Biographical Sketches of Presenters,
Steering Committee Members, and Staff
PRESENTERS
ELAINE ANDREWS is the director of the Environmental Resources Center in the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, promoting informed decision making on natural resource issues in the state of Wisconsin. She is a past executive director of the North American Association for Environmental Education, a principal investigator for more than 30 national or multistate projects, and author of numerous publications. She received the Walter E. Jeske Award from the North American Association for Environmental Education in 2005 and the Distinguished Service Award from the Wisconsin Extension Environmental and Community Development Association. She has a B.A. in biology from the College of Wooster, an M.A.T. in science education from the University of Chicago, and an M.S. in natural resources policy and management from the University of Michigan.
NICOLE ARDOIN is an assistant professor at Stanford University with a joint appointment in the School of Education and the Woods Institute for the Environment. Much of her material focuses on environmental behavior with reference to sense of place and geographic scale. She was previously a board member of the North American Association for Environmental Education and has worked for the World Wildlife Fund. She has a B.A. in international business and French from James Madison University, an M.S. in natural resource management from the University
of Wisconsin, and an M.Phil. and a Ph.D. in forestry and environmental studies from Yale University.
KIT BATTEN is senior science and policy fellow at the Heinz Center and director of its Institute for Science Communication and Policy Development. She has served as the science advisor to the deputy secretary of the U.S. Department of the Interior and before that she was a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress, where she directed the energy and climate change policy team. She has also served in the offices of Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) and Senator Joseph Lieberman (I-CT), where she worked as a legislative assistant on climate change, energy, transportation, and agriculture policy and as an American Association for the Advancement of Science fellow, respectively. As a postdoctoral associate, she worked for the National Ecological Observatory Network at the American Institute of Biological Sciences. She has frequently participated in television, radio, and print media interviews. She has a B.A. in chemistry from Oberlin College and an M.S. and a Ph.D. in ecology from the University of California, Davis.
SUSAN CLAYTON is professor of social psychology at the College of Wooster and chairs its Campus Sustainability Committee. She studies how people make personal connections to the natural environment, how it becomes part of their social identity, and how people think about justice in the sociopolitical contexts of environmental issues. She is a fellow of the American Psychological Association, the Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues, and the Society for Population and Environmental Psychology. She is an editor for the Human Ecology Review and the Journal of the Society for Human Ecology and is on the editorial board of the Journal of Environmental Psychology, Analyses of Social Issues and Public Policy, and PsyEcology. Previously, she was president of the American Psychological Association’s Division 34, the Society for Population and Environmental Psychology. She has published three books and had her work featured in numerous journal publications. She has a B.A. from Carleton College and an M.S. and a Ph.D. from Yale University.
KEVIN COYLE is vice president for education at the National Wildlife Federation. Previously, he was president of the National Environmental Education and Training Foundation, leading an organization committed to personal stewardship, science education, improved health care, business management, watershed management, and natural resource management. He is trustee and immediate past chair of the Potomac Conservancy, trustee of the Alice Ferguson Foundation, and past chairman of the Natural Resources Council of America. He has a B.A. in sociology from
LaSalle University, a J.D. in environmental law from Temple University, and the Conservation Leadership Institute Certificate from the Wharton School of Business.
HEIDI CULLEN is interim chief executive officer, research scientist, and lead correspondent for Climate Central, a nonprofit organization that analyzes and reports on climate science. The organization has produced programs broadcasted on PBS NewsHour and The Weather Channel (TWC). Previously, Cullen was the climate expert and correspondent for TWC and a scientist for the National Center for Atmospheric Research. She received the Climate and Global Change Fellowship from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and spent 2 years at Columbia University’s International Research Institute for Climate and Society, applying long-range climate forecasts to the water resources sector in Brazil and Paraguay. She won the 2008 National Conservation Achievement Award for science from the National Wildlife Federation and in 2010 published a book titled The Weather of the Future. She is also a member of the American Geophysical Union and the American Meteorological Society and is an associate editor for Weather, Climate, Society. She has a B.S. in engineering and operations research from Columbia University and a Ph.D. in climatology and ocean-atmosphere dynamics from the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory at Columbia.
