What It’s Like to Be an Evangelical Climate Scientist

JESSICA MOERMAN SPENT years in Malaysian caves and Kenyan lake beds unearthing clues about ancient climate. But when she speaks about the climate change we’re experiencing today she takes a different approach: She begins with scripture.

Jessica Moerman translates climate science for fellow evangelicals, urging them to see environmental stewardship as a biblical mandate instead of “a radical new idea that we’re introducing to the Christian faith.”

Moerman, 38, is both a trained climate scientist and an evangelical Christian who espouses a faith of action, not just talk. “I am a climate scientist because of my faith,” she told me.

Moerman grew up in East Tennessee, nestled in the foothills of the Great Smoky Mountains, where the “beauty of God’s creation” and a strong church community shaped her upbringing. The stewardship of God’s creation is not only central to Moerman’s ministry, but also the foundation of her scientific career, chosen only after long and prayerful consideration.

Moerman eventually earned a doctorate in earth and atmospheric science from Georgia Institute of Technology and conducted fieldwork in Asia and Africa to better understand the intricate relationship between vegetation, rainfall, and climate.

“It’s very definitive that climate change today is unlike anything you’ve ever experienced in the past. It’s not part of the natural cycle,” she said. “It’s caused by us.”

Now, Moerman finds herself in a different role as president of the Evangelical Environmental Network (EEN), an organization that advocates for environmental protection and climate action among Christians who take a Bible-centered view of their faith. She translates climate science for fellow evangelicals, urging them to see environmental stewardship as a biblical mandate instead of “a radical new idea that we’re introducing to the Christian faith.”

“As evangelicals, we take the Bible seriously. That means we also have to take the Bible seriously on what it says we should do as Christians to care for God’s creation,” said Moerman, who also serves as a board member of the National Association of Evangelicals.

But in an era where climate change is politicized and divisive among some American evangelicals, shifting hearts and minds may be Moerman’s toughest challenge. In the U.S., evangelical Protestants are the least likely religious group to view climate change as an “extremely” or “very serious” problem, according to a 2022 Pew Research Center poll. American evangelicals are also less inclined to believe that the planet’s warming will have major consequences in the future.

Attitudes about climate

OUTSIDE THE UNITED STATES, evangelicals in Europe and Latin America are not strongly linked with climate skepticism, according to Robin Veldman of Texas A&M University, who studies how religious beliefs affect responses to environmental issues. She added that evangelical attitudes in Australia tend to mirror those in the U.S., and some studies show that the spread of evangelical and Pentecostal Christianity in Africa can correlate with reduced ecological conservation and fewer practices that support climate resilience.

The World Evangelical Alliance, a global network of evangelical Christian churches and organizations, acknowledges that some evangelicals do not share its own view that climate change is real, a threat to humanity, and a moral issue. However, the WEA emphasizes that caring for creation is a clear biblical mandate regardless of one’s stance on climate change.

But many U.S. evangelicals believe there are more pressing concerns today than a warming planet — and that God is ultimately in control of the climate, not humans. Opinion leaders within the evangelical community fuel climate skepticism by downplaying the urgency of climate change. But, as Veldman explained, politics is another influence.

Evangelical identity has become closely connected to being a Republican, said Veldman. In 2024, Donald Trump — who has called climate change a “scam” — secured the support of roughly 8 in 10 white evangelical Christian voters, reflecting the overwhelming backing he received from the group in 2020.

Many evangelicals resist embracing an issue that is now strongly associated with the Democratic Party. “Within the evangelical community, there’s social pressure that suggests you’re a liberal by saying that climate change is an issue that you’re really concerned about,” Veldman said. Framing climate change as a pro-life issue — as the Evangelical Environmental Network does — could be an effective approach to engage more evangelicals, she added.

Making connections to health

FOUNDED IN 1993, EEN focuses on policy advocacy at the state and national levels, pushing for measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, protect natural resources, promote climate justice, and expand access to renewable energy. At the same time, the organization works with churches to deepen their understanding of how environmental stewardship aligns with biblical teaching.

“This is about health, so we make those connections on how climate change and a degraded environment impact human health, especially the most vulnerable — from our children to the elderly to other vulnerable members of our communities,” Moerman said.

One of EEN’s most successful campaigns supported the 2011 establishment of the Environmental Protection Agency’s mercury and air toxics standards, aimed at reducing dangerous pollutants like mercury and arsenic from coal-fired power plants. The organization has also mobilized pro-life Christians to oppose pollution from natural gas production, particularly methane emissions. Framing both issues as pro-life and public health concerns, EEN has raised awareness about the impact of mercury and methane on the growing brains of gestating infants and young children.

“Helping make that connection has helped bring common ground on this polarized environment we find ourselves in,” Moerman said.

Another approach, according to Moerman, is simply to listen. In an age of widespread misinformation it’s important to take time to get on the same page. Many climate solutions are perceived as partisan or as closely tied to liberal agendas, said Moerman, which can fuel skepticism and resistance among more politically conservative people.

