CleanMed 2024 opening plenary with keynote speaker Dr. Britt Wray

Climate change is the number one threat to public health, and research shows that climate anxiety and trauma are on the rise. The work of Dr. Britt Wray, an eco-anxiety expert from Stanford University, on the psychological toll of climate change reveals a surprising truth – that embracing climate distress can help solve both mental health and ecological challenges. Wray will explore how today's ecological crises can push us into a state of grief, numbness, or fatalism. She will also reveal how this grief can mobilize and transform us, emphasizing what we can do to control it and to use its power to spark transformational change, with a focus on the role of health care providers and health systems.

Wray is the author of “Generation Dread: Finding Purpose in an Age of Climate Crisis,” and the director of CIRCLE at Stanford Psychiatry, a research and action initiative focused on climate change and mental health.