DAVID HASSENZAHL is dean and professor of the School of Sustainability and the Environment at Chatham University. Previously he was a faculty member and department chair at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV). His professional career involves work in sustainability and risk analysis and has included experience in both the public and private sectors. His research, teaching, and outreach explore the roles of science and expertise in public and private decision making, focusing on how people conceive, describe, and respond to uncertainty. He is a founding member of the Association for Environmental Studies and Sciences and serves on the Council of the Society for Risk Analysis. He has been awarded the Outstanding Educator Award of the Society for Risk Analysis, the UNLV Foundation Distinguished Teaching Award, and the UNLV Outstanding Department Chair Award. He is a senior fellow for the National Council for Science and the Environment. He has a B.A. in environmental science and paleontology from the University of California, Berkeley, and a Ph.D. in science, technology, and environmental policy from Princeton University’s Woodrow Wilson School.
GREG HITZHUSEN is a lecturer in the School of Environment and Natural Resources at the Ohio State University. He is also the founding
director and board chair of Ohio Interfaith Power and Light, a faith-based organization offering a religious response to climate change in Ohio. His work examines the intersection of faith and the environment and collaborations between scientific and faith communities; his teaching focuses on environmental communications and religion and ecology. He previously served as the national coordinator of the NatureLink Program at the National Wildlife Federation. He was an associate with the National Religious Partnership for the Environment and the land stewardship specialist for the National Council of Churches Ecojustice Programs. He has a B.S. in ecology from Cornell University, an M.Div. in ecotheology from the Yale Divinity School, and a Ph.D. in faith-based environmental education from Cornell University.
ANTHONY LEISEROWITZ is director of the Office of Strategic Initiatives and the Project on Climate Change at the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies. His work focuses on U.S. and international public opinion on global warming, including public perception of climate change risks, support and opposition for climate policies, and willingness to make individual behavioral change. In his research he investigates the psychological, cultural, political, and geographic factors that drive public environmental perception and behavior. He has conducted survey, experimental, and field research at scales ranging from the global to the local, including international studies, the United States, individual states (Alaska and Florida), municipalities (New York City), and with the Inupiaq Eskimo of Northwest Alaska. He also recently conducted the first empirical assessment of worldwide public values, attitudes, and behaviors regarding global sustainability, including environmental protection, economic growth, and human development. He is a member of the Roundtable on Climate Change Education. He has a B.A. in international relations from Michigan State University and an M.S. in environmental studies and a Ph.D. in environmental science, studies, and policy from the University of Oregon.
KATIE MANDES is vice president for communications at the Pew Center on Global Climate Change. In this role, she is responsible for creating and implementing the Pew Center’s global strategic communication plan. She oversees all aspects of the center’s external communications, including paid and earned media, speech writing, design and distribution of center publications, and the center’s website. She also identifies and analyzes trends in the media and public opinion. Prior to joining the Pew Center, Mandes worked with the public affairs firm Alcalde and Fay. She is a member of the National Press Club (Washington, DC) and the Public Rela-
tions Society of America. She has a B.S. in communications from Radford University.
AARON M. McCRIGHT is an associate professor at Michigan State University, holding a joint appointment in Lyman Briggs College and the Department of Sociology. His scholarship aims to enhance sociological understanding of how political, social, and scientific processes influence society’s capacity for recognizing and dealing with environmental degradation and technological risks. His research explains the political dynamics and public understanding of climate science and policy in the United States. He the author of the book Community and Ecology, and his research has been published in many social science journals. In 2007, McCright was named a Kavli frontiers of science fellow by the National Academy of Sciences for his work in climate change research. For his learner-centered courses and active learning techniques, he received the 2009 Teacher-Scholar Award at Michigan State University. He has a B.A. in sociology from the University of Northern Iowa and an M.A. and a Ph.D. in sociology from Washington State University.
FRANK NIEPOLD is climate education coordinator in the Climate Program Office of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), a member of the NOAA Education Council, cochair of the newly formed Education Interagency Working Group of the Climate Change Science Program (CCSP), a member of the Communications Interagency Working Group, and a founding member of the Climate Literacy Network. At NOAA, he develops and implements climate goal education and other efforts that specifically relate to NOAA’s environmental literacy cross-cutting priority. He is coauthor of the U.S. CCSP Climate Literacy: The Essential Principles of Climate Science guide. As the cochair of CCSP’s Education Interagency Working Group, he works to develop the interagency partnership, coordination, and strategic direction of the federal climate science education efforts to support the development of a knowledgeable and informed nation relative to climate. He has a B.A. in human ecology from the College of the Atlantic and an M.S.Ed. in earth space science education from Johns Hopkins University.
