Fostering Sustainability in Higher Education (eBook)

Sustainability is one of the most critical challenges facing humanity. Changing Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) is crucial to overcoming that challenge because of their roles providing cutting edge knowledge and preparing our future citizens, workforce, and thought leaders. Many educational organizations are already leading the way toward sustainability, but a multitude of others still have substantial work to do. The field of Industrial/Organizational (I/O) psychology offers a wealth of knowledge about human behavior within organizations that can support the changes essential for moving toward sustainability. This book serves as a one-stop-shop for individuals intent on engaging their HEIs in sustainability, but who have little experience with organizational change or have encountered barriers to progress. It synthesizes the empirical literature and describes through accessible prose the psychological principles to encourage structural, procedural, social, and behavioral changes in support of a socially just and environmentally sustainable future.

Dr. Amel (she/her) earned a Ph.D. in Industrial-Organizational Psychology from Purdue University. Elise is an award-winning Professor of Psychology at the University of St. Thomas. She is Past-President and Fellow of the American Psychological Association's Society of Environmental, Population, & Conservation Psychology. She co-founded the St. Thomas Office of Sustainability Initiatives and has successfully led efforts at the University of St. Thomas to foster a culture of sustainability leadership through systems-level changes including committing to carbon neutrality, embracing sustainability as a strategic priority, developing a strategic sustainability action plan, and creating a system for integrating sustainability across the curriculum.

 

Dr. Manning (she/her) has been teaching in the Environmental Studies Department at Macalester College in St. Paul, Minnesota since 2008. She has a Bachelor's degree in Human Factors Engineering from Tufts University and a Ph.D. in Cognitive and Biological Psychology from the University of Minnesota. Christie's research focuses on the psychological factors that motivate community-level action. She has co-authored several reports on the mental health impacts of climate change and environmental injustice. Christie is a Fellow of the American Psychological Association.

 

Dr. Daus (she/her) is a Fellow in the Society of Industrial/Organizational Psychology, Division 14 of APA, and Program Director of the I/O Master's Program- Southern Illinois University Edwardsville. She teaches graduate and undergraduate courses in I/O Psychology, Stress and Stress Management, and Psychology of Sustainable Behavior. She received her Doctorate in I/O Psychology from Purdue University in 1994. Her research expertise includes mood and emotion, stress, coping, wellness and humor at work, and diversity concerns. She also consults and trains in institutions on emotional intelligence and emotional labor in the workplace, stress management, organizational attitude/survey development, and multiple soft skills topics.

 

Makayla Quinn (she/her) is a social psychologist and recent graduate of the University of St. Thomas with a BA in Psychology. She is a proponent of interdisciplinary research and how the study of psychology can positively impact a variety of fields, including sustainability. She hopes to achieve a PhD in social psychology with a focus on gender and sexuality studies and inclusive research methodology. She also plans on teaching psychology at the undergraduate level. Outside of research, Makayla is an award-winning poet, a lover of games, and a foodie