Conference Co-Chair
Riley Erlandson is serving as a co-chair for the 7th annual GCRE after working on last year's conference as a communications committee member. She is a second year M.Div. student at Yale Divinity School with an undergraduate degree from Concordia College in biology and neuroscience. Riley is particularly interested in the intersection of literature, religion, ecology, and ministry or teaching. As a Minnesotan, her favorite way to spend time is with a book, a pen, and a snack near trees and a lake.
Conference Co-Chair
Christopher Freimuth is a first-year Master of Divinity student at Yale Divinity School, where he is focused on the intersection between environmental justice, embodied healing, and spiritual care. Prior to arriving in New Haven, he owned and operated a garden design firm in New York City. His interests outside of horticulture and academia include playing with his dog Casey, hiking and camping, dancing late into the evening, and having earnest and irreverent conversations about things that matter.
Logistics and Events Coordinator
Kelli Hata is a first-year Master of Arts in Religion candidate at Yale Divinity School, concentrating in Religion and Ecology. She has several fields of interest including environmental philosophy and theology, ecojustice and the global south, and food and animal ethics. Prior to attending Yale, Kelli worked in the field of veterinary medicine as a technician and in wildlife rehabilitation, while earning a Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy from Fresno Pacific University. During her undergraduate studies, Kelli was the formal respondent to environmental philosopher Holmes Rolston III, at the Yosemite Author Symposium on Virtues, Vice, and Ecoflourishing: Multidisciplinary Christian Perspectives. At Yale, Kelli aims to theologically enrich her current work in environmental and social justice for non-governmental organizations in Uganda. She is also deeply committed to advocating for the welfare of animals and to a life of responsible harmony with the biosphere.
Logistics and Events Coordinator
Noah Humphrey(he/him/his) is a 3rd year MDiv candidate at Yale Divinity School with a passion for healing and community outreach. As a current settler of the sovereign nation of Hawai'i on the island of O'ahu, he seeks to be the change he wants to see in the world. From publishing a poetry book to running with the Yale Football team as their voluntary AIA Assistant Chaplain, Noah Humphrey is a trailblazer and seeks to answer the call for civil justice and peace. Once he graduates he seeks to impart on an outreach ministry journey with NFL and other organizations before enrolling in chiropractic school to become a chiropractor that utilizes prayer.
Communications and Publication Coordinator
Lily is a first-year MDiv candidate at Yale Divinity School. She developed an interest in literature, religion, and ecology while writing her Masters dissertation at Oxford on German Romantic literature, a movement fascinated by the intersection between the three. Her dissertation focused on the Romantic reformulation of Enlightenment conceptions of self and other in the prose of H├lderlin and Novalis, especially the self's relation to nature. She studied Comparative Literature and German Studies at Brown, and prior to coming to YDS worked as a freelance writer, editor, and novelist. She is from New York City and loves to garden.
Communications and Publication Coordinator
Taeha An is a first-year Master of Arts in Religion candidate majoring in Ethics at Yale Divinity School. His academic interests include Christian ethics, theological and philosophical anthropology, ecumenical dialogues on environmental ethics, and post-humanist discourse on ecology and animal ethics. He started exploring the intersection between Christian theological anthropology and eco-justice during his undergraduate studies at Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (KU Leuven), especially when he was studying Pope Francis' encyclical Laudato Si. Studying at a university with a strong Catholic tradition before coming to Yale as a member of the Presbyterian Church in the Republic of Korea (PCROK) contributed to his growing interests in ecumenism, especially in the field of environmental ethics and the Biblical hermeneutics of the creation narrative. Taeha holds a Bachelor of Arts in Theology and Religious Studies from the university mentioned above.
Arts Coordinator
Anna Lenaker is a first-year Master of Environmental Management candidate at the Yale School of the Environment, focusing on climate change science and environmental policy. Prior to attending Yale, Anna received her Master of Public Affairs and Bachelor of Arts in Religious Studies from Brown University. Anna is interested in learning from and empowering diverse peoples and their perspectives as they contribute to conversations around the climate crisis and its solutions. Specifically, arts, literature, and religious traditions and their practitioners are essential for understanding, enduring, and addressing the climate crisis. The ways of knowing they offer––whether spiritual, ethical, emotional, or imaginative––provide keen insight into human-environmental relationships, hope for the future, and pathways forward. Anna has had many places she's called home. Currently, her home is in New Haven, Connecticut.
