25th Annual Symposium

Our 25th annual Environment Across Boundaries Symposium features a diverse selection of in-person events that are open to the entire campus community and open to the public from October 16-20, 2022 at Lewis & Clark College in Portland, OR.

The 2022 theme is Deconstructing the Apocalypse. Recent forest fires, hurricanes, floods, droughts and heatwaves can be understood as a coherent story of increasing climate change impacts. Eye-catching media narratives and urgent appeals from climate activists have led to climate anxiety among many people of the world, perhaps especially so for young people. How does psychology, science, and narrative contribute to our construction of future climate scenarios? How can you, as a media consumer, parse the future scenarios that you encounter and distill the actions that you may choose to take?

We welcome two speakers to our Tuesday night keynote event: Alex Trembath is the Deputy Director of the Breakthrough Institute. He has published widely in environmental and climate change solutions involving policy, politics, and technology. Dr. Julia Baum is a Professor of Ocean Ecology and Global Change at the University of Victoria. Her active research team investigates how climate change and other anthropogenic stressors are altering the diversity, structure, and resilience of marine ecosystems and works to inform and inspire effective solutions for their conservation.

The fall 2022 schedule includes additional events to encourage participants to engage with the theme: a film screening and discussion, a workshop on climate data stories, an Active Hope mindfulness workshop, a panel discussion of diverse viewpoints, and a career fair to help you move into your personal future.

While our symposium focuses its gaze on the concept of apocalypse, we hope that you will walk away with a greater understanding of nuances lurking within apocalyptic narratives, progress we have already made globally towards climate change solutions, and your own opportunities to grow and thrive in the world we live in now.

The 2022 ENVX Symposium is being planned by a student co-chair committee:  Umi Fulgencio, Oskar Kohlbrenner, Elizabeth McCarthy, Francisco Perozo, and Keilani Vega.  Associate Professor Jessica Kleiss is the faculty advisor.