My name is Charlotte, and I live in Australia. I’ve been interested in climate since I was in high school, and have been following climate politics in this country closely for over a decade. I’ve studied ecology, inspired by a description of Dr. Terry Root’s work on the effects of climate on wildlife. I wrapped up a master’s in sustainability in 2022, and am currently taking a bit of a break from work after a rough year that ended in redundancy.

I’ve worked for five years in the building industry in the past, largely in warranty; most of that time was spent working with homes suffering from foundation movement. I did three years at a sustainability consultancy that works with councils to help them reduce their carbon emissions (this is the source of the aforementioned redundancy), as well as other reception and event work here and there.

I’ve always known I was gay, eventually settling on pansexual as the way to describe myself. As I’ve made a number of queer friends over the past few years, I’ve also realised I am genderfluid; my pronouns are “surprise me”. When one of those friends used the phrase “he/him lesbian” in my presence, I felt my brain chemistry change in real time.

I’m currently looking into getting into academic research in one of two fields.

One would be the polycrisis; this is a framework that examines how crises interact with each other, and can combine and exacerbate their effects in new and interesting ways. If I started work in this area, I’d be looking to apply a queer lens to whatever work I end up doing.

The other would be examining the ways that climate and environmental degradation affects queer people. There’s a lot out there about environmental racism or the impacts of climate on women, but I can’t see as much about how it impacts queer people. If you know of someone else working on this or have anything you reckon I should read, let me know!

Something I’ve got cooking in the back of my mind is a piece about the underlying logic of transmisogyny. I’ve been reading The Logic of Misogyny by Kate Manne (go follow her on Substack), and near the start of the book, she mentioned the book wouldn’t go into transmisogyny as she didn’t feel it was her place. That got me thinking about what I think the underlying logic of transmisogyny is, so after I finish her book and another one, I’m going to have a crack at that piece. I’ve already got a list of what I think are three of the key premises.

In my spare time, I am usually playing video games. I’m particularly fond of turn-based RPGs from Japan; I love the Trails series. I’ll also play other games, as you’ll realise when I tell you Monolith Soft’s Xeno series is my favourite. Other games and series I adore include Okami, Chained Echoes, The World Ends With You, Ikenfell, Fire Emblem (especially Tellius), Monster Hunter, Final Fantasy and more. I’ve played a lot of Final Fantasy XIV, though I wasn’t a huge fan of Dawntrail.

On books, I love nonfiction works that help me to understand society. My favourite feminist is Mona Eltahawy (also on Substack); her tweets got me to confront my whiteness and I’ve been following her work ever since. I’ve also read a lot of books by bell hooks. Ever since I discovered audiobooks, I’ve been tearing through books on feminism, history, climate, tech, decolonisation, empire – all kinds of things. For fiction, I love fantasy; I’ve been reading Ursula Le Guin, Emily Rodda and N. K. Jemisin recently and will be branching out as I go on.

I’ve started learning to draw, with an interest in landscapes, critters of all types, and weapons. I might post some of these as I finish them! I’m also prone to colouring books and cross stitching. Twice a week I’ll be doing HEMA; longsword one day, polearms another, and I also do archery.

I’m looking forward to writing more. Send me your game and book recommendations! Especially if the author or work is based in Australia.