Why Social Science? Because Changing Behavior is Essential to Addressing Climate Change
Mar 22, 2022
This week's Why Social Science? post comes from Corbin Evans, Senior Director of Congressional and Federal Relations at the American Psychological Association, who writes about human behavior and its relationship to the changing climate. Scientists across a wide range of disciplines agree that…
Climate change-influenced refugee crisis may lead to long-term settlement issues
Jul 30, 2020
While many models suggest that climate change will prompt a substantial number of people to leave their homes, not all research so clearly finds this is the case. Investigating cases where computer models seemed to indicate only limited impacts of climate change on people leaving rural areas, a…News Topics: PRIClimate Change
Project to study pandemic impacts on Alaskan salmon season
Jun 29, 2020
Bristol Bay, Alaska is home to the world's largest commercial sockeye salmon fishery, attracting thousands of fishermen, crews, and seasonal workers and tripling the region’s population. Running from early June to late July, the short salmon season is facing a new challenge this year, the…
Randell receives Roy C. Buck Faculty Award in College of Agricultural Sciences
Apr 14, 2020
Heather Randell, assistant professor of rural sociology and demography in Penn State’s College of Agricultural Sciences, has been named the recipient of the 2019 Roy C. Buck Faculty Award. The award, which recognizes exceptional articles accepted or published by refereed scholarly journals in the…
The RISE Network: Towards a New Framework for University Interventions in Disasters
Nov 25, 2019
In the era of climate change—where the frequency of extreme weather and disaster events is increasing and social inequality magnifies their impact—universities are acting as first responders without being designed or organized to serve in this role. Immediately after major events such as Hurricane…
Conference explores role of institutions of higher education in extreme weather
Nov 15, 2019
As the number of extreme weather events associated to climate change continues to grow world-wide, it is becoming increasingly important that institutions of higher education reflect on their role both before and after catastrophic events. The “RISE CONFERENCE 2019: Transforming University…
Helping Alaskan coastal communities adjust to global warming
Sep 3, 2019
Alaskan coastal Indigenous communities are facing severe environmental changes that threaten to irrevocably damage their way of life. A $3 million grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) will allow Penn State researchers to assist local communities with foreseeable environmental challenges…
How we care for the environment may have social consequences
Aug 6, 2019
Anyone can express their commitment to the environment through individual efforts, but some pro-environmental or “green” behaviors may be seen as either feminine or masculine, which Penn State researchers say may have social consequences. In a series of studies, the researchers evaluated specific…
Penn State to host first international conference on Project Drawdown research
Jul 19, 2019
Penn State, in partnership with Project Drawdown, will hold the first international conference on climate solutions, based on the 2017 New York Times best-seller “Drawdown, The Most Comprehensive Plan Ever Proposed to Reverse Global Warming.” The conference, titled “Research to Action: The Science…
Marching for climate change may sway people's beliefs and actions
May 29, 2019
Americans have a long tradition of taking to the streets to protest or to advocate for things they believe in. New research suggests that when it comes to climate change, these marches may indeed have a positive effect on the public. A team including Penn State researchers found that people tended…
Researchers to compare Twitter opinions on climate change with real-world views
Apr 15, 2019
How do regional opinions on Twitter represent real-world attitudes toward climate change? A team of researchers will work to find out, thanks to a recent seed grant from the Social Science Research Instituteat Penn State. In their study, the researchers will construct a Twitter-driven regional…
Why Social Science? - Because Social Science Equips Us with Tools We Will Need to Face Down the Biggest Issues of Our Time, Including the Growing Global Threat of Climate Change
Mar 27, 2019
By The Honorable Paul Tonko, United States Representative, New York’s 20th Congressional District, U.S. House of Representatives Our Earth is in crisis. More frequent and severe droughts, rising sea-levels, extreme weather and ecological damage are already here, with more loss and hardship on the…
Weather patterns, farm income, other factors, may be influencing opioid crisis
Jan 23, 2018
The overprescribing of opioid-based painkillers may be the main driver of the increased abuse of opioids in rural America, but economists say that other factors, including declining farm income, extreme weather and other natural disasters, may affect a crisis that is killing thousands of citizens…