Katharine Hayhoe is an associate professor in the department of political science and director of the Climate Science Center at Texas Tech University, part of the US Department of Interior’s South-Central Climate Science Center. Together with her husband Andrew Farley, a professor of applied linguistics, she wrote A Climate for Change: Global Warming Facts for Faith-Based Decisions.

We asked her what was her favourite …

Film?

I love the Bridget Jones series, books and movies both. They take such an honest, unvarnished, and redeeming look at what it’s like to be a woman, a professional, and a mom in today’s world.

Activity?

Anything outdoors that involves water in liquid or solid form: sailing, skiing, wake surfing, paddle boarding, canoeing, snowshoeing, you name it. Many people don’t realise that living in Texas, right beside New Mexico, means there’s only about two weeks of down time between when I can switch out my ski pants for my bathing suit, and vice versa. And if I use a wetsuit, they overlap!

Role model?

Jane Goodall. Growing up, we didn’t have a TV. (Both of my parents are educators, and they read a book back in the 1970s that said TV stunted children’s brain development.) So every Friday night, my mom would go to the library and rent a giant old projector and films — real films, in huge round tin cans — and we’d watch Errol Flynn, Charlie Chaplin, and Jane and her chimpanzees. Her passion for science — and her example of being a young woman doing it — left an impression on me that still inspires me today.

Essential item?

My laptop. It’s my third arm and my security blanket. When it’s not there, I find myself looking around a bit wildly, trying to figure out what’s missing.

This interview originally appeared at Carbon Brief.