A Tribute to Leaf Kretz
Dr. Leaf Kretz left this world on March 26, 2025.
They live on through their academic legacy.
They live on through our memories of their sense of wonder, compassion, and unshakable environmental ethics.
Leaf was a member of the SSHEAN team from 2021-23. They introduced us to the work of the Existential Toolkit for Climate Educators collective. With Micah Flavin, Leaf developed two of SSHEAN’s eco-care resources: Eco-Anxiety and Teaching for Emotional Well-being: A Primer and the Living Breath: An Earth Meditation Activity. We recall how proud Leaf was of this classroom-ready work.
Leaf was a longtime environmental activist and ethicist with ten years of experience working as a professor, and publishing on the topic of climate change in conversation with philosophy of emotion (especially hope in the context of climate change), student empowerment, and activist pedagogy. Ethics, Emotion, Education, Empowerment is their book length publication that weaves together many of these elements (2020, Roman & Littlefield Press). While at Queen’s University Faculty of Education, Leaf was reading in Oppression Theory through the lenses of Indigenous Theory, Critical Race Theory, and Queer Theory. Leaf also wove into their academic work background training from their BA in Philosophy and Visual Art, BEd, MA in Philosophy, and PhD in Philosophy. Leaf adored all things tree, forest, mycelium, lake, and non-human-animal relatives. The SSHEAN team was lucky enough to meet Leaf’s beloved dog, Trout, whom we still think of fondly.
Leaf loved Mary Oliver’s poetry, especially the poem Wild Geese.
Read and marvel at Leaf’s inspiring obituary.
The SSHEAN Team remembers, with great warmth, the glee that Leaf expressed while we were together at a writing retreat at Elbow Lake Environmental Education Centre.
While meeting a snapping turtle on the road, spotting an owl on a night walk, paddling past a beaver, roasting a vegan marshmallow (and writing a few great pages), Leaf embodied wonder, excitement, and gratitude.
Likewise, we wish to express our gratitude for having learned from and alongside Leaf, as they worked so hard to inspire climate action and be an ethical human.
Refer to Leaf’s many publications on the topics of hope, ethics, and environmental action at Google Scholar.
This website features research supported by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.
