Climate Resilience Teach-In at the University of Minnesota

Climate Resilience Teach-In April 7 2026

Highlighted events

Karen Diver

Keynote speaker: Karen Diver 

Karen is currently serving as the inaugural Senior Advisor to the President for Native American Affairs at the University of Minnesota.

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Learn more about Karen Diver

Her previous roles in higher education included serving as a Faculty Fellow for Inclusive Excellence at the College of St. Scholastica and in program development with the Native Nations Institute at the University of Arizona. Karen was also an appointee of President Obama as the Special Assistant to the President for Native American Affairs. As part of the Domestic Policy Council from November 2015 until the end of the Administration. Karen served as Chairwoman of the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa from 2007-2015, managing the second largest workforce in northern Minnesota and a high capacity Tribal government. 

Her current service includes the Great Lakes Fishery Commission as a US Commissioner and US Section Chair and Board of Governors for the Honoring Nations Program with the Harvard Kennedy School Project for Indigenous Governance and Development.

She has a Bachelors in Economics from the University of Minnesota Duluth, and a Masters in Public Administration from the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.

All events (April 7, 2026)*

Rooted Together: A Ten-Minute Welcome & Arrival Meditation

  • Time: 9 a.m.
  • Location: RecWell Beacon Room
  • Host: Earl E. Bakken Center for Spirituality & Healing
  • Experience level: Beginner
  • No registration required
  • Rooted Together opens the Climate Resiliency Teach-In with a brief guided mindfulness and breathing practice designed to support focus, steadiness and collective presence. Participants will be invited to settle, reset and arrive through simple and accessible techniques that promote nervous system regulation and clarity. This grounding experience establishes a calm and connected foundation for thoughtful dialogue, collaboration and action throughout the day.

Sound Bath

  • Time: 12 to 1 p.m.
  • Location: Mayo Meditation Space
  • Host: Earl E. Bakken Center for Spirituality & Healing
  • Experience level: Beginner
  • No registration required

  • Stress negatively affects health in nearly 76% of adults, contributing to headaches, fatigue, anxiety and depression. Evidence shows that music-based interventions significantly improve both mental and physical stress outcomes. Sound baths support renewed calm, clarity and focus.
    A sound bath is a full-body listening experience that calms the nervous system and invites deep relaxation. Focused on supporting mental health and wellbeing, sound baths are often combined with whole health practices such as journaling, mindful movement and meditation.

Creative Conversation with the Tree Canopy: A Listening, Breathing, & Writing Walk

  • Time: 2 to 3:15 p.m.
  • Location: Weather permitting, participants will meet on the front steps of Walter Library off of the Northrop Mall. In case of inclement weather, the workshop will take place in the Upson Room at Walter Library. 
  • Host: Earl E. Bakken Center for Spirituality & Healing
  • Experience level: Beginner
  • Registration coming soon

  • Together we will walk to selected nearby trees on campus to slow down, listen with our bodies, write from our direct experience and reflect. Along the way we’ll explore the tree canopy, not just as infrastructure, but as an interconnected living system that senses, responds and sustains ecological life.
    This interactive session includes listening practices, simple breathing techniques, easeful creative practices, guided reflective writing and a short discussion about the importance of the tree canopy and climate resilience at the University of Minnesota.

Stay tuned — additional events will be posted soon.

*All events are free and open to all students, staff, faculty and the general public unless otherwise noted.

Campus partners

Thank you to our campus partners for their collaboration in making this year’s cross-campus event possible:

Bakken Center for Spirituality and Healing logo


 

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