Following the conclusion of our hiring process, the Climate Hub team is pleased to announce that Meghan Wise will be stepping into the Climate Hub Coordinator role as of August 2021! Meghan has worked with the Climate Hub in a student staff capacity since spring 2020. Over the last year, she has led a variety of projects focusing on mental health and wellbeing impacts of climate change, identifying leverage points for community climate resilience and care and bold action for climate justice.
In summer 2020, Meghan completed a UBC Sustainability Scholars report on climate change, mental health and community resilience and supported the Community Engagement and Wellbeing Working Group as part of UBC’s Climate Emergency community engagement process across Vancouver and Okanagan campuses. This past year, Meghan also helped to develop and facilitate the Climate Wellbeing Engagement Network and produced a series of climate wellbeing workshops and resources that connect the UBC and broader community with space and resources to explore the mental health and wellbeing impacts of climate change and climate action and coping strategies.
Alongside work with the Climate Hub, Meghan wrote her master’s thesis exploring the politics of climate metaphors. Her research positions fossil-fueled climate change as a type of climate pandemic generating global public health trauma and the importance of bringing a climate justice lens to climate narratives for bold and just transitions in the face of the climate crisis.
We received a high level of interest in this role, with many applicants from the UBC community and beyond. A selection committee involving our outgoing Coordinator, Liam Orme, our current Student Director, Nafeesa Alibhai, and the Senior Director of the UBC Sustainability Initiative, Linda Nowlan, interviewed candidates and finalized our hiring decision in mid-July. As the Climate Hub transitions into a new chapter, beyond our initial 3-year pilot phase, we are excited to see Meghan step into this role, to contribute her passion, skills, and experience to supporting the Climate Hub’s student leadership and our collaborative initiatives. Please join us in welcoming Meghan into this new role!
I am honoured and humbled to transition into the position of coordinator with the UBC Climate Hub. Supporting and amplifying student-led climate action and climate justice initiatives are a key part of mobilizing community resilience, wellbeing, and community care networks to address the climate emergency. As the incoming Coordinator, I am excited to work alongside students to foster and explore community partnerships and collaborations to identify local to global opportunities to advance hope, joy, optimism, and agency for bold climate action.