WILLIAM SOLECKI is professor in the Geography Department at Hunter College, part of the City University of New York (CUNY) system. His course material focuses on urban environmental change and urban spatial development, with recent specialization on climate change and major cities. Currently, he is the cochair of Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s New York City Panel on Climate Change, whose mission is to adapt critical infrastructure to the environmental effects of climate change. He is
the director of the CUNY Institute for Sustainable Cities, an organization committed to creating awareness and understanding of the connections between the everyday lives of urban citizens and their natural world. At the National Research Council, he served on the U.S. National Committee on Scientific Committee on Problems of the Environment. He was recently selected by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) as a lead author on their upcoming Fifth Assessment Report (AR5). He has a B.A. in geography from Columbia University and an M.A. and a Ph.D. in geography from Rutgers University.
WILLIAM SPITZER is vice president for programs, exhibits, and planning at the New England Aquarium in Boston and is a member of the Central Coordinating Office team for the National Centers for Ocean Sciences Education Excellence (COSEE) network. Previously he spent 7 years at TERC, Inc., directing research and development projects in science education. He is former chair of the National COSEE Council and principal investigator of COSEE New England. He has served as principal investigator on a number of informal science education projects, including a recent partnership with the Association for Zoos and Aquariums, the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, the Frameworks Institute, and the Institute for Learning Innovation. That project will provide training, tools, and support for aquarium and informal science education professionals to interpret climate change in the context of coastal animals and habitats. He has a B.A. in chemistry and physics from Harvard University and a Ph.D. in oceanography from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.
STEERING COMMITTEE MEMBERS AND STAFF
JOSEPH E. HEIMLICH (Chair) is professor of environmental education and interpretation at the Ohio State University (OSU) and a senior research associate at the Institute for Learning Innovation. He has been engaged in the arena of environmental free-choice learning for 16 years as a professor and before that as an extension associate with OSU Extension. His research focuses on free-choice learning and the environment, program evaluation in free-choice environmental education learning institutions, and life-span learning. He is a past president of the North American Association for Environmental Education (NAAEE) and is active nationally and internationally as an evaluator of environmental education and conservation education programs. He has received multiple awards for his extension work, as well as the NAAEE Outstanding Contributions to Research in Environmental Education award. He is a member of the Roundtable on Climate Change Education. He has a B.A. in communica-
tion arts, theatre, and dance from Capital University and an M.A. in policy education and a Ph.D. in adult education and learning theory from OSU.
CHARLES W. ANDERSON is professor in the Department of Teacher Education at Michigan State University. His current research focuses on the development of learning progressions leading to environmental science literacy for K-12 and college students. He has used conceptual change and sociocultural research on student learning to improve classroom science teaching and science teacher education, science curriculum, and science assessment. He is a past president of the National Association for Research in Science Teaching. He has been coeditor of the Journal of Research in Science Teaching and associate editor of Cognition and Instruction. At the National Research Council, he was a member of the Committee on Science Learning, K-8, served as a consultant to the Committee on Test Design for K-12 Science Achievement, and is currently a member of the Roundtable on Climate Change Education. He was a member of the National Assessment of Educational Progress’s Science Framework Planning Committee and its Science Standing Committee. He has a B.A. in chemistry, an M.A. in science education, and a Ph.D. in science education from the University of Texas at Austin.
DAVID BLOCKSTEIN is a senior scientist at the National Council for Science and the Environment and organizes its annual National Conference on Science, Policy and the Environment. He also serves as executive secretary for the Council of Environmental Deans and Directors. He has worked on policy issues that include increasing the representation of minorities in science, mechanisms to improve the linkage between science and decision making on environmental issues, and electronic processes to communicate scientific information on the environment. He serves on or has served on committees for various organizations, including the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American Institute of Biological Sciences, the American Chemical Society, the American Society of Zoologists, the Society for Conservation Biology, the American Ornithologists’ Union, the American Bird Conservancy, the World Conservation Union, the Commission on Education and Communication, the Aldo Leopold Foundation, and the Environmental Education Coalition. He is a member of the Roundtable on Climate Change Education. He has a B.S. in wildlife ecology from the University of Wisconsin and an M.S. and a Ph.D. in ecology from the University of Minnesota.
ANN BOSTROM is associate dean of research and associate professor in the Daniel J. Evans School of Public Affairs at the University of Washington. Her research focuses on risk perception, communication, and
management as well as environmental policy and decision making. She previously served on the faculty at the Georgia Institute of Technology and as director of the Decision Risk and Management Science Program at the National Science Foundation. She has authored or contributed to numerous publications, including Risk Communication: A Mental Models Approach and Risk Assessment, Modeling and Decision Support: Strategic Directions. She is a member of the Society for Judgment and Decision Making, the Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management, the Society for Risk Analysis, the American Statistical Association, and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. She has a B.A. in English literature from the University of Washington, an M.B.A. from Western Washington University, and a Ph.D. in public policy analysis from Carnegie Mellon University.
