In the first episode of Second Nature, Living with Ecological Grief, host Dr. Ashlee Cunsolo introduces her over 15-year journey of exploring ecological grief, climate change, and mental health. She shares a formative childhood experience with a destroyed beaver pond, highlighting her early, solitary struggles with ecological grief. Her involvement deepened in 2008 during research in Northern Labrador, where conversations with Inuit, particularly a pivotal dialogue with Inuit Elder Sarah Baikie in 2009, enhanced her understanding and guided this work. This led to the multi-year documentary project "Lament for the Land," which garnered global attention.

Ashlee emphasizes the importance of acknowledging and processing grief to foster resilience and healing, drawing on insights from Francis Weller's "The Wild Edge of Sorrow." She underscores grief's relational power, urging listeners to face ecological grief collectively and proactively. The show promises to explore global narratives and encourage courageous conversations, reminding us to approach life "one day at a time."

- Mourning Nature: Hope at the Heart of Ecological Loss and Grief by Ashlee Cunsolo and Karen Landman - https://www.amazon.com/Mourning-Nature-Heart-Ecological-Grief/dp/077354934X/

-Lament for the land film - http://www.lamentfortheland.ca/

- The Wild Edge of Sorrow by Francis Weller - https://www.amazon.com/Wild-Edge-Sorrow-Rituals-Renewal/dp/1583949763

Watch on Youtube: https://youtu.be/SFUA9bKExdk

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Welcome to Second Nature, a podcast about living with ecological grief. In each episode, Dr. Ashlee Cunsolo takes us on a deeply personal journey about planetary loss, and what we love, what we have lost, and how we move forward. Through a series of engaging, thought-provoking, and moving conversations with incredible guests from around the world, Second Nature is an invitation to come together to share stories of loss, love, despair, and joy, as we learn how to live with – and embrace – ecological grief and mourning.