Meet Researcher John Aruta: Climate Change and Mental Health Perspectives from the Global South

The event will begin with a 1-hour lecture by Dr. John Jamir Benzon R. Aruta, focusing on the intersections of climate change and mental health in the Global South. After the lecture, there will be an networking social space with fika where researchers and others interested are invited to meet Dr. Aruta, exchange ideas, and discuss possibilities for future collaboration.

Title

Climate change and mental health nexus in the Global South: Experiences and perspectives from the Philippines

Abstract

This 1-hour lecture focuses on the mental health impacts of climate change in the Philippines, one of the most climate-vulnerable countries in the world. Using Global South and climate justice perspectives, the lecture looks into how climate injustice is linked with the disproportionate impacts of the climate crisis on people in the Philippines, and its mental health implications. The session also showcases the efforts to build a community of practice for climate change and mental health intersection in the country.

Guest Speaker Bio

Dr. John Jamir Benzon R. Aruta is an Associate Professor at De La Salle University, Manila, Philippines.

His research program includes:

1. the application of psychology principles in promoting environmental sustainability

2. the interface between climate change and mental health in the Global South context

3. planetary health

4. the mental health of neglected and marginalized populations.

Dr. Aruta is the inaugural director of the Sustainability Psychology and Planetary Health Research Laboratory (SPPHERE Lab) — a group of environmentally concerned students and professionals that work on research, advocacy, community building, and policy collaboration. He is Associate Editor of Global Environmental Psychology and a member of the Editorial Board of BMC Psychology and Nature Communications Psychology. In 2023, Dr. Aruta was awarded Outstanding Young Scientist by the National Academy of Science and Technology in the Philippines and was ranked among the top 2% of scientists worldwide (Stanford University analysis).