Congratulations to graduate student Victoria Abou-Ghalioum, who is the winner of the 2020 Student Paper Competition for the Rural Sociological Society’s Natural Resource Research and Interest Group (NRRIG)! Her submission, titled “Expanding environmentalism: Racial/ethnic, place, and socioeconomic identities as pro-environmental behavioral antecedents” analyzed General Social Survey data to look at relationships between social identities and pro-environmental behavior. She found that racial/ethnic identity is the strongest indicator of pro-environmental behaviors, followed by some place identities.
Victoria studies the intersections between racial, ethnic, and place identity and their relationships with pro-environmental behavior. She utilizes theoretical perspectives from rural sociology and environmental psychology to critically examine the identity-exclusivity of the environmental movement and how to expand this movement. She hopes to continue this work in applied, community development settings focused on environmental and social justice.