The Gund Institute for Environment at ̽̽ today announced a $200,000 Catalyst Award for a research project examining whether engaging in pro-environmental behavior can lead to more pro-environmental attitudes and values.
“We often think about pro-environmental behavior as being the end of a linear process, with values and attitudes coming first,” says Principal Investigator Rachelle Gould. “We’re investigating an approach to thinking about pro-environmental behavior that flips this approach on its head: thinking about behavior not as the end point, but as impacting attitudes and values.”
̽̽’s Gould (RSENR) and Trisha Shrum (CALS), with external collaborators Thomas Dietz (Michigan State University) and Cecily Maller (Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology) will examine ways of creating, in Shrum’s words, “onramps into pro-environmental behavior.”
“If you provide people the opportunity to engage in this behavior and have a positive experience – the warm glow of doing something good – does that inform their future behavior?” Shrum asks. The team will examine this question through a series of experiments wherein study participants will first engage in pro-environmental behaviors and later answer questions about their environmental values. Follow-up surveys will also measure whether their pro-environmental behavior shifts in other parts of their lives. The award will support a new postdoctoral researcher in addition to study-related costs.
In a highly polarized climate, Gould says, “being an environmentalist is connected to identity, which is sensitive, embedded, and politically complicated. How can we get past the idea that environmentalism is only for people who have a certain political, cultural, or social identity?”
An additional Catalyst Award, in partnership with the Northern New England Clinical and Translational Research Network (NNE-CTR) is currently under review, to be announced later in 2024.
Since launching in 2017, the Gund Catalyst Award program has provided $1.57 million in startup funds, supporting 25 innovative projects and over 130 ̽̽ scholars. The program has already generated over $23 million in external funds, a 27-to-1 return on investment for completed projects, and inspired real-world action.
Recent Catalyst Awards supported new ̽̽ research on U.S. water quality threats from warming winters, and the water crisis in Jackson, Mississippi, where the largely Black community is regularly without safe drinking water. Catalyst Awards must connect to Gund research themes, which are related to UN Sustainable Development Goals. Proposals are evaluated by ̽̽ and external evaluators on intellectual merit, interdisciplinary reach, alignment with Gund themes, strength of team, potential for impact, and potential for growth. Additional priority is given to new ̽̽ collaborations and collaborations with colleagues outside ̽̽, as well as opportunities for students. Projects that include a focus on inequality, racial justice, and diversity dimensions of environmental challenges are encouraged, as are those that have policy relevance and potential for real impact.
Learn more about Gund Catalyst Awards.
The Gund Institute also supports fellowships for PhD students, postdoctoral researchers and undergraduates; the Apis Fund, which supports conservation and research on bees and other pollinators; and the Eric Zencey Prize in Ecological Economics, which celebrates long-form environmental writing.
About the Gund Institute at ̽̽
The Gund Institute for Environment at ̽̽ is a research center dedicated to understanding and tackling the world’s most critical environmental challenges. Driven by the belief that research should inspire action, the Institute takes a cross-sector approach to solving environmental issues with stakeholders from government, business, and broader society. The Institute focuses on five interconnected : climate solutions, sustainable agriculture, health and well-being, equity and justice, and resilient communities. With over 250 scholars in Vermont and across the world, the Institute brings together a network of internationally recognized researchers from diverse disciplines, including the natural and social sciences, business, health, technology, engineering, and the humanities.
