Join us in person or online, for our eighth Science for Action Social Work Grand Challenges event — Create Social Responses to a Changing Environment.

With the speed of climate change, the ongoing degradation of the ecological environment, and the immediate and detrimental impact on marginalized communities, the need to expand the focus on environmental justice and sustainability across the social work curriculum has become increasingly apparent. One of the goals is to increase awareness of and responsiveness to the ever-changing environmental contexts in the communities where social workers practice.

This event will feature a keynote presentation by Lisa Reyes Mason, associate professor and PhD program director in the College of Social Work at the University of Tennessee. Mason studies the effects of climate change and promotes social justice through community engagement and transdisciplinary research.

About Associate Professor Mason:

Mason studies climate change and social justice through community engagement and transdisciplinary research. Her current interests include urban green infrastructure, socially responsive storm water practices, severe weather impacts and public response, and clean energy for all. She co-edited the book People and Climate Change: Vulnerability, Adaptation, and Social Justice. Mason also co-leads the American Academy of Social Work and Social Welfare’s grand challenge to Create Social Responses to a Changing Environment. Mason has been funded by the National Science Foundation, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. She received her PhD and MSW from the Brown School, Washington University in St. Louis, and her BA from the University of Pennsylvania.

About the Science for Action Series:

The American Academy of Social Work and Social Welfare is leading a groundbreaking initiative to champion social progress powered by science through the 12 Grand Challenges for Social Work. To advance progress on Social Work's Grand Challenges, the Graduate School of Social Work at the University of Denver launched the Social Work Grand Challenges Science for Action Series in 2017. The series will address all 12 of the challenges over three years.