Worried Earth, originally titled “Creating vocabularies and rituals for climate grief through multiple knowledge systems and the artistic process”, is a project focusing on the ways that people from diverse backgrounds express and process the emotions associated with environmental change.

The project is funded by a New Frontiers in Research Fund (Exploration stream), which aims to support “high risk/high reward research”. The high risk/high reward nature of the project relates to interdisciplinary tensions that are created by connecting ecology and climatology (biological and earth sciences), art theory and practice (fine arts), mental health and social wellbeing (health sciences), and learning theory (social science).

The project is led by Melanie Zurba from Dalhousie University (Nominated Principal Investigator) and Erica Mendritzki (Co-Principal Investigator) from NSCAD University. Other academic partners are Andrew Park (University of Winnipeg), Roberta Woodgate (University of Manitoba), David Busolo (University of New Brunswick) and Lisa Binkley (Dalhousie University).

Natalie Goulet. A Brief Respite From Fear, 2019.