Staying up to date in the age of climate change

Abstract

MIT Science Policy Review spoke with Dr. Irina Feygina about the drivers of public policy action for climate change, and what might cause concerns about climate change to rally or dissipate in humans. Dr. Feygina is a Behavioral Science Consultant and Facilitator on Climate and Clean Energy in addition to being the American Psychological Association’s Lead Representative to the United Nations. She completed her doctorate at New York University (NYU), her post-doctoral work at Rutgers University, and has published in diverse theoretical and applied peer-reviewed social science journals. Formerly, Dr. Feygina was the Director of Behavioral Science and Assessment at Climate Central, a nonprofit organization that researches and reports on the science and impacts of climate change. From 2013 to 2014, she was the AAAS Congressional Fellow for the U.S. Senate in the Office of Michael Bennet (D-CO), and from 2014 to 2015 a Fellow on the White House Social and Behavioral Sciences Team. We asked Dr. Feygina what leaders worldwide can do to harness behavioral science as a core part of efforts to combat climate change.