WÄNDI BRUINE DE BRUIN is assistant professor of social and decision sciences and of engineering and public policy at Carnegie Mellon University. Her research focuses on risk perception and communication targeting people’s health, financial, and environmental decisions. Her work has been published in peer-reviewed journals in psychology, public health, and environmental science. She has served on advisory panels and workshops organized by (among others) the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, the U.S. Federal Reserve, the Dutch central bank, and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. She has a B.S. in psychology and an M.S. in cognitive psychology from the Free University Amsterdam as well as an M.S. and a Ph.D. in behavioral decision theory from Carnegie Mellon University.
MICHAEL A. FEDER (Study Director) is a senior program officer with the Board on Science Education at the National Research Council. Until April 2011, he was the study director for the Committee on the Review of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Education Program and the Climate Change Education Roundtable. Previously, he supported the work of three study committees: the Committee on Learning Science in Informal Environments, the Committee on Understanding and Improving K-12 Engineering Education in the United States, and the Committee on the Review and Evaluation of NASA’s Pre-College Education Program. His interests include applications of cognitive and social development theories to student learning, teacher development, research methods in education, and educational research to policy and practice dissemination. He has an M.A. and a Ph.D. in applied developmental psychology from George Mason University.
SHERRIE FORREST is an associate program officer with the Ocean Studies Board and the Board on Science Education at the National Research Council. She currently provides support on several projects, including the Roundtable on Climate Change Education, the Conceptual Framework for New Science Education Standards, and the Effects of the Deepwater Horizon Mississippi Canyon-252 Oil Spill on Ecosystem Services in the Gulf of Mexico. Previously she worked as a freelance science writer. Before transitioning to her current path, she worked in development and production of feature films and documentaries in both California and New York. She has a B.A. in English literature from Pepperdine University and an M.S. in biological oceanography from the Institute of Marine and Coastal Sciences at Rutgers University.
EDWARD MAIBACH is professor of communication and director of the Center for Climate Change Communication at George Mason University. With over 25 years of experience as a researcher and practitioner of public health communication and social marketing, he now focuses exclusively on how to mobilize populations to adopt behaviors and support public policies that reduce greenhouse gas emissions and help communities adapt to the unavoidable consequences of climate change. Previously, he served as associate director of the National Cancer Institute, as worldwide director of social marketing at Porter Novelli, as chairman of the board for Kidsave International, and in academic positions at George Washington University and Emory University. He has an M.P.H. in health promotion from San Diego State University and a Ph.D. in communication research from Stanford University.
PAUL C. STERN (Senior Scholar) works primarily with the Committee on the Human Dimensions of Global Change, most recently serving as study director of the committee that produced Informing Decisions in a Changing Climate. He also holds an adjunct position as professor II at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology. His research interests include the determinants of environmentally significant individual behavior; participatory processes for informing environmental decision making; and the governance of environmental resources and risks. He has directed many National Research Council studies and served as coeditor of their publications, including Public Participation in Environmental Assessment and Decision Making (2008), Making Climate Forecasts Matter (1999), and Understanding Risk (1996). He won the 2005 sustainability science award from the Ecological Society of America as coauthor of the Science article, “The Struggle to Govern the Commons.” He is a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the American Psycho-
logical Association. He holds a B.A. from Amherst College and an M.A. and a Ph.D. from Clark University, all in psychology.
MARTIN STORKSDIECK is the director of the Board on Science Education at the National Research Council. He is also a research fellow at the Institute for Learning Innovation (ILI), where he is involved with research studies of science learning in immersive environments; models of involving researchers and scientists in science museums and science centers; and the impact of science hobbyists, such as amateur astronomers, on the public understanding of science. Previously, he was director of project development and senior researcher at ILI. Prior to that, he was a science educator with a planetarium in Germany, where he developed shows and programs on global environmental change; served as editor, host, and producer for a weekly environmental news broadcast; and worked as an environmental consultant specializing in local environmental management systems. He has an M.S. in biology from the Albert-Ludwigs University in Freiburg, Germany, an M.A. in public administration from Harvard University, and a Ph.D. in education from Leuphana University in Lüneburg, Germany.