Brianna Craft: All That Rises

March 23, 2023

Brianna Craft: All That Rises

The majority of Honors students have big feelings about climate justice, the climate crisis, climate change, global warming…whatever phrase one chooses, the sense of overwhelm can lead to a sort of paralysis and/or hopelessness. So, we are excited to share the news that UW alumna and Bonderman Fellow Brianna Craft, ’10 (architectural studies with Honors, minor in both environmental studies and urban planning) has literally written the book on how to engage with the issues driving climate change. “Everything That Rises: A Climate Change Memoir” is set for publication on April 4. Grab a copy at the UW Bookstore, or at a beloved bookseller near you.

Craft says she hopes to inspire readers to push through personal anxiety, cultural and systemic failures, and other factors behind this huge force of destruction by sharing her own story and the perspectives of people she’s met in her work at the United Nations and academic/post-graduation journeys.

Craft recently spoke with a reporter from Undergraduate Academic Affairs, Click here to read the full Q&A.

Here’s a tiny preview:

Q: What advice would you give undergraduates who feel overwhelmed about what they can do to address climate change within a larger systemic context?

A: Feeling overwhelmed is a completely logical response to an emergency. The climate crisis is an emergency. Talk about it! Your voice is powerful and you are not alone in feeling this way. The best use of your time is to shape collective responses: help organize climate protests, push your school to divest from fossil fuels sooner, get out the vote for leaders and policies that recognize the climate emergency we’re in and lay out actions that will get us to net zero emissions. The people you love are worth protecting. Love is climate action.