time as a 9-year-old abroad in Columbia and how it influenced her thinking and career
- 46:15 – Why Dr. Hayhoe decided to work with The Nature Conservancy, and the impacts she hopes to make
- 50:15 – The stats Dr. Hayhoe would want to see to feel she has had an impact in five years
- 54:45 – The challenges and opportunities facing the arid West amidst climate change
- 57:00 – Dr. Hayhoe’s reading habits and some books she has loved
Information Referenced:
- Saving Us by Dr. Katharine Hayhoe
- The Nature Conservancy
- Poll Everywhere
- Dr. Hayhoe’s TED Talk (The Most Important Thing to Do to Fight Climate Change is to Talk About It)
- The Yale Program on Climate Change Communications
- Dr. Hayhoe’s conversation with Krista Tippett, On Being Podcast
- Douglas Brinkley
- Silent Spring Revolution by Douglas Brinkley
- Time Magazine climate change cover
- James Hansen
- James Hansen’s climate testimony
- Merchants of Doubt
- Winston-Salem, NC
- Wake Forest University
- R.J Reynolds Tobacco Company
- Boulder, CO
- Colorado Springs, CO
- COP27, Egypt
- EasyJet
- The Influential Mind by Tali Sharot
- American Psychological Association
- Texas Tech University
- Oxfam Sisters on the Planet
- Mangrove Forest
- Papua New Guinea
- Houghton College
- Wesleyan Church
- Brian Webb
- Harvard Extension School
- Citizens’ Climate Lobby
- The Righteous Mind by Jonathan Haidt
- King Tutankhamun
- The Amelia Peabody Series by Elizabeth Peters
- Dr. Ayana Elizabeth Johnson
Enjoy this episode? Then you might like these too:
- Daniela Ibarra-Howell – Healing the Land Holistically
- Marci McLean & Cora Neumann on COVID’s Impact on Native Communities
- Dr. David Hewitt – The Science of Wildlife Conservation
- Shane Doyle – Reverence for the Past, Hope for the Future
- Betsy Gaines Quammen – A Fascinating History of Public Lands in the West
- Pete McBride, Part 2: In Search of Silence
- Chris Dombrowski, Part 2 – “The River You Touch”
- Douglas Brinkley – Exploring the Past to Find Inspiration for the Future
Visit the podcast page for a full list of episodes where you can filter episodes by topic and guests’ vocations.
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