Teaching Faculty and Advisors

Course Directors

Elissa Epel, PhD

Professor and Vice Chair in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences

University of California, San Francisco

Chair of the Mental Health Council of the UC Center for Climate, Health & Equity

Jyoti Mishra, PhD

Associate Professor in the Department of Psychiatry

University of California, San Diego

Co-Chair of the Mental Health

Council of the UC Center for Climate, Health & Equity

Philippe Goldin, PhD

Professor at the Betty Irene Moore School of Nursing

University of California, Davis

Co-Chair of the Mental Health

Council of the UC Center for Climate, Health & Equity

Lecturers

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Adam Aron, PhD

Professor in the Department of Psychology

University of California, San Diego

Leader of UCSD Green New Deal

Author of The Climate Crisis Textbook

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Ayisha Siddiqa

Climate Activist

Climate Advisor to UN Secretary General

Time Magazine Woman of the Year, 2023

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Benjamin Franta, JD, PhD

Senior Research Fellow in Climate Litigation

Founder of Climate Litigation Lab

University of Oxford

Lawyer, Historian,

Physicist

Britt Wray, PhD

Director of Community-Minded Interventions for Resilience, Climate Leadership and Emotional Wellbeing (CIRCLE)

Stanford School of Medicine

Author of Generation Dread: Finding Purpose in an Age of Climate Anxiety

Clover Hogan

Climate Activist and Global Speaker

Founding Executive Director of Force of Nature

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Corrina Gould

Tribal Chair of the Confederated Villages of Lisjan

Co-Director for The Sogorea Te’ Land Trust

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Dan Siegel, MD

Clinical Professor of Psychiatry

Founding Co-Director of the Mindful Awareness Research Center

University of California, Los Angeles

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David Sherman, PhD

Professor in the Department of Psychology

Director of the Social Climate Science Lab

University of California, Santa Barbara

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Douglas Abrams

Founder of Idea Architects

Co-Author of The Book of Joy, The Book of Hope, and upcoming “Will We Be Okay?”

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Dekila Chungyalpa, MA

Director of the Loka Initiative, Center for Healthy Minds and Healthy Minds Innovation

University of Wisconsin, Madison

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Gayle Karen Young, MA

Organizational Development Leader

Former Chief Culture and Talent Officer at the Wikimedia Foundation

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Greg Dalton, MIA

Producer and Host of Climate One from the Commonwealth Club

Climate Change Expert

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Jade Sasser, PhD

Associate Professor in the Department of Gender and Sexuality Studies

University of California, Riverside

Author of On Infertile Ground

Host of the Climate Anxiety and the Kid Question podcast

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James Baraz, MA

Founding Teacher of Spirit Rock Meditation Center & One Earth Sangha

Co-Author of Awakening Joy

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Jamie Bristow, MSc

Policy Development at Inner Development Goals

Former Director of The Mindfulness Initiative

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Jhanisse Vaca-Daza, BA

Senior Program Officer and Freedom Fellowship Director, Human Rights Foundation

Co-Founder of Ríos de Pie

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Jon Kabat-Zinn, PhD

Developer and Founder of Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR)

Professor of Medicine Emeritus

University of Massachusetts Medical School

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Julia Olson, JD

Founder and Executive Director, Our Children's Trust,

Lead Counsel on Youth Climate Litigation

Time 100 Leaders in Climate

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Juliann Allison, PhD

Course Lecturer

Associate Professor in the Department of Gender & Sexuality Studies

University of California, Riverside

Author, Oxford Handbook of Energy Politics

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Karen O'Brien, PhD

Professor in the Departments of Sociology and Human Geography

University of Oslo

Author of You Matter More Than You Think: Quantum Social Change for a Thriving World

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Katharine Wilkinson, PhD

Executive Director and Co-Founder of The All We Can Save Project

Co-Host of A Matter of Degrees Podcast

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Krista Tippett, MDiv

Thoughtleader, Peabody Winner, National Humanities Medalist

Host, On Being Podcast and Public Radio Program

Author of Becoming Wise: An Inquiry into the Mystery and Art

of Living

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Kritee Kanko, PhD

Climate Scientist, Buddhist Zen Priest, Educator

Founding Spiritual Director of Boundless in Motion

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Lilian Cheung, ScD

Lecturer and Director of Health Promotion & Communication

Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health’s Department of Nutrition

Author of Savor: Mindful Eating, Mindful Life

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Maria Teresa Kumar, MPP

Founding President and CEO of Voto Latino

MSNBC Contributor

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Mark Coleman, MA

Founder of Awake in the Wild, Co-Founder One Earth Sangha

Founder of the Mindfulness Institute & Mindfulness Based Nature Awareness

Author of Awake in the Wild

Ofosu Jones-Quartey, BA

Buddhist Teacher and Hip Hop Artist

Author of You Are Enough

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Rebecca Solnit, MJ

Author, Thought Leader, Historian, Activist

Co-founder of #NotTooLate Climate Movement

Project

Author of Not Too Late

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Rhonda Magee, MA, JD

Professor, School of Law

Founder, Center for Contemplative Law & Ethics

University of San Francisco

Author of The Inner Work of Racial Justice

Rick Hanson, PhD

Senior Fellow, Greater Good Science Center

UC Berkeley

Founder of the Global Compassion Coalition

New York Times Best-Selling Author

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Sander van der Linden, PhD

Professor of Social Psychology in Society

University of Cambridge

Author of Foolproof: Why We Fall

for Misinformation and How to

Build Immunity

Susan Bauer-Wu, PhD, RN

Non-Profit Leader, Clinical Scientist, and Mindfulness Teacher

Former President, Mind & Life Institute

Author of A Future We Can

Love

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Tiokasin Ghosthorse

Founder, Host, and Executive Producer of First Voices Radio

Guest Faculty Member at Yale University’s School of Divinity, Ecology and Forestry

