NESS SEMINAR
Carla Magi-Prowse, Dr Ans Vercammen & A/Professor Fiona Charlson
@FionaCharlson
Date: Wednesday 27th October
Time: 12 – 1pm
Location: Online via zoom
There is increasing recognition of the mental health toll of climate change, especially on young people. The concept of ecoanxiety has emerged to capture the sense of anxiety and helplessness that many people are experiencing as a result of the intensifying effects of climate change and the lack of serious action to combat it. In this seminar three speakers explore aspects of the relationship between climate change, ecoanxiety and wellbeing. Carla Magi-Prowse will discuss her analysis of the media coverage of the emerging concept of ecoanxiety, outlining the populations who the media think are most at risk and the coping strategies that are suggested. Ans Vercammen will present results from the ‘Changing worlds’ survey that explores how young people are responding to climate change during the pandemic. Fiona Charlson will highlight the important and urgent research needs that are yet to be addressed in relation to social and emotional well-being and climate change.
Carla Magi-Prowse is a PhD student in the School of Communication and Arts at the University of Queensland. Her PhD is focused on the adaptive and maladaptive ways that people cope with climate change.
Dr Ans Vercammen is an interdisciplinary researcher with a background in psychology and behavioural sciences and a passion for applying sound social science to address the most pressing environmental challenges of our time. Her research seeks to understand how our attitudes and beliefs shape the behaviours that damage or protect our vulnerable environment. She is also interested in how the rapid and often dramatic changes in our environment affect our wellbeing and mental health. Ans will commence as a research fellow at The University of Queensland in January 2022.
Associate Professor Fiona Charlson is a National Health and Medical Research Council Research Fellow at the Queensland Centre of Mental Health Research and School of Public Health, University of Queensland. She is a psychiatric epidemiologist and health services researcher with strong experience in addressing some of the most challenging global mental health research questions. She is at the leading edge of research into the mental health impacts of climate change and leads the Social and Emotional wellbeing group of UQ’s Climate Change and Health Transdisciplinary Impact Research Network.
