Meredith Powers

Bio & Education

Dr. Meredith C.F. Powers (she/her/hers) is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Social Work at UNC Greensboro. She has served as a Sustainability Faculty Fellow, is the Social Work faculty liaison for the International Programs Center and serves on the School of Health and Human Science’s committee for internationalizing the curriculum. She has co-authored and co-edited a growing body of work on climate justice, the eco-social worldview, and eco-therapeutic practices for healing. She has presented her research nationally and internationally, at professional conferences, including being invited as a keynote speaker at the United Nations for World Social Work Day (2018). She is the Founder and Director of the International Federation of Social Workers “Climate Justice Program.” She also established and co-administers the global “Green / Environmental Social Work Collaborative Network.” Nationally, Dr. Powers serves as a member of the “Environmental Justice Committee” for the Council on Social Work Education (CSWE), and the Grand Challenges for Social Work committee, “Create Social Responses to a Changing Environment.” Locally, Dr. Powers is a founding board member of the “IDEAL League”, which has the mission to provide equitable access to inclusive literacy materials and educational activities that affirm, advocate for, and empower youth. Additionally, Dr. Powers has initiated and led several community engaged research action projects, such as “Climates of Inequality: Stories of Environmental Justice” about climate migration and resettlement, “Parks for All People”, for the extensive enhancement of Smith Senior Center’s outdoor recreation spaces, and most recently, a memorial garden project in Greensboro, “The Service and Bravery Commemorative Garden” (SBC Garden) to honor military service members and veterans who are transgender, gender non-conforming, and non-binary.

Research

• Climate justice, Environmental Justice 
• Promoting the Embrace of an Eco-social worldview
• Eco-therapeutic practices for healing and radical self-care
• University-community partnerships for sustainability