Dr Emma Lawrance
Wednesday 8th April 5.00pm
Climate change has growing implications for every aspect of our society, but health impacts have only recently received significant attention. As more people witness the effects of the changing climate on their homes, communities and environments, or learn about future scenarios, more people are speaking out about the emotional and psychological toll. How does awareness of the climate crisis impact our mental health, and what can we do about it? As temperatures rise and extreme weather events become more frequent, do these changing conditions affect the prevalence and severity of mental illness, or change mental health and wellbeing across the population? How can the changes we make to reduce carbon emissions also support our collective mental wellbeing? Join Emma to discuss all things climate change and mental health – she promises no mind melting!
Dr Emma Lawrance is the Mental Health Innovations Fellow at the Institute of Global Health Innovation, Imperial College London. With colleagues at the Grantham Institute, she is learning about the impacts of climate change on mental health. Their ambition is to develop a research and innovation program that can support individuals, communities, healthcare systems and policy makers to understand and respond to the mental health needs posed by climate change. She has previously worked and studied in clinical and computational neuroscience, science communication, physics and chemistry (among other things!), and is the founder of the youth mental health charity It Gets Brighter.
London Climate Change Festival 