Berkeley Talks

In episode 126 of Berkeley Talks, evolutionary biologist Erica Bree Rosenblum, a professor in UC Berkeley's Department of Environmental Science, Policy and Management, tells a story about when she held a little frog — the last known member of its species — in her hand as it died. "I am a scientist who studies extinction," says Rosenblum. "I am a scientist who thinks about biodiversity and interconnectedness every single day ... but the difference between thinking about it and feeling a life slipping away in my hand and knowing that it was the last of an entire branch of the biodiversity on our planet was emotionally impactful in a way that I never could have expected." In that moment, she says, she woke up to how hard it is to feel interconnectedness for students in society, even if we know it to be true. In this talk, Rosenblum explores why we keep this feeling of connection at arm's length and how we can begin to build it back into our lives. This talk was given on Oct. 8 and was sponsored by UC Berkeley's