Nature of Writing: Dr. Katharine Hayhoe / Saving Us

In Saving Us, Hayhoe demonstrates that whether you’re a parent or a person of faith, a beach-goer or a dedicated foodie, climate change affects someone or something you already care about. While others offer doomsday scenarios and point fingers of blame, Hayhoe approaches this topic with optimism and inclusivity. She argues that climate action isn’t about being a certain type of person or voting a certain way. It’s about connecting the values we already have, to act for our future.

A leading expert on the science, impacts, and communication of climate change, Hayhoe has been profiled in The New York Times, the Washington Post, People, and Rolling Stone, and her TED Talk titled “The most important thing you can do to fight climate change: talk about it” has been viewed almost 4 million times. She gives nearly a hundred talks a year to audiences ranging from corporate symposiums, top-tier universities, and global climate summits to local churches, schools, and city council meetings. Saving Us is the result of thousands of conversations she’s had with people from all walks of life, from the oil and gas tycoon who insists “we’re not the bad guys” to the college instructor angry that “the EPA is just making all of this up to take away my wood-burning stove” to the NASA scientist frustrated that “my friends don’t see it like I do.” Drawing equally from interdisciplinary research and personal stories, Hayhoe shows how small conversations can have astonishing results. Saving Us shows readers how each of us has a role to play in changing the world.

Katharine Hayhoe is a climate scientist and chief scientist for The Nature Conservancy. She is also the Endowed Professor in Public Policy and Public Law and Paul W. Horn Distinguished Professor at Texas Tech University. She has been named a United Nations Champion of the Earth and one of Time's 100 Most Influential People, and serves as the climate ambassador for the World Evangelical Alliance. Katharine was a lead author for the U.S. Second, Third, and Fourth National Climate Assessments, hosts the PBS digital series Global Weirding, and has written for The New York Times. She has a BSc in physics and astronomy from the University of Toronto and an MS and a PhD in atmospheric science from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.