In an early morning conversation from Bangkok, Layne Hartsell spoke with environmental philosopher Glenn Albrecht about the profound psychological bonds between humans and their environments, particularly as these relationships face unprecedented strain from ecological destruction.
Albrecht has dedicated his life to bridging ecology and psychology, offering both a vocabulary for contemporary distress and a vision for healing and flourishing in uncertain times.
Albrecht’s journey into this field grew from direct engagement with rural communities facing environmental devastation. In the Upper Hunter Valley of New South Wales, he witnessed firsthand how open-cast coal mining transformed hundreds of square kilometers of landscape, fundamentally altering the relationship between people and place. The Bayswater and Liddell power stations became symbols of an extractive economy that prioritized short-term gain over long-term ecological and community health. These experiences with rural resistance movements shaped his understanding that environmental damage creates distinct forms of psychological suffering.
From these observations, Albrecht developed the concept of solastalgia, a term describing the distress people experience when their home environment changes negatively around them. Unlike nostalgia, which involves longing for a distant place or time, solastalgia captures the grief of watching familiar landscapes transform while you remain physically present. This phenomenon now occurs globally as communities confront mining operations, deforestation, climate change impacts, and rapid development that erases cherished natural features.
The broader framework Albrecht calls psychoterratica examines earth-related mental health conditions across their full spectrum. This research domain recognizes that human psychological well-being remains inextricably linked to ecosystem health. As planetary-scale disruptions accelerate, driven primarily by urbanism, the mental health implications multiply. Communities worldwide face similar assaults on their sense of place and belonging.
Central to Albrecht’s philosophy is the concept of biophilia, the innate human affinity for living systems and natural environments. Rather than focusing solely on destruction and loss, his work emphasizes pathways toward regeneration—a Symbiocene. He advocates for approaches that integrate conservation with development, moving beyond traditional preservationism toward models that allow human communities to thrive alongside healthy ecosystems.
The discussion also touched on governance questions crucial to ecological integrity. Hartsell and Albrecht explored how the balance between state and federal control shapes societies’ ability to protect natural systems, while tribal sovereignty emerges as particularly significant for land conservation. Indigenous communities often maintain relationships with land that embody the biophilic principles Albrecht champions, offering models for more sustainable futures.
His thesis represents what he calls a victory of love, suggesting that deep connection to place and living systems can motivate the transformations necessary for genuine sustainability. By naming earth emotions and validating psychological responses to environmental change, he provides tools for both understanding our current predicament and imagining paths toward collective flourishing in harmony with the natural world.
About the Interviewee
Glenn Albrecht is an environmental philosopher with both theoretical and applied interests in the relationship between ecosystem and human health. He was Professor of Sustainability at Murdoch University in Western Australia. He pioneered the research domain of psychoterratic or earth-related mental health conditions with the concept of solastalgia—the lived experience of negative environmental change. His publications also include work on animal ethics, including the ethics of relocating endangered species in response to climate change pressures. (Website: https://glennaalbrecht.wordpress.com)
About the Interviewer
Layne Hartsell (USA) 雷恩∙哈트塞尔 / 마이클 레인 핫셀
Layne Hartsell currently serves on the board of Korea IT Times and as a Research Fellow at the Center for Science, Technology, and Society, Department of Philosophy, Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok, as well as at the Asia Institute in Tokyo.
He previously held positions as Assistant Professor of Convergence Studies at Sookmyung Women’s University and the Research Institute for Asian Women – Asia-Pacific Women’s Information Network Center in Seoul. He has also served as Research Professor at Sungkyunkwan University and the Advanced Institute of Nanotechnology in Seoul and Suwon; Lecturer at Mahidol University, Siriraj Medical Center, Department of Molecular Biology and Bioinformatics in Bangkok; and Researcher at the University of Virginia College of Medicine in Charlottesville.
