Forum on Religion and Ecology: Spotlights

In this episode, our host reflects on the new encyclical from Pope Leo XIV, Magnifica Humanitas. While this letter focuses on artificial intelligence and integral human development, there are also several points that connect with the intersection of religion and ecology, including the idea of integral ecology as 6well as an ecology of communication.

Recorded on Earth Day 2026, this episode features Devin O'Dea, who has been a long-time collaborator with people and projects affiliated with the Yale Forum on Religion and Ecology, including the Journey of the Universe project and the Human Energy project . We discuss his background, his passion for material and meaningful participation in our evolutionary unfolding, and his latest venture:...

This episode features Osprey Orielle Lake, with an inspiring conversation of great breadth and depth, as she exemplifies the brilliance and bravery required to remake a world in crisis. We talk about a wonderful variety of topics, including her work as the founder and executive direction of Women's Earth and Climate Action Network (WECAN) . We also discuss the idea of the rights of nature. Os...

In this episode of the Forum podcast, Paul Koberstein discusses his book (co-authored by Jessica Apple), Canopy of Titans: The Life and Times of the Great North American Temperate Rainforest. We talk about the importance of protecting forests, including the important concept of proforestation. Many issues are covered, including governance, the logging industry, science, environmental justice, Indi...

In this episode of the Forum podcast, our host performs a reading of “The Meadow Across the Creek,” a well-known essay by a very influential figure in the field of religion and ecology: Thomas Berry. It speaks to the importance of having meaningful connections to our embodiment and embeddedness in a living Earth community and an evolving universe. As we approach the end of the calendar year, a new...

This episode of the Forum podcast follow a years-long tradition of giving a review of the place of religion and ecology at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Religion (AAR). In this episode, our host Sam Mickey talks with the co-chair of the religion and ecology unit of the AAR -- Kimberly Carfore -- to discuss the present and future of this field of study. You'll hear about import...

This episode of Spotlights features Tyler Mark Nelson, a core team member for the Yale Forum on Religion and Ecology. Tyler is an educator, eco-theologian, and artist exploring the ways that humans make sense of their creaturely existence in relation to the more-than-human world. Currently he is assisting with the launch of the exciting Living Earth Community project. We talk about his personal jo...

In this short episode, our host Sam Mickey introduces the new season of the podcast for the Forum on Religion and Ecology. The episode covers some personal details about our host as well as some discussion of what is to come for this exciting new season. A big part of this new season will be attention to the new website that has emerged from the Forum team: Living Earth Community. https://livingea...

This episode is about a very special issue of The New Ecozoic Reader that has just been released. This special issue, edited by the Forum's own Sam Mickey and Sam C. King, offers retrospective and prospective views on the field of religion and ecology: looking at where we've been, where things stand now, and how the field, and our work together, could evolve going forward. The issue is v...

In this episode, our host discusses the new book by the British writer, Robert Macfarlane, Is a River Alive? It's an exciting contribution to the growing body of literature that expands our imaginations and our legal frameworks to account for the agency and liveliness of the natural world. 

This episode features Rachael Petersen , a writer, thinker, and convener. We discuss her life and work at the confluence of philosophy, ecology, and transcendence. As Program Lead of Harvard’s Thinking with Plants and Fungi Initiative, Rachael guides interdisciplinary explorations into how cutting-edge plant science challenges our ideas of mind, matter, and meaning. She holds a Master of Divinity...

This episode features Natalia Schwien Scott. She is an herbalist, wildlife rescue & rehabilitation apprentice, and Ph. D. candidate in the Study of Religion at Harvard University, where she recently completed a Master of Theological Studies degree with a focus on the intersection of ecology and spiritual practice. She researches relational ontologies, posthuman ethics, and diction on personhoo...

This episode features Rachael Petersen and Natalia Schwien Scott, who co-launched the “Thinking with Plants and Fungi Initiative” at the Center for the Study of World Religions at Harvard University in fall of 2022. We talk about the initiative and its culminating conference, which took place in May of 2025. We discuss their interdisciplinary exploration into how plants and fungi help us rethink t...

