Dr. Wray is the founding Director of CIRCLE and a transdisciplinary researcher, science communicator, and author of the bestselling book Generation Dread: Finding Purpose in an Age of Climate Anxiety. Dr Wray holds a PhD in Science Communication from the University of Copenhagen, and completed her postdoctoral training at the Stanford Center for Innovation in Global Health, Woods Institute for the Environment, and London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine Centre on Climate Change and Planetary Health. Her program of research and public engagement focuses on climate distress in youth and frontline communities. For this work, she has been recognized with international honors including the 2023 top prize for Excellence in Science Communication from the US National Academy of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine and Schmidt Futures, and the Canadian Eco-Hero Award.
Kyle McKinley, MPH, Program Manager
Kyle Lane-McKinley is a program manager in the Stanford Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences where he oversees special initiatives of the Chair. Prior to this, Kyle was a non-senate faculty member of the Arts and Associate Director of the Social Practice Arts Research Center at UC Santa Cruz. His scholarly and creative work focuses on the collective design of futures for socio-economic equity and intersectional-feminist values. In psychiatry, his research interests include clinical ethics, social belonging, and the social determinants of mental health. He holds a Master’s in Public Health from San José State University and a Master’s in Fine Arts from the University of California Santa Cruz.
Debra L Safer, MD, Clinical Advisor, Founding Member
Dr. Safer is an Associate Professor in the Stanford Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences. She obtained her MD from U.C. San Francisco and completed her psychiatry residency as well as a postdoctoral fellowship here at Stanford. An experienced clinical researcher, she has specialized in the field of eating disorders and obesity, publishing numerous peer-reviewed manuscripts, book chapters, and books. Over recent years, she has broadened her clinical focus by leveraging her understanding of human behavior to address the intersection of climate change. She has co-authored climate mental health related papers, book chapters, and presented her work at conferences. She is an active member of the Climate Psychiatry Alliance (e.g., Education, Advocacy & Outreach) and Climate Health Now.
