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PSE Workshop: Joe Braun & Felipe Westhelle

4/28/2016

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Joe Braun and Felipe Westhelle, Ph.D. students at the University of Maryland Department of Government and Politics, presented their research project titled “Caring is Sharing? The Role of Social Pressures in Climate Advocacy” on April 20th.​ This research received an award through the 2015-2016 PSE Graduate Travel and Research grant program. While individual awareness of the gravity of environmental crises is growing, comparatively few have systematically altered their behavior in support of those concerns. Their research explores the role social pressures may have in bridging the gap between climate change attitudes and behavior.
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To simulate social pressure, they conducted a survey experiment and exposed some participants to an image of “watching eyes,” while asking them to sign a pro-environment petition or donate to an environmental cause. They found certain groups of individuals are greatly influenced by the effects of the eyes. Mainly, participants exposed to the image of watching eyes were more likely to sign a pro-environmental petition. This effect was particularly pronounced among political liberals and those with very “environmentalist” social networks. This contributes to our understanding of the role that social dynamics play in individual decisions about the environment, and the degree to which pressures from within one’s social networks may be effective in motivating action.
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Their future projects include closer investigation of effective ways of creating social pressure, field experiments, and strategies for socializing climate change. For more information, contact the authors at jpbraun@umd.edu and fwesthel@umd.edu. 
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Dr. Dana Fisher joins policy school panel on climate policy post-paris

4/7/2016

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On April 4th, 2016, Dr. Dana Fisher, Professor of Sociology and Director of the Program for Society and the Environment at the University of Maryland, joined a panel hosted by the UMD School of Public Policy to discuss the implications of the recent climate agreement reached at the meeting of the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Paris. The panel, titled "Post-Paris Download: the UN Climate Negotiations and What's Next for Climate Action," also included climate experts from the School of Public Policy including Dr. Robert Orr (Dean, School of Public Policy),  Dr. Nate Hultman (Associate Professor, School of Public Policy and Director, Center for Global Sustainability), and Dr. Anand Patwardhan (Professor, School of Public Policy).  Dr. Fisher discussed the role of civil society in the achievement of the Paris Agreement and the potential for continued activism and civil society participation in climate politics. 
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The event was featured in the Diamondback. Photos from the event are posted on the Policy School website, and video of the event can be viewed below or on YouTube.
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PSE WOrkshop: Dr. Victoria Chanse

4/1/2016

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Author: Mary DeStefano

On March 2nd Dr. Victoria Chanse, Associate Professor in the Plant Science and Landscape Architecture Departments at the University of Maryland, presented her research about community-based approaches to addressing storm water runoff and sea level rise, at the Workshop for Society and the Environment.
 
Dr. Chanse’s research explores the role of the designer and planner in developing community-based approaches, as well as different methods to encourage public involvement in seeking solutions to storm-water management and sea level rise. She also looks for examples where cross-disciplinary collaborations are occurring and new approaches are being developed by combining the approaches of designers, community members, and social scientists. 

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