Professor Wändi Bruine de Bruin

Speech Summary

Climate change poses a serious threat to people around the world. Organizations such as the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) are tasked with communicating about climate change with international audiences of policy makers and members of the general public. These communications can be complex and, in the words of one of our research participants, "talk over people's heads." In this presentation, I will discuss my ongoing work with various organizations on understanding and informing public perceptions of climate change, and making climate change communications more accessible.

Brief CV

Wändi Bruine de Bruin is Provost Professor of Public Policy, Psychology, and Behavioral Science at the University of Southern California (USC), where she serves as the director of the USC Behavioral Science and Well-Being Policy initiative. Her research aims to understand and inform how people make decisions about their personal health, their carbon footprint, and their household finances. She has published more than 150 peer-reviewed publications on these topics. She is an editorial board member for the Journal of Experimental Psychology:Applied, Perspectives on Psychological Science, the Journal of Behavioral Decision Making, Decision, Medical Decision Making, the Journal of Risk Research, and Psychology and Aging. She recently served on the National Academy of Sciences committee on Respiratory Protection for the Public and Workers without Respiratory Protection Programs at their Workplaces. She previously served on expert panels for the National Academy of Sciences on Communicating Science Effectively and for the Council of the Canadian Academies on Health Product Risk Communication.