Given the increased awareness of climate change, many organizations, businesses, healthcare settings, and other entities have pledged to implement more sustainable and climate conscious workflows to meet net-zero targets. However, where to start and what types of changes are needed is often unclear, and many barriers exist to successful implementation of a strategy. Change is difficult and human behavior is at the heart of any change implementation; therefore, as a psychologist, I am trained in decision making, behavior change strategies, and research methodology so I have a particularly critical vantage point and role to play in helping organizations understand their sustainability options and evaluate new workflows.

I received a Ph.D. in clinical child psychology from Boston University and in addition, I have obtained specialized training in Behavior Change Strategies for Sustainability from the University of San Diego (Dr. Wesley Shultz, Dr. Kayla Cranston and Jennifer Tabanico, M.A) and in the use of Community-Based Social Marketing (Dr. McKenzie-Mohr).

My process therefore integrates principles of conservation and climate-change psychology, social behavior change theory, and research methodology to understand an organization’s sustainability targets and goals.

I design and support the implementation of science-based strategies to improve an entity’s conservation programing, carbon footprint, and behavior change of staff and employees.

Generally, a series of steps are followed firstly including a discussion of the scope and goals of an organization. Through this process a strategic selection of a target audience and behavior(s) outcomes are done, followed by an assessment of barriers and motivators, then the development of a program strategy, implementation of a pilot, and finally evaluation of the program once it has been widely implemented.

This process is collaborative and includes objective outcome measurement and typically as many stakeholders across the entity as possible.

My approach is particularly useful to small and medium-sized entities given many may not have capacity to hire a dedicated sustainability team unlike larger organization

I have worked with Massachussets General hospital setting to successfully organize and implement plant-based diets among staff and visitors as well as implement an Earth Day event. Other projects have included understanding behavioral motivations of staff to improve sustainable workflows in research laboratory settings; and provide research support to a marine plastic pollution data collection program across Cape Cod to improve waste management policy and awareness of plastic pollution.

I offer a free 30 minute initial meeting to discuss the needs and goals of a project. This is conducted remotely via video platform. I then create a proposal for the project under consideration. Subsequent work can be done remotely, or in-person after the initial meeting depending on need.

The length of time of a project is dependent on the scope and goals. This can be discussed during the initial consultation.

As costs are project and scope specific, this will be outlined in the proposal and contract.

Please contact me through the contact link.