Executive Committee

The Executive Committee is charged to handle the affairs of the society between meetings and consists of five officers.

President: Kim Wolske

Kim Wolske is a research associate professor in the Harris School of Public Policy at the University of Chicago. Her work draws on environmental and social psychology to examine the behavioral dimensions of public-facing energy policies and programs. She is particularly interested in understanding the motivations and barriers associated with consumer adoption of efficient and renewable energy technologies as well as public perceptions of climate change and related emergent technologies. Kim teaches courses on using behavioral science to improve policy design.

Past president: Daniel Benkendorf

Daniel Benkendorf is an associate professor of psychology at the Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT) in New York City. His research interests lie at the intersection of consumer behavior, environmental sustainability, and gender. His past work has explored the ways in which outdoor experiences relate to well-being, how pursuit of the muscular ideal in men can have negative environmental implications, and how hope can inspire pro-environmental behavior. He teaches conservation psychology, social psychology, and positive psychology courses at FIT.

President-Elect: Kati Peditto

Kati Peditto, PhD, EDAC, WELL AP, is the architecture research lead at HDR. She received her PhD in human behavior and design from Cornell University and completed postdoctoral training in the Department of Design and Environmental Analysis at Cornell. Her research focuses on providing equitable health environments for adolescents and young adults, ranging from pediatric cancer facilities to college health centers. She is the recipient of the 2018 New Investigator Award from the Center for Health Design and a 2018 AIA-AAH Tuttle Fellow in Health Facility Planning and Design.

Secretary: Reuven Sussman

Reuven Sussman manages human dimensions of energy efficiency programs at the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE) in Washington, D.C. He is co-chair of the annual Behavior, Energy and Climate Change conference (BECC). Reuven was a behavior change consultant, university instructor, and researcher at the University of Victoria in Canada. Currently, he studies energy efficient behavior and programs that encourage energy efficiency through behavior change.

Treasurer: Nicole Sintov

Nicole Sintov is an assistant professor of "Behavior, Decision-Making, and Sustainability" in the School of Environment and Natural Resources at The Ohio State University. She holds a B.S. in psychology/ecology from the University of California, San Diego, and a PhD in psychology from the University of Southern California. She studies the influence of interpersonal interactions on environmental behaviors, as well as the roles of identity and status in environmentally relevant decisions. She teaches sustainability psychology courses at the undergraduate and graduate levels.

Council representative: Nancy Piotrowski

Nancy Piotrowski works as a professor, researcher, consultant, advocate, and psychological services provider. Trained as a clinical psychologist, she has 25-plus years of professional experience working at the local, state, federal, and international levels. She is interested in the transtheoretical model of change, expectancies, and how models of addiction may help influence science in the area of environmental, population, and conservation psychology. Piotrowski is currently studying community engagement strategies related to prevention of negative health consequences from poor air quality. She is specifically examining readiness strategies to engage citizens with multiple vulnerabilities who are suffering environmental injustice due to cumulative impacts from fires, drought, industrial pollution, and barriers to accessing physical and mental health care.

Chair of Awards Committee: Sonya Sachdeva

Sonya Sachdeva is a computational social scientist with the U.S. Forest Service in the greater Chicago area. She is part of a Forest Service research unit that studies the human component of natural resource management within urban ecosystems. She uses wide-ranging methods like field studies, behavioral experiments, and automated content analyses to understand the sociocultural factors that shape environmental values and people’s relationship to nature.

Chair of Communications Committee: Derrick Sebree 

Derrick Sebree is a core faculty member at the Michigan School of Psychology. He graduated with his doctorate degree in clinical psychology from the Michigan School of Psychology in 2016. He has since conducted his clinical work in the Ann Arbor area, working with a variety of populations, with a focus on young college students and adults within the University of Michigan system. He received his MECCA Certificate in Multicultural Counseling from MSU. He specializes in multicultural identity theory and counseling; alongside this is Sebree’s specialty in ecopsychology/ecotherapy. In his time during graduate training and prior, Sebree has worked with various social justice organizations in Detroit around food security and other environmental justice issues. Coupled with organizing group social justice community gardening events, Sebree has an extensive background in community-oriented social justice work. Sebree has served as a mentor for BIPOC students, promoting inclusivity, hospitality, and scholarly diversity. Sebree serves as a board member for the 501c3 nonprofit, The Humanitarian Alliance, which works to promote psychological, social, and ecological justice.

Membership chair: Amanda Carrico

Amanda Carrico is an associate professor of environmental studies at the University of Colorado, Boulder. Her research examines the factors that shape environmentally significant behavior in the U.S. and in international contexts. More specifically, her research seeks to understand (1) the psychological and social drivers of conservation behavior, and (2) the factors that facilitate or constrain household adaptation to environmental change. She uses a range of methods, but emphasizes quantitative approaches such as large-sample surveys, behavioral experiments, and observational research. Carrico teaches courses on environmental psychology and research methods.

Student Committee chair: Stylianos Syropoulos

Stylianos Syropoulos is a fourth year PhD student in the Psychology of Peace and Violence program, in the social psychology track, at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. His research focuses on interpersonal and intergroup violence prevention. He also studies how legacy motives, gratitude, and a sense of responsibility promote proenvironmental intergenerational decision-making.

Program chair: Meaghan Guckian

Meaghan Guckian is core faculty in the Environmental Studies Department at Antioch University New England. Her work examines how social, psychological and contextual factors interact to influence individual and collective environmental decision-making. She is particularly interested in how social motivations and interactions buttress or inhibit positive engagement with the environment. She holds a PhD in environmental conservation from the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Meaghan teaches courses on conservation psychology, environmental decision-making, and environmental communication. 

Fellows chair: Daniel Benkendorf

Daniel Benkendorf is an associate professor of psychology at the Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT) in New York City. His research interests lie at the intersection of consumer behavior, environmental sustainability, and gender. His past work has explored the ways in which outdoor experiences relate to well-being, how pursuit of the muscular ideal in men can have negative environmental implications, and how hope can inspire pro-environmental behavior. He teaches conservation psychology, social psychology, and positive psychology courses at FIT.