Mary Annaïse Heglar has more than nine years of experience in the nonprofit sector of the environmental movement, where she has edited in-depth policy reports and created anti-racist communications strategies. In 2020, Mary was the inaugural writer in residence at the Earth Institute at Columbia University. In 2021, she taught a course there on personal essays and the climate crisis. In spring 2023, she is teaching that same course at Tulane University in New Orleans. In 2021, she received a SEAL award for environmental journalism. Her essays have been published in New York Magazine,Rolling Stone, WIRED, The Nation, The New Republic, The Boston Globe, and Guernica, among other outlets. She has a significant and growing presence on social media with over 70k followers on Twitter and 14.2k on Instagram. Along with venerated journalist Amy Westervelt, Mary was one half of Hot Take, a media platform which includes a podcast and newsletter that takes a critical and intersectional look at the climate change in the media. Before the outlet was retired, they garnered a strong following with an audience of more than 30,000, and a podcast chart peak at #5 on Apple podcasts for News Commentary. She is the author of the children’s book The World is Ours to Cherish (Random House Children’s), the novel Troubled Waters (Harper Muse) and the editor of the anthology ‘Til Earth and Heaven Ring (forthcoming from Pantheon).

Praise for TROUBLED WATERS

"An absorbing story of a young woman's journey towards an act of redemptive protest."—Amitav Ghosh, international bestselling author

"Weaving together generational trauma, untold stories of the civil rights movement, and an exploration of the impacts of environmental trauma and climate change, Heglar packs a wallop in this lyrical, powerful story of Black women, family love, endurance, and the power of place."—Library Journal

"Heglar's spirited debut novel layers a story of climate change activism in 2014 Mississippi with a parallel narrative of the 1950s civil rights movement . . . Heglar writes intriguingly of the long trail of injustice faced by subsequent generations of Americans. Readers of message-driven fiction will appreciate this."—Publishers Weekly

Praise for THE WORLD IS OURS TO CHERISH

"An honest and hopeful call for climate caretaking."—Kirkus Reviews

"A gentle introduction to climate advocacy that emphasizes learning and care."—Publishers Weekly