Academic Presentations
"Fighting Doom Bias with Analog Games" GENeration Analog 2023 Presentation
On July 26th 2023, I had the chance to present my paper "Fighting Doom Bias with Analog Games" at the GENeration Analog 2023 academic conference. Watch my presentation to learn more about how board games like Climate Cooldown can help us in our mission to build climate knowledge, imagination and resilience against the "climate doomism" (doom bias) that is so rampant today.
"Cultivating Climate Literacy through Cooperative Gameplay" American Library Association's Games & Gaming Round Table Conference 2024
On March 29th 2024, I presented for the ALA's 2024 conference Games and Gaming Roundtable on how cooperative board games like Climate Cooldown have the capacity to improve social and emotional learning and climate literacy in a fun and meaningful way.
"Turning Games into Real-life Strategies for Change: Climate Literacy to Civic Action" Solarpunk Conference 2024
Engaging in play-based learning can foster climate literacy and community action. For instance, games like Climate Cooldown offer opportunities for collaborative action and socialization. Cooperative gameplay promotes agency and resilience, aiding in the development of constructive behaviors and climate literacy essential for devising effective action plans.
"Serious Board Games on Climate Change
as a Tool for Modeling Scenarios" Scenarios Forum 2025
In order for students or even the layperson to grasp the intricacies of climate scenarios, serious board games like Climate Cooldown that focus on climate change may have the capacity to model the dynamics of Earth and human systems through gameplay in an accessible and even fun manner. Serious board games like Climate Cooldown, offer a way to model scenarios with varied factors and constraints such as our impact on the planet in a regular manner, resource management, the need for diplomacy, limited time to divest from fossil fuels, and the tragedy of the commons.
"Holding the Room:
Navigating Doom Bias and False Hope" Serious Play Conference 2026
This presentation “Holding the Room: Navigating Doom Bias and False Hope with Climate-Focused Serious Games” was recorded at the Serious Play Conference 2026 at Duke University on August 7th. In this presentation Thomas Yount (founder of Clean Earth Future) shared experiences teaching with his studio's game called Climate Cooldown and its companion curricula. He presents a toolkit of knowledge on game-based learning and eco-emotions in the classroom.