Michaela Barnett is a Ph.D. fellow in the Behavioral Science for Sustainable Systems program at the Convergent Behavioral Science Initiative at the University of Virginia. She researches sustainable consumption, waste systems, and organizational sustainability. Her writing has appeared in both scientific and creative journals, including Appetite and Alluvian. She is a 2019-2020 graduate student writing fellow at the Behavioral Scientist.
Behavioral scientists have a crucial role to play in the world’s quest for environmental sustainability. But to realize the potential of our work, we need to work with designers not just end users.
Buying less, and not buying green, is associated with greater well-being and lower psychological distress.
Early in her career, psychologist Wendy Wood noticed a trend: many of her colleagues struggled to get things done. Intelligence, talent, and motivation didn’t seem to suffice. She set out to discover why.
Is the hype around microdosing psychedelics justified? We don’t yet know. So far, citizen science has outpaced rigorous research.