On Thursday, Oct. 23, Dr. Ayana Elizabeth Johnson, a marine biologist and policy expert, visited Swarthmore College as part of the 2025-26 Cooper Series. The presentation was in collaboration with the environmental studies program and the Office of Sustainability. Johnson, the Roux Distinguished Scholar at Bowdoin College, co-founded the Urban Ocean Lab — a think tank focusing on policy and environmental justice for coastal cities — and has published acclaimed papers. She also collaborated with other experts on the Blue New Deal, a set of policy recommendations focused on oceans and coastal communities meant to supplement the Green New Deal.
Following the 2024 publication of her latest book, New York Times bestseller “What If We Get It Right? Visions of Climate Futures,” Johnson worked on an updated paperback edition reflecting recent developments in climate politics, as well as continued work on her podcast of the same name.
Elizabeth Drake, the assistant vice president for sustainability and strategic initiatives, introduced Johnson. In her introduction, Johnson clarified the book’s central call to “embrace possibility,” which prioritizes tenacity over pessimism and procrastination on solutions.
The question of “What can I do?” in the face of often-overwhelming realities frames the structure for Johnson’s approach to climate activism through the “Japanese concept of ikigai, finding your purpose.” Johnson uses the intersection of personal ability, areas of particular need, and joy to help individuals find their purpose and role within climate solutions. By working in a way that emphasizes the needs of society at large while considering our own unique contributions, individuals can expand their sphere of impact within the context of collective action.
Moreover, this perspective attempts to close the gap between the desire to address global warming and concerns about how or where it is most efficient to start. While maintaining the spirit of determination, Johnson stressed the importance of love and joy in climate solutions, referencing that “research has shown that it is love for future generations, for nature, that is by far the strongest motivator for people to […] get involved in climate action.”
The solutions-oriented focus is a key component of Johnson’s climate advocacy. Avoiding the pessimism often found in climate education, Johnson expressed concern for the demoralizing and demotivating effect of constant “bad news” in climate communication across the board.
Concluding her talk, Johnson said that while she is not an optimist, she is also “not a quitter.” Practically speaking, then, the core of Johnson’s work is to move beyond artificial boundaries — both political and psychological — to implement the current wealth of solutions already “available and ready to scale.” Moving away from potential nihilism, Johnson posed the question, “What if we act as if we love the future?”
The Q&A portion of the talk opened with a question from Drake on the role of “hope and optimism” in climate activism. Johnson noted that it is important to “decouple hope from action” and rather focus on strategy for the future.
Relating to recent political developments following the 2024 presidential election, Johnson revealed that the “secret title” of the book is “What if We Get it as Right as is Still Possible?”, acknowledging that the climate movement faces significant setbacks in funding and support at the national level, as well as loss of momentum from the public and private sectors.
This “spectrum of possibilities” reflects Johnson’s perspective that climate action should not be limited to achieving the perfect outcome but rather the best possible one, driven in part by the recognition that each incremental decrease in emissions still has tremendous positive impact.
On the subject of education, Johnson pointed to the importance of climate literacy across subject areas, both in K-12 and higher education. Advocating for creative and interdisciplinary approaches to climate solutions, Johnson stressed the practical need for students to see that they have a role to play in it regardless of their field of study, since climate change is “the context within which [students’] entire lives are playing out.”
In the context of environmental justice, Johnson addressed the need for equitable solutions to climate issues, both with mitigation and adaptation. In respect to both economics and aesthetics, Johnson said that “75% of the [energy] infrastructure that will exist in 2050 has not been built yet,” emphasizing the wide range of future outcomes that still exist.
While new technologies are core to many promising climate solutions, some technological developments, such as artificial intelligence (AI), raise potential concerns.
While AI could potentially contribute to climate solutions, it also, and more dramatically, raises significant environmental and moral issues. Much of the data on the pollution and energy and water consumption of datacenters has only recently become available, Johnson noted, largely due to “investigative journalism over the last year.”
Johnson also shared her story of deciding to pursue a Ph.D in marine biology. She recalled her mother’s concern, who lamented the fact that Johnson would “disappear from being useful to the world for five or six years” when “there [are] actual problems [she] could be helping solve in the world.” To address this tension between intellectual curiosity and social engagement, Johnson focused her research on real-world sustainable fishing solutions in the Caribbean, which eventually led to legislative change.
A science educator in the Philadelphia School District asked about the lack of integration of scientific information and “cultural and socio-historical” factors of climate change in science classes.
Sharing her thoughts, Johnson addressed her own experience with injustice. She shared how “racism is a huge distraction” from her work and that burdens such as racism and poverty are significant barriers towards achieving a fuller societal “[contribution] to solutions.”
Johnson highlighted that many innovative climate solutions currently being implemented around the world often defy traditional American and eurocentric conceptions about who leads in progress. While she advocates for introducing progressive and creative curriculum changes, she also encourages approaching individuals with “grace and also more resources.”
Following a student question about her work in close coordination with coastal communities, she referred to her work in the Caribbean, “breaking the academic shell” and “inviting other people to join in.” There, she personally tested hundreds of fish-trap designs. By showing that sustainable solutions did not interfere with fishermen’s incomes, Johnson’s work incentivized political action and led to real legislative change.
Johnson “[interviewed] 87% of the fishermen on the island Curaçao” and was able to take “the role of scientists as people who listen and let what they’re hearing from the problems and solutions that communities are talking about inform the hypotheses that they’re framing.”
Tapping into deep sources of knowledge within those communities, Johnson worked with those on the ground who had extensive knowledge of environmental conditions, often spanning decades. She acknowledged the limitations of the academic context in producing work that is “telling the story as it’s unfolding.” Johnson reaffirmed her commitment to social responsibility and her determination to be useful and relevant to society at large.
In the context of a fragmented and chaotic media landscape, Johnson stressed the importance of education for the development of critical thinking skills to identify increasingly prevalent and sophisticated misinformation online. Specifically, Johnson proposed her own strategy: a set of trusted and diverse sources to turn to for information and commentary.
Addressing a student question on mobilization and strategy for students, particularly in the divestment movement, Johnson highlighted the importance of creating a movement that motivates students to join by using joy to “harness … some levity and humour,” as well as “thinking strategically” in combination with “network mapping” to find the most effective mechanisms for change.
Speaking specifically about divestment from fossil fuels in the college endowment, she pointed out that economic changes in the last five to ten years have led to evolving economic realities in the profitability of fossil fuel investments, which could change the calculus of divestment based on potentially “really outdated understandings of … what is possible.”
