Kate Olson is a writer, climate sociologist, and educator. Her work explores the interconnections among people, places, and livelihoods in a changing climate, from mega-dams in Southeast Asia to small town food systems. Her writing has appeared in Smithsonian Magazine, The Guardian, DownEast, Earth Island Journal, Buzzfeed News, and Civil Eats, among other places, and her essay “Dis-ease” was the recipient of the 2021 John Burroughs Nature Essay Award. Her book, Living Change: Finding Place in a Warming World, is under contract with HarperOne Publishers.
Kate was formerly a Tribal Climate Equity Fellow at the USDA Northeast Climate Hub. She holds a PhD in Sociology from Boston College, an MA in Urban and Environmental Policy and Planning from Tufts University, and a BA in Sociology and Psychology from Middlebury College. She lives in the homelands of the Abenaki peoples of the Wabanaki Confederacy, in what is also called Maine.
Photo by Greta Rybus