How birth workers, community organizers, and local elected officials are mobilizing to address maternal marginalization and seek policy.

Monday, November 2

12-1:30 PM

Rolfe Hall, Room 2125

About the Talk

Toxic exposures. Emergency evacuations. Endocrine disruption. Miscarriage. Threats to healthy pregnancies and safe births. Guilt, anxiety, depression, and grief. Climate change poses unique challenges to the health, well-being, and everyday lives of pregnant people, mothers, and those who would like to have children. This talk addresses those challenges – and highlights how birth workers, community organizers, and local elected officials are mobilizing to address maternal marginalization and seek policy.

Featuring

Jade S. Sasser, PhD is Professor of Environmental Studies in the Department of Society, Environment, and Health Equity at the University of California, Riverside. She received her PhD in Environmental Science, Policy, and Management from the University of California, Berkeley. Her work explores climate change, maternal health, and reproductive justice through an intersectional lens.

Her first book, On Infertile Ground: Population Control and Women’s Rights in the Era of Climate Change, was published in 2018 by NYU Press and won the Emory Elliott Book Award. Her second book, Climate Anxiety and the Kid Question: Deciding Whether to Have Children in an Uncertain Future (UC Press, 2024), analyzes the relationship between climate emotions, social inequality, and reproductive anxiety in the U.S. — Dr. Sasser also hosts a podcast of the same name. Her third book, in progress, explores the health impacts of climate change on pregnant people and mothers.