The Rev Leonisa Ardizzone PhD (Co-Chair)
Unitarian Universalist Community Minister, Ulster County, NY
Visiting Assistant Professor, Vassar College
Founder, Peace Education Center of the Hudson Valley

The Rev. Dr. Leonisa Ardizzone has been a science and peace educator for 30 years. She has degrees in Biology (BA, Ithaca College), Science Education (Ed.M., Western Washington University), and International Educational Development with a specialization in Peace Education (MA, Ed.D, Columbia University). She received her MDiv in 2017 (Union Theological Seminary) and was ordained into the Unitarian Universalist ministry in 2019. Rev. Dr. Ardizzone has been a middle and high school teacher, a university professor, a non-profit executive, a museum educator, an entrepreneur/small business owner, an author, an eco-minister, and an education consultant. She is also a jazz musician and singer-songwriter. After working in congregational ministry for four years, Rev. Dr. Ardizzone is currently a Visiting Professor at Vassar College, a member of the Kingston Interfaith Council (NY), and a core organizer with the Rivers and Mountains GreenFaith Circle. She is also the founder of the Peace Education Center of the Hudson Valley  and a mom.

Thoughts on Human Origins

I have always been fascinated by how life came to be and starting from a very young age, loved to explore and examine evidence of evolution and natural selection. As a Unitarian Universalist, biologist, and Peace Educator, I think it is imperative that we all—regardless of where we come from, what our religious orientations are, and what we think happens to us upon death—engage with the scientific evidence for how various species have come to exist, including the fascinating details of our Human Origins. I believe that if we can see our common root, our common path to where we are now, we can see each other as deeply connected—interconnected, actually—and part of one Earthly family. If more of us can engage with the idea of evolution and the evidence that we all are descendants of the same common ancestor(s), then regardless of who we deem the creator of that common ancestor we can see ourselves as related, as connected, as members of our human family, which may actually help us learn how to be in true relationship with one another.

Reflections on the Age of Humans (the Anthropocene)

Our greatest challenge right now is human recognition that we have lived in such a way, that our very short existence has done devastating and disproportionate harm to life on Earth. Human existence is a blip on the timeline of life and yet through our creativity, drive, and thirst for progress, we have developed modes of living that unless changed will be our undoing. Our current focus on consumption and exploitation has not only entered us into a sixth extinction, which has seen massive loss of biodiversity and landscapes but is also threatening the future of human existence. To live in the Anthropocene and to survive the Anthropocene requires us to do a deep examination of how we live, and the impact our choices have on other living things—including our human siblings who have historically endured greater risks and suffering due to colonialism and the attendant practice of exploitative capitalism—and to make a fierce spiritual commitment to transforming our habits of being. We need to shift from division to cooperation, from extraction to reciprocity, and from disregard to reverence.