Related coverage on climate anxiety

Weston Higginbotham’s Funeral Set for June 17 as Family and Friends Honor Environmentalist

The family of environmentalist and eco-engineer in training, James "Weston" Higginbotham will gather with friends, classmates, and supporters on June 17 in Birmingham, Alabama, to celebrate the life of the Auburn University student whose death in a Kyoto forest in Japan touched people around the world.

Before Funeral, Auburn University Creates Environmental Scholarship in Memory of Weston Higginbotham

The James "Weston" Higginbotham Endowed Scholarship will support Auburn students pursuing ecological engineering, ensuring that the work Weston cared about so deeply continues long after his passing.

Weston Higginbotham’s Family Declines to Release Cause of Death in Kyoto Forest

The family of Weston Higginbotham,an Auburn University student whose disappearance and death in the mountains near Kyoto, Japan, drew international attention, has declined to publicly release the cause of his death.

Weston Higginbotham found dead in a Kyoto forest: is climate anxiety part of the story?

In some ways, Weston has become a symbol of a generation wrestling with environmental and technological anxiety. Friends and family described him as deeply concerned about environmental issues. Reports also noted that he questioned the growing role of artificial intelligence in daily life, even reportedly disagreeing with his mother about her use of AI.