Written by Sam T., Access Services
San Mateo County Libraries is excited to welcome North Bay author Spencer R. Scott, cofounder of educational eco-farm Solar Punk Farms in Sonoma County, to Belmont Library on Tuesday, November 17, at 6:00 PM.
Scott will discuss and answer questions about As If We Were Staying, his new book about his mission to build a more sustainable planet, co-hosted by science communicator Jessica Malaty Rivera.
About As If We Were Staying
In an age of ecological emergency and social breakdown, how do we find the hope and determination to live on this planet as if we were staying?
Inspired by the solarpunk movement’s insistence that our vision of the future must be galvanizing, biologist and environmentalist Spencer R. Scott chronicles his journey from biotech research to the co-founding of the queer regenerative community and education hub, Solar Punk Farms, opens a new window. Weaving memoir and scientific inquiry, Scott reframes capitalism as an environment we’ve unconsciously adapted to in order to survive and documents the internal and external process of re-adapting to the realities of our ecological world. Only through community and collective action, he finds, can we make survival—and joy—beyond capitalism possible.
Bridging science and personal experience with optimism and lyricism, As If We Were Staying is an invitation to meet our precarious reality together and begin building a future worth inhabiting.
Praise for As If We Were Staying
"As If We Were Staying is more than a memoir; it’s an antidote to despair—a vision for how to commit to hope on a planet where the outlook feels increasingly dire." — Ari Shapiro, journalist and New York Times bestselling author of The Best Strangers in the World
"An inspiring account of how one scientist-turned-solarpunk farmer transformed the pain of the polycrisis into community joy, meaningful connection and a life of purpose. Well worth the time of anyone who is asking how they can most authentically show up to help at this unprecedented time for life on earth." — Dr. Britt Wray, author of Generation Dread and director of CIRCLE at Stanford Psychiatry
"This is nothing less than a millennial manifesto of how to live in this time of eco-crises with eyes open and heart intact. Spencer Scott speaks to us as scientist, lover, climate activist and queer regenerative farmer as he concludes that the route to a full, proud, meaningful life is commitment to a place. Yes, Scott is staying, and his raw, spirited writing ensures that the reader stays with him, too." — Judith D. Schwartz, author of The Reindeer Chronicles and Other Inspiring Stories of Working With Nature to Heal the Earth
About Spencer R. Scott and Jessica Malaty Rivera
Spencer R. Scott, PhD, opens a new window, is a biologist, environmentalist and cofounder of Solar Punk Farms. He writes stories at the intersection of science, ecology and wellbeing, and his work has been featured on NPR, and in Sierra Club, Grist, Outside, The Bold Italic and other publications. He lives in California.
Jessica Malaty Rivera, opens a new window is the Executive Director of the Infodemiology Initiative at The Public Good Projects, opens a new window and a doctoral student researcher at the Johns Hopkins University Center for Health Security. She specializes in impactful, judgement-free and accessible information for wide audiences. Jessica is also a full-time mother to three little kids, and she promotes science literacy and debunks misinformation on Instagram (@jessicamalatyrivera) and on Substack (@makingsciencemakesense).
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