Renee Lertzman

As a researcher studying the impact of climate change on the individual psyche, Renee Lertzman seeks to find new ways to inspire humanity towards positive ecological change.

Lertzman translates complex research on the negative mental and social impacts of climate change into profound tools for organizations seeking to engage and mobilize global communities and individuals. She blends a variety of scientific approaches into powerful strategies suited for the challenges of environmental work.

Lertzman teaches, presents and produces research for a range of institutions. Since publishing her first interview in 1997 with Ira Glass, she has written extensively about how the combined disciplines of psychology, environmental science, and cultural study can illuminate our path to big changes.

Lertzman received her MA in Environmental Communications from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and her Ph.D. from the Cardiff School of Social Sciences at Cardiff University, UK.

She developed and taught the first course on the Psychology of Environmental Education and Communications for the MA program at Royal Roads University from 2011 to 2016, and has supervised over a dozen graduate students. She has also designed and taught courses on the psychology of climate change and environment since 2001 and has convened symposiums internationally since 2003. Following a post-doctoral position as a senior researcher at Portland State University in 2011, she has been a full-time applied researcher and advisor.

She is a founding member of the Climate Psychology Alliance. Renee’s first book, "Environmental Melancholia: Psychoanalytic Dimensions of Engagement," was published by Routledge in 2015. She is based in the San Francisco bay area.