How can we choose hope over fatalism? How can we challenge the myth that it is too late to address climate change? Too late to address urgent, global-scaled injustices? Blending scientific research with insights into the natural world, Dr. elin kelsey guides us with reasons, practices and proofs to embolden our resilience and resistance over gloom and doom. This Earth Week keynote address will encourage us to cultivate evidence-based hope and to develop wide-ranging emotional and practical tools to feel empowered when facing even the most challenging issues of our time.

elin kelsey, PhD is an award-winning author, speaker and thought-leader for the evidence-based hope and climate justice solutions movement. Her newest book, How to Be Hopeful: Empowering Practices to Overcome Despair and Act for Climate Justice was published in October 2025. elin’s influence can be seen through the hopeful, solutions-focus of her clients, including the Monterey Bay Aquarium, the Near East South Asia Council of Overseas Schools and other powerful institutions where she has served as a visiting fellow including the Rachel Carson Center for the Environment and Society, the Rockefeller Foundation, the Kone Foundation, the Salish Sea Institute, the Cairns Institute and Stanford University. She co-created the viral social media campaign OceanOptimism and is currently leading intergenerational collaborations with climate influencers to make evidence-based hope more shareable online. A best-selling children’s book author, her picture books reveal the intimate connections between humans and the greater than human world. Her work as a podcast host, film writer and exhibit creator celebrates the resilience that exists within ourselves, and across species. Dr. kelsey holds a doctorate in international environmental policy and science communication from King’s College London and is an adjunct faculty member of the University of Victoria School of Environmental Studies and Western Washington University’s School of Environment. In Spring 2026 she will serve as the John Grace Memorial Visitor in Residence at Green College, UBC. In 2020 she co-created an international network of researchers and practitioners working within the emerging academic discipline of Climate Emotions. She regularly leads workshops for environmental organizations, youth climate activists, educators and community groups on evidence-based hope and serves as a hope scholar in residence for schools around the world.

Co-sponsored by the McAuley Institute for Mercy Education, the Pell Center for International Relations and Public Policy, and the Office of Student Engagement