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Valentin Lopez

Chairman of the Amah Mutsun Tribal Band

Native American Advisor to the University of California, Office of the President

UC Faculty Class Leaders

Alison Holman, PhD

Professor at the Sue & Bill Gross School of Nursing

University of California, Irvine

Expert on Effects of Disasters on Health

Anna Epperson, PhD

Assistant Professor of Health Psychology

University of California, Merced

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Mandy Frazier, MS

Ph.D. Candidate in the Graduate Group in Ecology

University of California, Davis

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Cassandra Vieten, PhD

Clinical Professor at the Centers for Integrative Health in the Department of Family Medicine

University of California, San Diego

Cindy Wong, PhD

Adjunct Faculty, Lecturer: Global and Community Health

University of California, Santa Cruz

Dana Garfin, PhD

Associate Professor-in-Residence of Community Health Sciences

University of California, Los Angeles

Daniel Mello, PhD

Non-Senate Faculty of Psychology – School of Social Sciences, Humanities, Arts

University of California, Merced

David Presti, PhD

Professor in the Department of Neuroscience

University of California, Berkeley

Elissa Epel, PhD

Professor and Vice Chair in the Department of Psychiatry

University of California,

San Francisco

Chair of Mental Health

Council of CCHE

Jyoti Mishra, PhD

Associate Professor in the Department of Psychiatry

University of California, San Diego

Co-Chair of Mental Health Council of CCHE

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Larisa Castillo, PhD

Associate Professor, Humanities Core Program

School of Humanities

University of California, Irvine

Philippe Goldin, PhD

Course Co-Director

Professor at the Betty Irene Moore School of Nursing

University of California, Davis

Clinical Neuroscientist, Contemplative Researcher, Climate Educator

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Vickie Mays, PhD

Distinguished Professor of Psychology, & of Health Policy & Management

Director of the UCLA BRITE Center for Science, Research & Policy

Senior Fellow, Center for Health Policy Research

University of California, Los Angeles

Yassi Eskandari, Esq.

Director of the Center for Equitable Environmental Sciences

University of California, Santa Barbara

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Sheri Weiser, MD, MPH, MA.

Distinguished Professor of Medicine

University of California, San Francisco

Silvia Bunge, PhD

Distinguished Professor of Psychology

University of California, Berkeley

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Selin Nielsen, PhD

Distinguished Professor of Global Studies

University of California, Riverside

Mindfulness Instructors

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Andrea Lieberstein, MPH, RDN, IMTA CMT-P

Certified Mindfulness Meditation

Teacher and Ecotherapist

Nature Meditation Teacher

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Anne-Marie Brest, MS

Life, Nature, and Climate Engagement Coach and Mindfulness Teacher

University of California, Santa Cruz

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Cheryl Shah, BS

Certified MBSR Facilitator & Certified MSC Facilitator

University of California, San Diego

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Diana Hill, PhD

Licensed Clinical Psychologist

University of California, Santa Barbara

Dora Kamau, BA, BScPN, RYT200

Certified Mindfulness Meditation Teacher

University of California, Los Angeles

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Gail Wright, MD

Certified Mindfulness Meditation Teacher

University of California, Santa Cruz

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Jennifer Jacobs, BA

Certified Mindfulness Meditation Teacher

University of California, Davis

Karen LeCocq, MA

Visual Artist and Mindfulness Instructor

University of California, Merced

Kazumi Igus, MA

UCLA Mindful Awareness Center-Trained Meditation Facilitator

Mindfulness Director, Instructional Coach, and Environmental Science Teacher

University of California, Los Angeles

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Nichol Chase, ERYT-500, YACEP, TSM, BM

Certified Meditation Teacher

University of California, San Francisco

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Richard Hunt, PhD

Certified Mindfulness Teacher

University of California, Riverside

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Robert Lurye, MEd

Certified Mindfulness Teacher

University of California, Riverside

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Rose Nisker, BA

Certified Mindfulness Meditation Teacher

University of California, Davis

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Shannon Jordan, MS

Workplace Program Co-Director

Certified MBSR Teacher

University of California, San Diego

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Toni Martinez, MA

Mindfulness-Based Licensed Mental Health Therapist

University of California, Irvine

Anthony Maes,

Certified Mindfulness Meditation Teacher

University of California, Berkeley

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Viveka Ramel, PhD

Clinical Psychologist, Educator and Sustainability Practitioner

Certified Mindfulness Meditation Teacher

University of California, Berkeley

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Eve Ekman, PhD, MSW

Certified Mindfulness Meditation Teacher

University of California, Berkeley

Course Staff

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Elena Fromer, BS

Course Director

University of California, San Francisco

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Jillian Grialou, MPH

Course Staff

University of California, San Francisco

Lucy Kho, BS

Course Staff

University of California, San Francisco