Dr Katharine Wilkinson

A Rhodes Scholar, Dr. Katharine Wilkinson recently completed a DPhil in Geography and the Environment at the University of Oxford. She was supervised by Smith School Fellow Dr. Dave Frame, Prof. Diana Liverman, and Dr. Max Boykoff. With an interest in the intersection of religion, environment, and politics, her research explored American evangelicals’ engagement with “creation care” and specifically climate change. Currently based in Atlanta, Georgia, Katharine is writing a book on the topic before starting work with the Boston Consulting Group. In 2005 she received a BA with distinction in Religion from The University of the South in Sewanee, Tennessee, graduating summa cum laude and valedictorian. In addition to holding a full merit scholarship there, Katharine was a two-time Morris K. Udall Scholar and won an Elie Wiesel Prize in Ethics. Before matriculating at Oxford, she worked for the nonprofit Natural Resources Defense Council, and while pursuing her doctorate she did consulting work for BCG and Coca-Coca Recycling, helped “green” the Democratic National Convention, chaired Oxford’s first sustainable ball, and taught undergraduate tutorials on the ethical, cultural, and political dimensions of climate change.

Dissertation title: “Caring for Creation’s Climate: Climate Change Discourse, Advocacy, and Engagement among American Evangelicals.”

Recent publications and presentations:

Wilkinson, K.K. and S. Gill (2010) “Oil Disaster Should Spark Bold Reform,” The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, July 6.

Wilkinson, K.K. (2010) “Climate’s salvation? Why and how American evangelicals are engaging with climate change,” Environment: Science and Policy for Sustainable Development, 52(2): 47-57.

Wilkinson, K.K. (2009) “The climate of creation care: American evangelical discourses on global climate change,” presented at the International Society for the Study of Religion, Nature and Culture Third International Conference, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, July 23-26.

Wilkinson, K.K. (2008) “Creating a climate for change? American evangelical discourses on global climate change,” presented at the American Academy of Religion Annual Meeting, Chicago, IL, November 1-3.