New interview series captures stories of alums pursuing religion and ecology callings
Meredith Barges photographed at a Yale Sustainability awards program in 2023, at which she was honored for her efforts to protect birds
The Yale Forum on Religion and Ecology has launched a video interview series spotlighting alumni who work at the intersection of spiritual traditions and environmental stewardship, blending personal stories with urgent calls for heart-centered ecological action.
Titled “Reflections on Religion & Ecology: Yale Alumni Speak from the Field,” the series debuted July 16 and features graduates from Yale Divinity School and the Yale School of the Environment. Organizers say the project offers inspiration, practical wisdom, and encouragement for those beginning their journey in the emerging field of religion and ecology.
The series is a way to “tell the stories of alums from Yale who have followed some creative pathway at the confluence of religion and ecology,” said Sam King ’22 M.A.R., who has worked with the Forum as a research associate and project manager since 2020. “What compelled these alums to study religion and ecology; what shape did their studies take; and how have they brought forward that unique synergy into the creative pathways they’ve tread?”
King and Tali Anisfeld, a Princeton graduate who studied oral history, conducted the conversations, drawing out reflections from alumni such as Jim Antal ’78 M.Div., a UCC minister who has been preaching about climate change since the 1980s; Blair Nelsen ’19 M.A.R., executive director of the nonprofit Waterspirit and advocate to the United Nations for ocean protection; Jason Brown ‘11 M.A.R., ‘11 M.F., an ecological chaplain with forestry training; and Meredith Barges ’23 M.Div., who integrates threatened and extinct birds into liturgical spaces and is a founding director of the bird protection program Lights Out Connecticut.
Sam King and Tali Anisfeld, who conducted the interviews with alums working in the religion and ecology field
A growing academic field
The academic discipline of religion and ecology took root in the 1990s through a series of conferences led by Mary Evelyn Tucker and John Grim at Harvard’s Center for the Study of World Religions. Largely thanks to their decades-long work building community on the ground and programming at the institutional level, there are now 30 graduate and Ph.D. programs in the field, along with a global network of scholars and practitioners working to connect spiritual traditions with environmental action.
Tucker and Grim moved the Forum from Harvard to Yale in 2006, making Yale one of the first institutions to formalize academic inquiry into the role of spiritual values in shaping ecological ethics and environmental policy. The invitation for the move came from Gus Speth, Dean of the School of Forestry as it was then called, who had worked with then-YDS Dean Harry Attridge to established a joint program in religion and ecology.
Inspiration from an alumni gathering
The idea for the interview series emerged from an online gathering organized in the summer of 2024 by the YDS Office of Alumni Engagement in partnership with the Forum. During that session, alums introduced themselves and shared their current work, inspiring organizers with the diversity of the paths they have taken.
“When it was over and we realized the session wasn’t recorded, we said we need to capture these engaging stories,” said Tucker, who directs the Forum with Grim. “We felt they would be inspiring to other religion and ecology grads, as well as those in the program now or those thinking of studying in this field. Because so many of the stories illustrated what one could do — teach, preach, create — it had the potential to encourage others, both those in the field and outside of it.”
Stories that move people
For King, the power of the series lies in its ability to connect people to the Earth community. “People don’t often respond to numbers and graphs or parts per million of CO₂ in the atmosphere,” King said. “That’s not an effective strategy for galvanizing change. But people do respond to stories, and they respond to what they love. So helping people to fall in love with the world, as simple as that sounds, is foundational for ecological generation.”
King said the alums featured in the series offer examples of how to live out that vision. He explained, “It’s clear the direction we need to move. These alums are helping to point a way toward a more flourishing future. At a time of existential crisis we need to be sober-minded about the challenges we face, and also bold enough to be beacons of joy, beacons of hope, to uplift the human spirit and protect our creaturely kin.”
Mary Evelyn Tucker and John Grim, founders and co-directors of the Forum on Religion and Ecology
Continuing a legacy of connection
In Tucker’s view, the series builds on decades of network-building by people who are committed to religiously based ecological action. “The Yale alumni interviews are a continuation of this spirit of fostering the work of others and highlighting stories of accomplishment and change-making,” Tucker said. “In listening to these interviews people can be encouraged to carry on their own work through their struggles and achievements. They don’t have to feel alone as they see that others have been down the path.”
The Forum’s interview series is well-timed with the opening of the Divinity School’s Living Village, a new regenerative living space on campus that celebrates the school’s commitment to spiritually grounded ecological care. Tucker and Grim see this new construction as a site of convergence for the study of religion and ecology at Yale, and a catalyst for what they hope will be a robust living academic program for years to come. Like the recently landscaped labyrinth at YDS, Grim observed, “the Living Village gives structural and visionary expression to ways forward in our ecologically challenged times. Similarly, the interview series highlights diverse career paths that emerged from disciplinary studies and personal opportunities for ecological creativity.”
The alumni interview series will be updated on a regular basis. View the interviews at the Reflections on Religion and Ecology page on the Forum’s website.
Chris Freimuth ’25 M.Div. is a horticulturist, designer, and founder of CF GARDENS, a garden design/build firm based in New York City and Connecticut. His studies at YDS focused on the intersection of horticulture, design, and spiritual care for the people and land with which he works.