Kate Marvel on Fear, Wonder, and Leaving NASA

Climate scientist Kate Marvel made headlines this year when she publicly resigned from NASA, drawing coverage from Bloomberg to The New York Times. Marvel says her resignation wasn’t newsworthy on its own. What made it notable is that she was one of more than 10,000 Ph.D. scientists to leave the federal government during President Trump’s second term, part of what she calls a “mass nerd exodus.”  She is now senior climate scientist at Project Drawdown and author of “Human Nature: Nine Ways to Feel About Our Changing Planet.” Marvel argues that scientists need to stop hiding their feelings behind the data.  “When we pretend we don’t have emotions, that’s not making us more credible, because that’s lying,” she says. “You can feel a whole range of human emotions and still get the numbers right.” Guests:  Kate Marvel, Senior climate scientist, Project Drawdown; author, “Human Nature: Nine Ways to Feel About Our Changing Planet” Michael McPhaden, Senior oceanographer, University of Washington For show notes, transcripts, and related links, visit ClimateOne.org. Highlights: 00:00:00 Intro 00:02:24 Kate Marvel on if leaving NASA was newsworthy  00:08:05 Kate Marvel on why science should be publicly funded  00:12:18 Kate Marvel on “emergency break” solution  00:15:01 Kate Marvel on why feelings are a major topic in her book  00:18:11 Kate Marvel on which emotion was hardest to write about 00:23:06 Kate Marvel on which emotion isn’t discussed enough 00:26:27 Kate Marvel on when she felt wonder  00:30:36 Kate Marvel on how to talk about climate change 00:33:28 Kate Marvel on why it’s not too late  00:37:18 Michael McPhaden on this year’s El Niño  00:39:40 Michael McPhaden on the hurricane season  00:41:06 Michael McPhaden on the Climate change and El Niño connection 00:46:12 Michael McPhaden on what people should look out for  ****** On October 20 at 6 p.m. join us, in partnership with The Redford Center, for a screening of the short film In Earth We Trust, followed by a conversation with the filmmaker, the film’s central figure, and other faith leaders. Tickets available at climateone.org/events  On November 5 at 5:30 p.m., join Climate One and the Children & Nature Network for an evening with Richard Louv, the internationally bestselling author of Last Child in the Woods. Tickets available at climateone.org/events  Support Climate One by going ad-free! Subscribe to Climate One on Patreon for exclusive access to all future episodes, free of ads. Sign up today. Ad sales by Multitude. Contact them for ad inquiries at multitude.productions/ads Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices