Dr. Erica Tom was recently featured in an article supporting the release of "Earth Focus," a documentary series from KCET, PBS SoCal, Link TV and Thomson Reuters, including investigative reports and stories about the changing environments and impacts on people. Dr. Tom was interviewed about the mental health impacts of increasing wildfires, discussing philosopher Glenn Albrecth's term solastalgia, and the importance of Traditional Ecological Knowledge for the article "Solastalgia: Naming the Grief of Climate Change."
"Tom says that while we might still need new language such as solastalgia, we also need to uplift the voices and languages of Native American cultural knowledge bearers. Tom has found solace in leaning toward traditional ecological knowledge and using good fire to restore plants and land. She suggests that healing in the context of solastalgia could come from tending our relationship to land, igniting our sense of responsibility and love."
“Let us turn to support Native peoples who continue to fight to keep their languages and life ways alive,” says Tom. “In these languages are also philosophies and ways of being in good relation with the land, ourselves and each other.”
Dr. Tom also participated in a panel with local leaders on Saturday, May 21st for the "Embers of Awakening: From Firestorm to Climate Health" with the Center for Environmental Inquiry.