This focus group will be led by Julia Goldsamt and Clio Jensen, two senior Environmental Studies majors at Bryn Mawr College. We plan to host 4-6 virtual sessions during March and April focused on empowering queer communities through environmental education and activism. Over the past four years, we have both grown to understand the empowerment that comes from environmental connections, as well as the harm that comes from modern separation from the environment. We are looking to focus on empowering LGBTQ+ youth and/or adults by giving them the resources they need to create a meaningful connection to land and their natural environment. While at first glance, climate change and environmentalism may not appear to be queer issues, they are especially relevant to queer communities because the denial of land ownership and the marginalization of vulnerable groups are in many ways linked, and that reconnecting with the environment can create an empowering sense of place and community. We are inspired by queer/trans* and BIPOC environmental advocates, and are excited to continue this social justice education and activism being done by the Center through the lens of environmentalism. The intention of this focus group is to explore possible topics for the virtual sessions, including but not limited to queer environmentalism, ecofeminism, environmental justice, prison abolition, indigenous environmentalism & decolonization, and connections between the Center and environmental justice organizations in the greater New York area.