Minding the Climate: How Neuroscience Can Help Solve Our Environmental Crisis

Dr. Duhaime has written Minding the Climate: How Neuroscience Can Help Solve Our Environmental Crisis. In her book, Dr. Duhaime discusses how our decisions and understanding of complex problems like climate change are influenced by neuroscience and the evolution of our brains. Dr. Duhaime will present key points from the book, followed by a moderated discussion of strategies about how to use these insights.

This discussion session will be moderated by PRCCEH Deputy Director Marilyn V. Howarth, MD, FCPP. Dr. Howarth is a College Fellow and chairs the Environmental Health Committee of the Section on Public Health and Preventive Medicine. She is faculty at the Center of Excellence in Environmental Toxicology at the Perelman School of Medicine.

The discussion will be followed by a question & answer session with those in attendance. After the discussion, Dr. Duhaime will be available to sign copies of her book.

About Dr. Duhaime

Dr. Duhaime is a senior pediatric neurosurgeon at the Massachusetts General Hospital and is the Nicholas T. Zervas Distinguished Professor of Neurosurgery at Harvard Medical School. Her neuroscience research investigates mechanisms, pathophysiology, imaging, and treatment of injury in the immature brain, using translational and clinical approaches to study injuries occurring in infants and young children, including those seen most commonly in child abuse. The work also investigates plasticity, recovery, and return of brain function in children and adolescents during maturation.

Dr. Duhaime also has a longstanding interest in the relationship between brain and behavior, and in environmental issues. She is a Faculty Associate of the Harvard University Center for the Environment. Beginning with a fellowship at the Radcliffe Institute in 2016 she has explored the neurobiology of reward circuitry and plasticity and its relevance to pro-environmental behavior, and also worked with a diverse team to design a prototype advanced “green” biophilic pediatric hospital. Her book on this work, Minding the Climate, was published in 2022 (Harvard University Press). She now serves as Associate Director of the Massachusetts General Hospital Center for the Environment and Health, supervising the Research pillar, and as Associate Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Climate Change and Health