5th Annual Ecological Justice and Social Work Symposium
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“Reckoning and Resistance: Advancing Ecological Justice Amid Political and Planetary Crisis”
Adelphi University School of Social Work Continuing Education and Professional Development and the Institute for Social Work and Ecological Justice are pleased to host the 5th Annual Ecological Justice and Social Work symposium.
As social, environmental, and political crises deepen, social workers and allied practitioners are called upon not only to witness injustice and oppression, but to refuse silence and inaction. Amid this ongoing mutual harm to minoritized peoples, species, and planet our work must confront grief, uplift resilience, and reimagine pathways for building sustainable futures and practice.
This symposium will offer space to reckon with our current reality and discuss essential tools aimed at resisting interlocking systems of oppression and environmental degradation. Presenters will share emerging approaches that honor embodied experience, community wisdom, trauma-informed care, and political engagement. Join us in this vital conversation, a space for reckoning with ecological and social trauma and for galvanizing resistance rooted in care, connection, and collective action.
We will have three exciting presentations: one keynote and two voices of impact.
Additionally, we have three opportunities for participation amongst attendees:
- Poster submission: Deadline May 16, 2025
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Blog post submission: Can be be submitted until day of the symposium.
To accommodate a larger audience and our international colleagues who may have time zone constraints, we are offering a new opportunity to submit something for inclusion on ISWEJ’s website and email newsletter. These submissions can be in written (case studies, resources, tools, opinion pieces, poetry etc.) and/or audiovisual (art, song, photography/Photovoice, etc.) format of no more than 1,000 words including references/citations. These must be personal materials that haven’t been published elsewhere unless permission was granted for redistribution. -
Help us curate a collective playlist: Please share a favorite song so we can create a playlist for the Adelphi University School of Social Work & ISWEJ Virtual Symposium. Contribute songs that foster a sense of motivation and solidarity within the current political and planetary climate. We look forward to a dynamic playlist that will help move us from reckoning to resistance.
For questions about this symposium, please contact us at swcontedconference@adelphi.edu.
Learning Objectives
Participants will:
- Explore innovative approaches and emerging voices within social work’s engagement with the climate crisis and environmental justice.
- Identify strategies for overcoming feelings of overwhelm, dauntingness, and isolation in the pursuit of environmental justice and anti-racism efforts
- Discuss the importance of mutual aid and community support in advancing environmental justice initiatives.
Tuition
- $25: Tuition for 2 CEs
- Free – General Registration, Alumni, Faculty, Students and Veterans
Welcome Address
- Dr. Kelly Smith, Founder and Director of ISWEJ (Institute for Social Work and Ecological Justice)
- Renee M. Rawcliffe, LMSW, Director of Continuing Education and Professional Development at Adelphi University School of Social Work
- Dr. Georgianna Dolan-Reilly
Keynote Speaker
Joanne Cacciatore
Dr. Joanne Cacciatore is a Professor at Arizona State University (ASU), where she also serves as a Senior Sustainability Scholar and directs the Graduate Certificate in Trauma and Bereavement Program. An internationally recognized expert in traumatic grief, Dr. Cacciatore is a Fellow of the American Academy of Social Work and Social Welfare (AASWSW) and ranks among the top 2% of scholars worldwide in her field, based on citation metrics.
For more than three decades, Dr. Cacciatore has devoted her life to the research, clinical care, and community-based support of individuals and families affected by traumatic loss, particularly the death of a child or other sudden, violent losses. She is the founder of the MISS Foundation, an international nonprofit organization that provides advocacy, support, and education for grieving families. Since its founding in 1996, Dr. Cacciatore has served the organization as a full-time volunteer.
Her academic research has been published in high-impact, peer-reviewed journals including The Lancet, Death Studies, and OMEGA: Journal of Death and Dying, where she has contributed to the advancement of evidence-based grief care and critiques of the medicalization of bereavement. She is also the creator and host of Audible’s Great Courses series Understanding and Coping with Grief, which integrates science, compassion, and experiential knowledge to support grieving individuals and those who care for them.
Dr. Cacciatore is perhaps best known to the public for her bestselling book, Bearing the Unbearable: Love, Loss, and the Heartbreaking Path of Grief, which has been translated into seven languages and is considered a seminal text in grief education courses across the globe. Her writing blends profound insight with poetic clarity, offering validation and refuge to mourners and clinicians alike.
In addition to her scholarly and nonprofit work, Dr. Cacciatore is the founder of the Selah Carefarm, the first therapeutic carefarm in the world dedicated to traumatic grief. Located in Sedona, Arizona, the Carefarm offers sanctuary to bereaved individuals through a unique model of animal-assisted, nature-based grief support.
Faculty
- Dr. Murali Nair, Columbia University School of Social Work
Voices of Impact Speakers
Nathaniel Stinnett
Environmental Voter Project
Nathaniel Stinnett founded the Environmental Voter Project in 2015 after over a decade of experience as a senior advisor, consultant, and trainer for political campaigns and issue-advocacy nonprofits. Hailed as a “visionary” by The New York Times, and dubbed “The Voting Guru” by Grist magazine, Stinnett is a frequent expert speaker on cutting-edge campaign techniques and the behavioral science behind getting people to vote. He has held a variety of senior leadership and campaign manager positions on U.S. Senate, Congressional, state, and mayoral campaigns, and he sits on the Board of Advisors for MIT’s Environmental Solutions Initiative. Formerly an attorney at the international law firm DLA Piper LLP, Stinnett holds a B.A. from Yale University and a J.D. from Boston College Law School. He lives in Boston, MA with his wife and two children.
Dr. Sandra Engstrom and Dr. Amy Krings
A Framework for Trauma-Informed Climate Research: Interrupting the Relationship Between Climate Trauma and Social Intertia
Dr. Engstrom and Dr. Krings will discuss their latest above-named publication.
Abstract: “We are experiencing a climate crisis on a global scale. The impacts associated with this crisis bring havoc to all populations, though disproportionately to those already vulnerable due to social inequalities associated with historical and contemporary collective or cultural trauma. Understanding the emotional, social, and physical impacts of climate change and the deleterious effects they have on individuals’ and communities’ ability to cope, prevent, resist, respond, adapt, and mitigate climate-fueled disasters, is a first step toward dismantling entrenched social inertia toward climate action. To this end, in this article, we begin by theorizing that there is a mutually reinforcing relationship that connects climate havoc, climate trauma, and social inertia. We then introduce an innovative trauma-informed research framework as a tool for researchers, doctoral students, citizen scientists, community partners, and others to ethically conduct research on climate issues without causing harm to themselves, participants, or vulnerable communities. The trauma-informed research framework centers the expertise of those most impacted by climate havoc, including people with lived experience of collective cultural trauma. A trauma-informed research framework can assist with the development of relevant and rigorous research about climate havoc in a way that holistically supports people, organizations, and communities that are working to prevent and mitigate harm associated with the climate crisis”. (Engstrom and Krings, 2025)
Credentialing Information
This program has been approved for the following continuing education credits:
- CEs: 2
To receive approved continuing education credits, participants must attend the entire symposium and submit a completed evaluation form.
See full credentialing information and CEUs
Cancellation Policy
Please note that we are unable to offer refunds for cancellations made within seven business days of the event or for no-shows. However, if you notify us at least 24 hours in advance, we can issue a credit toward a future workshop. No credit will be provided for cancellations made less than 24 hours before the event.
Accessibility Statement
The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and Adelphi University require that all events be accessible. To request a reasonable accommodation, please contact the event host identified on the event webpage; please allow for a reasonable time frame. The event host, when necessary, will collaborate with the Student Access Office.