About My Climate Story

My Climate Story is a public research project that encourages participants to consider global climate change on a personal scale, initiated and supported by the Penn Program in Environmental Humanities (PPEH) at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia.

The project’s instructional videos, live workshops, and storybank aim to put climate literacy tools in teachers’ hands and to transform Philadelphians’ understanding of climate as a problem of techno-science into a matter of concern for all peoples. My Climate Story recognizes climate literacy as essential to the health of democratic society and works to democratize who can talk about climate change.

In workshops for aspiring storytellers from the sixth grade on up, My Climate Story has generated hundreds of accounts of how Philadelphians are experiencing climate change–and how those changes are making us feel. Climate stories from the workshops are, with author permission, included in My Climate Story’s public storybank, a resource for exploring how diverse individuals are making meaning of changes more typically measured in quantitative measures of atmospheric CO2 or sea levels and their rates of change. Workshop groups receive all submitted stories as a collection for their further development.

My Climate Story started as a public storytelling and story-sharing campaign designed to document how members of Penn’s community were experiencing climate change. Our commitment to getting people of diverse ages and backgrounds to talk about climate change has since expanded to become a series of interactive, customized workshops for climate storytellers ranging from sixth grade to university professors, creating climate conversations and guiding participants to recognize how local climate impacts are affecting their lives in the here and now–and shaping their life stories. 

My Climate Story trains individuals to become workshop facilitators in their local community. All workshops are customized and offered free of cost. Contact us if you are interested in learning more!

crocuses in bloom. as climate change intensifies we might start to see them bloom at different times every year.

The My Climate Story Team

Bethany Wiggin

Bethany Wiggin

Founding Faculty Director, Penn Program in Environmental Humanities & Professor of German Languages and Literature

Christy Choo

Christy Choo

MCS Public Research Intern, AY 22-23

Aman Sharma

Aman Sharma

MCS Public Research Intern, AY 22-23

Maria Villareal Simon

Maria Villareal Simon

MCS Public Research Intern, AY 22-23

Philadelphia My Climate Story Teachers

Freda or Frankie Anderson

Freda or Frankie Anderson

African American History and World History Teacher at Academy at Palumbo in South Philadelphia

Mariaeloisa Carambo

Mariaeloisa Carambo

History Teacher at Paul Robeson High School in West Philadelphia

Anna Herman

Anna Herman

Urban Agriculture, Food & Natural Resources (AFNR) Management Educator at the U School in North Philadelphia

Monica Rowley

Monica Rowley

English Teacher at Masterman High School in Fairmount

Matthew Scanlan

Matthew Scanlan

Environmental Science Teacher and Dean of Students at Northeast High School in Northeast Philadelphia

Christopher Sikich

Christopher Sikich

AP Biology, Honors Biology, Biology, Anatomy and Physiology, Environmental Science Teacher at Philadelphia High School for Girls in Olney

Avery Stern

Avery Stern

English and Climate Change Studies Teacher at Kensington CAPA in Kensington

Joni Woods

Joni Woods

English Teacher at Academy at Palumbo in South Philadelphia

Rebecca Yacker

Rebecca Yacker

Dual Enrollment Coordinator in the English and History Dept. at Saul High School in Roxborough

My Philadelphia Climate Story Climate Heroes

Amani Sweeper

Amani Sweeper

Academy at Palumbo, Grade 9

Eva Parker

Eva Parker

Academy at Palumbo, Grade 9

Deveena Derrick

Deveena Derrick

Julia R. Masterman School, Grade 10

Aster Chau

Aster Chau

Academy at Palumbo, Grade 9

Tori Okorodudu

Tori Okorodudu

Julia R. Masterman School, Grade 10

Isabelle Smith-Santos

Isabelle Smith-Santos

Julia R. Masterman School, Grade 10

Yinle Chen

Yinle Chen

Academy at Palumbo, Grade 9

Hager Alsekaf

Hager Alsekaf

Julia R. Masterman School, Grade 10

Kylie Wilson

Academy at Palumbo, Grade 9

Sariyah Underwood

Academy at Palumbo, Grade 9

Josh Sturgis

The U School, Grade 12

Past My Climate Story Interns

Daniel Cooper

Daniel Cooper

MCS Public Research Intern, C '21

Ikym Simon

Ikym Simon

MCS Public Research Intern, 2022

Emma Davey

Emma Davey

MCS Public Research Intern, 2022

Rachel Swym

Rachel Swym

MCS Public Research Intern, C'22

Emma Fogel

Emma Fogel

MCS Public Research Intern, C'22

Connor Hardy

Connor Hardy

MCS Public Research Intern, C '21

Tsemone Ogbemi

Tsemone Ogbemi

MCS Public Research Intern, C '21

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About My Climate Story

Explore the Storybank

Resources

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Exhibits