Listening helps diagnose “where that disconnect is. But the path forward is always through the heart because one of our greatest challenges in this conversation about climate is that often it’s been framed as a future problem or a problem that is not impacting one’s life and community,” Moerman said. She points to the devastation caused in 2024 by Hurricane Helene in Florida, Georgia, and North Carolina, as well as the wildfires in Los Angeles County as examples of how climate change hits close to home right now.

For Moerman, faith-based communities play a crucial role in diffusing political polarization. In 2016, she and her husband Chris Moerman founded Grace Capital City, a church in Washington, D.C. Chris serves as the lead pastor for its 300 members.

“In our houses of worship, we draw folks from different demographics and ideological backgrounds, but [we] come together in a commonality in shared faith,” Jessica Moerman said. Faith-based advocacy, centered around the human desire for clean air, water, and a safe climate, “should bring us together,” she said.

The Evangelical Environmental Network works with churches to deepen their understanding of how environmental stewardship aligns with biblical teaching.

Shifting political sands

UNDER THE SECOND Trump administration, however, as the political landscape shifts and climate and environmental policies are reversed, Moerman is navigating a new set of hurdles.

In March, the Environmental Protection Agency repealed 31 environmental rules, including limits on smokestack pollution, restrictions on mercury emissions, and the legal foundation that allows government to regulate greenhouse gases. The Trump administration also froze funding aimed at helping churches create cleaner and healthier communities through initiatives such as tree planting, trash cleanups, and renewable energy projects.

“It is difficult to watch cost-effective solutions that we know save lives and prevent debilitating diseases get rolled back,” Moerman said. She noted that EEN, as a nonpartisan ministry, strives to collaborate with every administration on shared priorities such as protecting children’s health and God’s creation.

“We will never shy away from speaking out for long overdue climate and pollution safeguards that are necessary for defending life. We will stay true to these values in this and every administration,” she said.

Despite setbacks, Moerman remains steadfast. She draws strength from “the knowledge that God’s story is ultimately one of restoration and redemption.”

Rather than focusing on the doom and gloom, Moerman centers her message on hope. Humans are not just victims of the climate crisis, she said, but also part of the solution.

“Because it’s driven by us, it means we have the power to do something about it,” Moerman said. “As a paleoclimatologist and a person of faith, I see this as good news that we’re no longer at the mercy of nature when it comes to this. We can prevent the worst sufferings that generations of humans weren’t able to do.”

This solution-focused mindset led Moerman to transition from climate research to climate policy. “I loved my time in research academia,” she said, “but I had a time in my scientific career when I realized I was studying more about the problem of climate” rather than potential solutions.

Doing good by doing science

DURING MOERMAN’S POST-DOCTORAL research, she collected stalagmite samples from rock caves in Borneo’s Gunung Mulu and Gunung Buda National Parks. She was in search of possible climate drivers for rainfall variability in the area. When stalagmites form, they absorb oxygen from rain or seawater. Changes in rainfall and temperature affect the amount of oxygen in stalagmites, which scientists can then use to understand past climate conditions.

Moerman continued studying how Earth’s climate evolved through research positions at John Hopkins University, University of Michigan, and the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History.

Her research made Moerman a pioneer in understanding the relationship between large-scale climate extremes and local rainfall patterns, particularly through cave systems, according to Kim Cobb, who supervised Moerman’s research at Georgia Tech. From the start, Cobb said, Moerman always wanted to make sure her work would make a positive difference in the world.

“She is very focused on connecting value back to society with her work. She believes in science as a tool for good,” said Cobb, who praised Moerman for her exceptional communication skills and ability to engage people with diverse viewpoints.

“Her broad view of how people can work together and focus less on divisions and more on what brings us together is something that helped me feel comfortable having very different views than her, even knowing how strong her views are,” said Cobb, now director of the Institute at Brown (University) for Environment and Society.

Before Moerman joined the Evangelical Environmental Network as vice president in 2020, she learned about science policy by working at the Department of Energy during the first Trump administration as a fellow with the American Association for the Advancement of Science. She became EEN’s president in 2023.

Faith as a renewable resource

MOERMAN’S COMMITMENT TO faith and the environment inspires a next generation of evangelical Christian climate activists.

“A lot of secular groups have this weight on them where they feel like saving the world rests solely on their shoulders and that creates a lot of pressure that isn’t helpful,” said Lauren Kim, national organizer of the Young Evangelicals for Climate Action, a ministry of EEN.

“What Jessica provides, in contrast, is hope for the future, honoring every effort no matter how small, without shame and encouraging Christians from a place of deep love,” Kim added.

Robin Veldman observes that the broader climate movement’s reluctance to fully embrace religious groups is a major challenge for faith-based climate advocacy in the U.S. Religion-based climate groups often get caught between two struggles. “They’re trying to convince people in their own communities. And also they’re not supported or actively embraced among their allies in the climate community,” Veldman said.

Moerman sees faith-based organizations as an “underutilized resource.”

“With their common call of bringing people together,” said Moerman, religious groups “are critical for reducing polarization around climate, as well as advancing bipartisan, durable solutions that keep up the momentum we need to avert the worst climate change that [would] impact the most vulnerable in society.”