The challenge of climate change is inherently interdisciplinary, no longer the research focus of just geoscientists and climatologists. The complex nature of climate change requires the skills of psychologists, economists, journalists, and educators—meaningful change requires all hands on deck.

Please join Climate Smart Missoula, UM’s Climate Change Studies and Office of Sustainability for an evening dedicated to showcasing the diverse research being undertaken at the University of Montana to address climate change and its many implications.

Please RSVP for this event, as space is limited. Panelists' presentations will begin at 5:30 PM.

Speakers include:

Phoebe Bean, Clinical Psychology PhD Candidate
Phoebe Bean is pursuing a PhD in clinical psychology at the University of Montana’s College of Humanities and Sciences, where she is examining the intersection of climate change and mental health. Deeply passionate about climate resilience and sustainable food systems, Phoebe serves on the boards for the Lava Lake Institute for Science and Conservation and the Community Food and Agriculture Coalition. In her spare time, Phoebe enjoys spending her days outside with her wife and dogs, fly rod in hand.

Kelsey Jencso, State Climatologist in the Montana Climate Office
Kelsey Jencso is the W.A. Franke Endowed Professor of Watershed Hydrology and the Montana State Climatologist. His basic research focuses on watershed hydrology and characterizing the pathways that water takes to enter streams in mountain environments, implications of water availability for forest growth and how watersheds may be impacted in an era of rapid climate change. As the State Climatologist, Kelsey places strong emphasis on applied climate research and infrastructure that helps Montanans understand and prepare for future climate.

Katrina Mullan, Associate Professor of Economics
Katrina Mullan is a Professor in the Economics Department at the University of Montana. She conducts interdisciplinary empirical research on the relationship between the environment and human wellbeing. This includes study of the feedbacks between deforestation, climate and agricultural production in the Brazilian Amazon and other tropical regions. She also collaborates with UM public health researchers on the health effects of wildfire smoke exposures, and the role of behavioral responses in mitigating these effects. Dr Mullan received her PhD from the University of Cambridge, having previously worked as an Economic Advisor for the UK Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

Rachel Williamson, Assistant Professor of Clinical Psychology
Dr. Rachel Williamson is a Clinical Psychologist and Assistant Professor at the University of Montana. Her research program focuses on potentially traumatic events and responses that are impactful, not necessarily due to a literal threat to one's safety, but because of a threat to one's existential security. The mental health impacts of climate change is a current area of focus. Dr. Williamson is the chair of the Climate Change workgroup of the Global Collaboration on Traumatic Stress. Her clinical work has been largely based in community mental health, including health clinics in remote Alaskan communities, experience that inspired the examination of climate change and mental health.

Laurie Yung, Professor of Natural Resource Social Science
Laurie Yung is a Professor of Natural Resource Social Science and the Director of the Environmental Science and Sustainability Program in the Franke College of Forestry and Conservation at the University of Montana. As a social scientist who studies climate adaptation, Laurie works with communities, public land managers, and agricultural producers to develop climate information and decision-making tools that meet the needs of end-users and enable individuals and organizations to build resilience. Laurie’s research focuses on enabling proactive decision-making in the context of uncertainty, improving the utility of climate information for farmers and ranchers, developing futuring tools that help people envision and anticipate change, designing planning processes for community-level climate adaptation, understanding how organizations navigate risk and tradeoffs, and bridging science, practice, and policy through translation and co-production.

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