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About elin kelsey, PhD

elin kelsey, wearing a white top, sitting outdoors with her arms crossed on her knees. She is smiling warmly and looking at the camera, surrounded by a blurred natural landscape in the background

A leader of hopeful, solutions-focused environmental movements

elin kelsey, PhD has an unwavering commitment to fostering agency and empowerment to counter the emotional and climate justice consequences of environmental despair. A sought-after keynote speaker, her influence can also be seen through the popularity of her book, Hope Matters: Why Changing the Way We Think Is Critical to Solving the Environmental Crisis, and in the hopeful, solutions-focus of her clients, including the Monterey Bay Aquarium, and other powerful institutions where she has served as a visiting fellow including the Rachel Carson Center for the Environment and Society, the Rockefeller Foundation, the Kone Foundation, the Salish Sea Institute, the Cairns Institute and Stanford University. 

She co-founded the viral social media campaign #OceanOptimism and is currently leading intergenerational collaborations with climate influencers to make evidence-based hope more shareable online. A best-selling children’s book author, her picture books reveal the intimate connections between humans and the greater than human world. Her work as a podcast host, film writer, and exhibit creator celebrates the resilience that exists within ourselves, and across species. 

elin is an Adjunct Faculty member of the University of Victoria School of Environmental Studies, and Western Washington University’s School of Environment. She is the co-creator of an international network of researchers and practitioners working on the emerging academic discipline of Climate Emotions. She regularly leads workshops for environmental organizations, youth climate activists, educators and community groups on evidence-based hope and serves as an author/artist in residence for schools around the world.

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