Science reporter, producer Kendra Pierre-Louis to speak in 'All We Can Save' series

LAWRENCE – The collaborative University of Kansas virtual series inspired by contributors to the book “All We Can Save: Truth, Courage, and Solutions for the Climate Crisis” will return for a second event this spring. Climate reporter and journalist Kendra Pierre-Louis will be in conversation with A.D. Boynton II for an event at 11 a.m. March 29.

Pierre-Louis is a senior science reporter at Gimlet Media and produces podcasts such as “How to Save a Planet,” a popular series that explores a range of diverse topics to help unpack complex questions around climate change. Pierre-Louis is driven by revealing connections and relationships between humans and the environment, promoting ways in which these relationships can be strengthened. In her work, she is committed to addressing the problems as well as identifying possible solutions to aid in understanding and reversing the effects of climate change. Her 2012 book “Green Washed: Why We Can’t Buy Our Way to a Green Planet” targets a central question about the role of consumerism in exacerbating the impacts of climate change.

In her contribution to the text “All We Can Save,” titled “Wakanda Doesn’t Have Suburbs,” Pierre-Louis asks readers to imagine a world framed differently from the one they currently know. Invoking popular works of fantasy and science fiction, she argues for the power of stories in lived experiences and human capacity to create realities, saying, “The stories that we tell about ourselves and our place in the world are raw materials from which we build our existence.”

Pierre-Louis will offer a presentation, followed by conversation with Boynton, KU doctoral candidate in English, writer and teacher. Afterward, attendees will have a chance to ask further questions.

This series is led by The Commons, with support from the Environmental Studies Program; the Indigenous Studies Program; the J. Wayne and Elsie M. Gunn Center for the Study of Science Fiction; the KU departments of African & African-American Studies, English, Geography & Atmospheric Science, and Geology; the Emily Taylor Center for Women & Gender Equity; the KU Sawyer Seminar; the Office of Multicultural Affairs; the Global Awareness Program; the Health Humanities & Arts Research Collaborative and the University Honors Program.

All events in this series are free and open to the public.