Be a Climate Muskox: Fighting Defeatism with Ice Age Resilience feat. Jacquelyn Gill

Join us for our 2025 Summer Lecture Series!

Join us in person at Schoodic Institute or online via Zoom on Tuesday, August 19 at 7:00pm for Be a Climate Muskox: Fighting Defeatism with Ice Age Resilience featuring Dr. Jacquelyn Gill, Professor of Paleoecology and the Director of the BEAST Lab at the University of Maine.

Climate change is already reshaping our world. Yet as the impacts accelerate, global action continues to lag behind the scale of the crisis. This growing mismatch between urgency and response has fueled a rising sense of climate despair. In this hopeful talk, paleoecologist Dr. Jacquelyn Gill traces the evolution of the climate conversation—from early warnings to the emotional turning point of 2018, when public discourse began to shift toward anxiety and even doom.

But what if we looked to the past to guide our response to an uncertain future? Enter the muskox: a shaggy Ice Age survivor and powerful symbol of collective, justice-driven resilience. We’ll explore why being a climate muskox can help us transition from grief and despair to action, from the world-saving impact of the Montreal Protocol to recent climate victories led by youth in the courts.

Dr. Jacquelyn Gill is an internationally recognized paleoecologist and multiple award-winning science communicator. She is a Professor of Paleoecology and the Director of the BEAST Lab at the University of Maine. In addition to her passion for research and teaching, Dr. Gill is also dedicated to sharing science with the public. She was the co-creator of one of the first climate podcasts Warm Regards, as well as the forthcoming show Jax & Phoebe Make a Planet.