SENR Speaker Series welcomes Dr. Nicole Ardoin

The spring SENR Speaker Series welcomes Dr. Nicole Ardoin, Emmett Family Faculty Scholar and associate professor in the Environmental Behavioral Sciences Group and a senior fellow in the Woods Institute for the Environment in the Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability. Dr. Ardoin will present, "From the Individual to the Collective: Motivating and sustaining effective environmental action" starting at 4:00 p.m. in room 103 Kottman Hall or via Zoom.  

About the talk

Topic: Exploring collective environmental action through community-engaged research

Abstract: Addressing complex sustainability challenges such as climate change, biodiversity loss, and resource scarcity requires moving beyond individual behavior change to collective action. In my lab, we explore collective environmental action across theory and practice. This talk presents ongoing work from multiple projects that are grounded in community-engaged research to investigate what motivates and supports collective environmental action. As part of a cross-Pacific collaboration, we are examining how collective action creates equitable pathways to adaptive capacity in two island systems: Galápagos and Palau. Working with established and new community partners, initial research phases include conducting community listening sessions and launching a photovoice study to collect data on how communities navigate tensions between conservation and livelihoods, and how collective interventions such as cooperatives and community-led ecosystem restoration shape adaptive capacity across diverse socio-cultural contexts. In the Bay Area, we are using participant observation and photovoice to explore how taking part in communal tree plantings creates connection and inspires collective environmental action. All of this work draws upon a collaborative framework we developed with over forty scholars and practitioners, which identifies five principles for equitable community engagement in sustainability research: Community Self-Determination, Reciprocity, Epistemological Justice, Accountability, and Adaptability. The talk will conclude with implications for researchers interested in studying collective environmental action and for those engaged in community-based research partnerships.

About the speaker

Nicole Ardoin, Emmett Family Faculty Scholar, is an associate professor in the Environmental Behavioral Sciences Group and a senior fellow in the Woods Institute for the Environment in the Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability. She is an affiliated faculty member in the Emmett Interdisciplinary Program in Environment and Resources (E-IPER). Founder of the Stanford Social Ecology Lab, Professor Ardoin is an interdisciplinary social scientist who researches individual and collective environmental behavior as influenced by environmental learning and motivated by place-based connections. Professor Ardoin and members of her lab often work in collaboration with community partners, including public, private, and social sector organizations at a range of scales, to co-design and implement studies that build on a theoretical frame while concurrently addressing questions of interest to the partners. This work occurs primarily in informal settings, such as parks and protected areas, nature-based tourism locales, community gathering spaces, and other everyday-life settings. Interested in actionable knowledge and notions of co-production, Professor Ardoin and her group collaborate with sustainability, environmental conservation, and philanthropic organizations to study the design, implementation, and effectiveness of a range of social-ecological practices. Through reflective learning, curiosity, and humility, the Social Ecology Lab strives to bring theoretically based insights to sustainability opportunities and challenges.