Nature Stories

"All of us have memories of how things used to be. For some of us, the weather doesn’t seem what it used to be. Or there are now buildings where there used to be fields. Forest fires, earthquakes, or other natural disasters have changed the landscape. If you have a story about how an environment you know has changed, Nature Stories is a place to share it.

Your story may be about a dramatic event like a natural disaster, about the changing seasons, or how your community is being pushed by extreme weather brought by climate change. You might tell of your involvement in community organizing or movements to build sustainable and resilient futures. Ultimately, there are many ways to talk about climate and environmental change, and we are keen to capture the full range of human experience, from anxiety, grief, or pessimism to joy, hope, and excitement."

Dr. Susan Bodnar and the Development, Ecopsychology, & Wellness Lab (DEW Lab) at Teachers College, Columbia University, have been exploring how physical environments complement the influence that human relationships have on psychological development and organization. They aim to understand the role ecosystems have in our lives: how they affect us emotionally, neurologically and cognitively. In order to understand how communities will psychologically respond to climate change, the DEW Lab posits that we need to understand how our personhood, our families, our communities and our cultures are embedded in our urban, suburban, rural or wild ecosystems—their hypothesis is that the same societal factors that have impacted our planet have also impacted our minds.

A full list of submitted Nature Stories can be accessed on the DEW Lab website.

Echoes of Change, A Turkish Climate Story by Birce Murtezaoglu

"As the sun sets over the bustling cityscape of Istanbul, I find myself reminiscing about the days when the skyline seemed untouched by the hands of time. Growing up in Turkey, I remember endless fields stretching out before me, adorned with olive groves and vineyards, a patchwork of vibrant colors under the warm Mediterranean sun."

My Chennai: Where Scraps Become Seeds and Trash Trucks Sing by Manasa Prabhakar

"I grew up in Chennai, a vibrant city in India. My house had a big backyard, like a green haven in the middle of the busy city. We never threw away leftover food. Instead, we put it in the soil, where it helped plants grow strong and healthy."

Nature is Speaking by Candelaria Gomez-Manzano

"Although I was born in Barcelona, in a cement suburb, I have learned, through time and personal experiences, to value my connection with nature's many faces. I found that watching trees and flowers and listening to birds calmed my thoughts and even brought me happiness. However, I have also heard nature's screams and felt the uneasiness of its silence."

The Woods that Saved My Confused Adolescent Self by Susan Bodnar

"As a young child I used to walk through the woods that surrounded the condos where I moved to when I was thirteen. There was so much change and uncertainty. I found tremendous comfort hiking through these woods."

Winter Story by Luping Wang

I spent a considerable amount of time studying in Dongbei, China, one of the coldest places I have experienced during winter, yet it held its beauty.

Tear of the Mountain by Bob Chang

"I would like to share my mom's climate story, a tale she has often recounted, hoping more people hear it."

Susan Bodnar, adjunct associate professor of counseling and psychology at Teachers College, Columbia Univeristy, has worked in NYC as a child and adult clinician for over twenty years. Her focus as been the application of CBT and Dynamic therapy to a bio-psycho-social model of development. In addition to teaching Child Psychopathology and Psychology, Child Development and Climate Change at TC, she is also an associate editor for Psychoanalytic Dialogues, and on the editorial board of Contemporary Psychoanalysis. She writes broadly about culture, diversity, origin stories, and the environment for academic and non-academic audiences. At a time when there is much change in the environmental world, Bodnar looks to the consistencies of human nature to help us better understand ourselves and the planet that gives us life.