Anne Primavesi is an Irish systematic theologian focusing on ecological issues. As an external student in the 1980s, she gained a BD in theology (with Hebrew and Greek Scripture options) from London University. In 1987 she completed a PhD in systematic theology at Heythrop College, London University, focusing on Luther, parable and the work of Jurgen Moltmann. In 1985 and 1987, she led Parable Workshops in Northern Ireland at the Corrymeela Summerfest. Resulting from this, and from engagement with local ecumenical groups, she co-authered a book with Jennifer Henderson called Our God Has No Favourites: a Liberation Theology of the Eucharist (1989).
Her publisher, Burns and Oates, then asked her to write a book about Christianity and Ecology. From Apocalypse to Genesis: Ecology, Feminism and Christianity, was published in 1991. This led to her being asked by the World Council of Churches to attend their 1992 conference at Rio de Janeiro, convened at the same time as the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development. There she gave a keynote address on Militarism (a subject the UNCED conference would only discuss as 'Defence'). This led to further work on ecumenical commissions and meetings organized by the WCC.
Since 1990 she had been a founder member of the European Society of Women in Theological Research (ESWTR), contributing to their conferences and publications. As an independent researcher, she published widely in scholarly journals and lectured in the British Isles, Europe, and North America. After the millenium, she wrote what became a trilogy exploring the theological implications of James Lovelock's Gaia theory: Sacred Gaia: Holistic Theology and Earth System Science (2000), Gaia's Gift: Earth, Ourselves and God after Copernicus (2003), and Gaia and Climate Change: A Theology of Gift Events (2008). During that time she became a Research Fellow at Bristol University, pioneering a course in Environmental Theology. She resigned from that post on a matter of principle. She then briefly held a Research Fellowship at Birkbeck College, London University.
In 2002 she became and remains a Fellow of the Jesus Seminar and Westar Institute, Willammette University, Salem, Oregon. This led to Making God Laugh: Human Arrogance and Ecological Humility (2004) and Cultivating Unity: within the Biodiversity of God (2011), that explore ecological issues from a biblical perspective. Her latest book, tracing some historic religious and philosophical reasons for our lack of response to the challenge of climate change, is Exploring Earthiness: The Reality and Perception of Being Human Today.
