End times—writing about climate change, nukes and existential angst

Professor Rebecca Priestley talks about the issues, like climate change, nukes, and existential angst, that keep her up at night.

Do you ever lie awake at night and worry about the climate crisis? Nuclear annihilation? The next pandemic? Professor Priestley’s career as a science writer has seen her engage with the Covid-19 pandemic, nuclear histories of New Zealand and Antarctica, climate change, and sea level rise. Through the disciplines of science communication, history of science, and creative non-fiction, her books, essays and academic articles respond to the big questions that keep her up at night.

In this inaugural lecture, Professor Priestley, from the School of Science in Society, will talk about these issues and share how writing has given her a way to explore and respond to her anxieties about the future.

Rebecca Priestley, dressed in academic robes, with Nic Smith and another academic at her inaugural lecture.
L to R: Dean of Science, Professor Nichola Nelson; Professor Rebecca Priestley; Vice-Chancellor, Professor Nic Smith.

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