The Intersectional Environmentalist Book Study
Occurred on five Tuesdays, October 18 – November 15, 2022
We encourage you to purchase The Intersectional Environmentalist from your own locally-owned bookstore or Print: A Bookstore, located just up the street from our BTS Center offices.
As we grapple with the causes, conditions, and consequences of climate change, we must acknowledge that ecological justice work cannot exist in isolation. It is, rather, part of an intersecting matrix of oppressions, including race, gender, sexuality, and class. The consequences of climate change fall more heavily on groups already experiencing oppression of one or more kinds.
In The Intersectional Environmentalist: How to Dismantle Systems of Oppression to Protect People and Planet, author Leah Thomas explores the ways in which climate change affects different groups disproportionately and offers ideas and actions toward a more inclusive vision of ecological justice.
We welcomed you to join us as we delved into the important questions, challenges, and opportunities of an intersectional ecological lens through a book study on The Intersectional Environmentalist. Co-facilitated over the course of five sessions by Dr. Natasha DeJarnett, rev. abby mohaupt, and Rev. Nicole Diroff, this book study offered opportunities for:
- Sharing insights, questions and stories that emerge from each chapter of the book
- Interfaith conversation on how to dismantle systems of oppression to protect people & planet
- Presentations on the nuances of environmental racism from a public health perspective, and
- Discussion of opportunity for direct action within participants’ local contexts
Portland, Maine Poet Laureate, Maya Williams, crafted this poem inspired by The Intersectional Environmentalist for The BTS Center.
Meet Our Facilitators
Natasha DeJarnett, PhD, MPH, BCES is an Assistant Professor in the Christina Lee Brown Environment Institute at University of Louisville researching the health impacts of extreme heat exposure and environmental health disparities. She is also a professorial lecturer at The George Washington University. Most recently, Dr. DeJarnett was the Deputy Director for Environmental Justice Data and Evaluation at the White House Council on Environmental Quality. There, she served in our nation’s first ever Office of Environmental Justice at the Council on Environmental Quality supporting the Biden-Harris Administration in advancing the most ambitious environmental justice agenda in history. Previously, she held roles at the National Environmental Health Association as well as the American Public Health Association. Her service leadership experience includes the US Environmental Protection Agency’s Children’s Health Protection Advisory Committee, Citizens’ Climate Education, Physicians for Social Responsibility, The BTS Center, and the American Academy of Environmental Engineers and Scientists.
The rev. abby mohaupt is GreenFaith’s Director of Education & Training. abby previously coordinated GreenFaith’s and Drew Theological School’s Green Seminary Initiative, and she continues to coordinate GreenFaith’s relationships with seminaries across the US, as well as managing GreenFaith’s resources and trainings. She holds a Masters of Divinity and Masters of Theology degrees from McCormick Theological Seminary, is a PhD candidate at Drew Theological School, and is ordained in the Presbyterian Church (USA). She lives in Chicago with her daughter.
Rev. Nicole Diroff is ordained in the United Church of Christ. Having served as Program Director for The BTS Center since 2020, with primary responsibility for coordinating the planning, implementation, and evaluation of the Center’s programmatic offerings, Nicole recently assumed a new role as Associate Director, effective July 1, 2024. She holds expertise in facilitation, data management, and strategic planning. Nicole is a certified Maine Master Naturalist, serves as Chair of the Spiritual Formation Committee at Williston-Immanuel United Church and Co-Chair of the Diversity, Equity, Inclusion Committee for the Scarborough Public School District. She lives with her family in Scarborough, Maine.
Prior to her work with The BTS Center, Nicole served as the Associate Director at Interfaith Philadelphia, where she coordinated the Religious Leaders Council of Greater Philadelphia and directed the creation and expansion of the organization’s many Dare to Understand initiatives.
Meet Our Cohost
GreenFaith is an organization dedicated to building a worldwide, multi-faith climate and environmental movement. Guided by the values of being rooted in spirituality, inclusive by nature, moved by compassion, passionate for justice, responsible in practice, and bold for good, GreenFaith envisions a world transformed, in which humanity in all its diversity has developed a shared reverence for life on Earth. With partners and Circles spread throughout the globe, GreenFaith is working to build resilient, caring communities and economies that meet everyone’s needs and protect the planet.