Forum on Religion and Ecology: Spotlights

This episode features Sam King, a key team member with the Yale Forum on Religion and Ecology. He reviews two public conferences recently hosted by the Yale Forum on Religion and Ecology. Both conferences invited reflection on the evolving relationship between humans and the Earth. On October 16th, “30 Years of Religion and Ecology” was held at Yale Divinity School, and on October 17th, “Living Earth Community” was held at the Yale Peabody Museum. Both gatherings honored three decades of scholarship and engagement in religion and ecology while also exploring new scientific and humanistic perspectives on the living world and the many forms of intelligence present throughout nature.

This episode of Spotlights features Dr. Patricia Wright, a renowned American primatologist, anthropologist, and conservationist. She is famous for her extensive fieldwork in Madagascar, where she discovered the golden bamboo lemur and spearheaded the creation of Ranomafana National Park. She discusses her work, especially the challenges of conservation, the connections between humans and nature, and the incredible world of Lemurs. You can learn more about her work by exploring the Pat Wright Lab at Stony Brook University. https://patwrightlab.weebly.com/pat-wright.html

This episode features Cory Eft, founder and CEO of Astoria, an online marketplace and network connecting buyers and sellers of regenerative livestock. He talks about his background in physics and software engineering, as well as his turn to the regenerative movement in agriculture. Some of the topics discussed include the importance of technology, community, and spirituality, as well as the harmful effects of industrial agriculture. For more information about Astoria, be sure to visit the website: https://astorialivestock.com 

This episode features Ryan Shea, a researcher and educator working with the Nature Institute, which develops ways of thinking and perceiving that integrate self-reflective and critical thought, imagination, and careful, detailed observation of nature's phenomena. He brings to his work at The Nature Institute a broad knowledge of ancient philosophical biology (especially Aristotle), the scientific revolution, phenomenology, German idealism, and Goethean qualitative science.

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: Days & Seasons. 

Days & Seasons is a social enterprise rooted in awareness, movement, embodied cosmology, philosophy, ecopsychology, neurophysiology, ecological education, environmental restoration, social impact, and conscious capitalism. Days & Seasons was founded to create opportunities for people to reconnect with nature, build stronger communities, and live more intentional lives. Inspired by the interconnectedness of all living things, they combine science, philosophy, and experiential learning to help individuals thrive in alignment with the cycles of the Earth.

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. Osprey is on the executive committee for the Global Alliance for the Rights of Nature. The conversation would not be complete without also talking about her amazing book, The Story is in Our Bones: How Worldviews and Climate Justice Can Remake a World. 

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, Indigenous communities, climate change, and more. You can find more information about the book on the publisher's website here: https://orbooks.com/catalog/canopy-of-titans/

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 year is returning, giving us time to re-read works that mean a lot to us. You can find this piece in Berry’s book, The Great Work: Our Way into the Future (1999).
You can also find it posted at https://thomasberry.org/the-meadow-across-the-creek/

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 important attention to Indigenous traditions, interreligious dialogue. religious practice, extractivism, and more.