In this episode, our host (Sam Mickey) reviews two books that engage with questions about the place of life, meaning, and purpose in the universe. First, he discusses the anthology, Towards a Philosophy of Cosmic Life: New Discussions and Interdisciplinary Views , edited by David Bartosh, Attila Grandpierre, and Bei Peng (Springer, 2024). It's notable for its interdisciplinary and transnation...

This episode features Chelsea Steinauer-Scudder , a writer at the confluence of relationship to place with experiences of the sacred. She has a masters of theological studies from Harvard Divinity School, and she's worked as a staff writer and editor for Emergence Magazine. Her writings have been published in numerous venues. We talk about her personal and professional journey into the inters...

On this special Earth Day episode, we feature the work of three writers who focus on the wonderful world of trees: Beth Norcross , Leah Rampy , and Laura Pustarfi . Beth and Leah are the authors of the new book (released on Earth Day 2025), Discovering the Spiritual Wisdom of Trees . Laura is the editor of an anthology (co-edited with David Macauley), The Wisdom of Trees: Thinking Through Arboreal...

This episode features Cathy Coleman, Ph. D., a former dean of students at California Institute of Integral Studies, president of Kepler College, and director of IONS’ EarthRise Retreat Center. We discuss her new anthology, Ralph Metzner, Explorer of Consciousness: The Life and Legacy of a Psychedelic Pioneer . Cathy was Ralph Metzner’s wife of 31 years, and they worked closely together. We discuss...

This episode features Russell Duvernoy, PhD, Associate Professor of Philosophy at King's University College at Western University in London, Ontario. We discuss Russell’s engagement with process philosophies, environmental philosophy, contemporary Continental philosophy, and comparative philosophy (including classical Daoism, Mahayana Buddhist philosophy, and world Indigenous philosophies). W...

This episode of Spotlights features the Rev. Dr. Lisa Dahill, Miriam Therese Winter Chair for Transformative Leadership and Spirituality and Director of the Center for Transformative Spirituality at Hartford International University for Religion and Peace. We talk about her personal and professional engagement with ecological theology, her study of the German Lutheran pastor Dietrich Bonhoeffer, t...

This episode turns the spotlights onto our host, Sam Mickey. Kimberly Carfore came back on the podcast to interview Sam and talk about the way that his experiences, personal life, and religious commitments relate to his work in the field of religion and ecology. This podcast has been running for five years, and one of the frequent request we receive is to hear more about Sam's perspective, so...

This episode features the Rev. Dr. Nancy Wright, Pastor of Creation Care with the Evangelical Lutheran church in America. We discuss many facets of her life and work, from personal experiences with faith, interpretations of ancient scripture, the theology of Martin Luther, process theology, and much more, including attention to water stewardship, interreligious perspectives, and forest therapy. Th...

This episode features our host reviewing the latest book by Robin Wall Kimmerer, The Serviceberry: Abundance and Reciprocity in the Natural World , focusing specifically on the idea of a gift economy. The book invites us to transition from the extractive and exploitative market economy that is dominant around the globe to a gift economy oriented around abundance, reciprocity, and gratitude. It is...

This episode focuses on the enduring legacy of President Jimmy Carter (1924-2024). We feature a plenary address that Carter gave for the American Academy of Religion in San Diego on November 24, 2014. The Plenary Panel was called The Role of Religion in Mediating Conflicts and Imagining Futures: The Cases of Climate Change and Equality for Women. He led with comments on women’s issues as his book...

This episode features Kimberly Carfore, PhD, co-chair of the religion and ecology unit at the American Academy of Religion (AAR). We discuss the religion and ecology events at this year's annual meeting of the AAR, including some of the panel presentations, receptions, overarching themes, and future directions for this unique unit. Hope, happiness, Indigenous values, and feminist theology are...

This episode features Ricardo Rozzi, PhD, a Chilean ecologist and philosopher who is a professor at the University of North Texas and the Universidad de Magallanes (UMAG). His research combines ecology and philosophy through the study of the interrelations between the ways of knowing and inhabiting the natural world, proposing a dynamic continuous reciprocal feedback between both domains. We discu...