Statements by Candidates for Div. 34 Offices

Please note that the submission of a candidate statement was voluntary, so not all candidates listed on the ballot will have a statement.

Candidates are as follows:

President-elect (1 to be elected)

Mary B. Gregerson, PhD
Britain A. Scott, PhD

Secretary (1 to be elected)

Joseph B. Juhasz, PhD

Treasurer (1 to be elected)

Beth Karlin

Member-at-Large (2 to be elected)

Ezra M. Markowitz, PhD
Nancy A. Piotrowski, PhD

Division Representative to APA Council (1 to be elected)

Susan D. Clayton, PhD
Mary B. Gregerson, PhD
Joseph B. Juhasz, PhD
W. Bruce Walsh, PhD

Candidate: Britain A. Scott, PhD

Office: President-elect
Candidate Statement:

The work of our members has never been more relevant than it is today. Given that the root cause of all “environmental” problems is human behavior, insights of researchers in our division will continue to play a vital role in the development and promotion of strategies for a sustainable future. Simultaneously, practitioners among us will serve a critical function in helping people adjust to the inevitable changes being brought on the ecological crisis. Importantly, for our work to have a substantial impact, we must strengthen connections between our division and other divisions, related organizations and disciplines, and the general public. If I am elected President, I will do my best to initiate, support, and facilitate efforts to raise our visibility and identify ways the division can best serve its members, our disciplines, and the broader community.

For those who do not know me or my work, I direct you to my website. A primary focus of my environmentally related work has been promoting the teaching of psychology for sustainability (I am the co-author of the program. I sit on the editorial board for Ecopsychology Journal and I maintain an active conservation psychology research program with colleagues and undergraduate collaborators. I joined Division 34 in 2000 and have since served as secretary (2006-2009), convention program reviewer (2010), and member-at-large (2010 to the present). These last dozen years have witnessed significant positive developments in our division. I think we have made great progress and I want to see our momentum continue.

Candidate: Beth Karlin, PhD(c)

Office: Treasurer
Candidate Statement:

I've been involved in APA Division 34 (SEPCP) since the 2010 Convention in San Diego - I showed up as a brand new member (not even sure if I had paid my dues yet) and left as Membership Chair. Since that time, I've worked to streamline membership processes, create a division brochure, establish a student committee, organize division programming at multiple conferences (including AESS, BECC, & SPSP), and lead a task force on technology and social media whose report has been shared with the other 53 APA Divisions and helped to establish us as a leader within APA. I love our division – it has given me an academic “home” and has fostered numerous relationships with colleagues throughout the country and world. I think this organization is essential for fostering both an identity and a community for Environmental, Population, and Conservation Psychology and I am devoted to supporting this mission if elected as Treasurer.

Candidate: Bruce Walsh, PhD

Office: Council Representative
Candidate Statement:

W. Bruce Walsh, Ph. D. (University of Iowa), is Professor Emeritus in the Department of Psychology at The Ohio State University and currently involved in consulting activities. Walsh is the founder and charter editor of the Journal of Career Assessment and serves on the editorial board of the Journal of Vocational Behavior. He has coauthored and coedited 24 books, including Tests and Assessment, the Handbook of Vocational Psychology, Person-Environment Psychology, Handbook of Career Counseling for Women, and Counseling Psychology and Optimal Human Functioning. In 1998 he served as President of the Society of Counseling Psychology, in 2009 President of Division 34, and served two terms as the Council Representative for Division 34.

Human behavior is the root cause of many environmental and population problems, and psychologists in our Division make important contributions to understanding and solving these person-environment problems. A challenge we face today is global warming and reckless energy consumption, both the result of human behavior and human activity. Another challenge the Division faces is membership. We need to identify ways to engage more students and early career professionals in the Division and connect them with more seasoned members. I would like to serve as the APA Council Representative for Division 34 as we work together to cope with the above challenges and shape the future of the Division in science and practice. 
 

Candidate: Ezra M. Markowitz

Office:  Member-at-Large
Candidate Statement:

I am currently a post-doctoral research associate at Princeton University, working with a highly interdisciplinary research community on issues of communicating uncertainty in the context of climate change. My research centers around the intersection of social and moral psychology, environmental conservation, communications and policy. I received my PhD from the University of Oregon in 2012 in Environmental Sciences, Studies and Policy. In addition to my position at Princeton, I am also a fellow at the FrameWorks Institute and a staff member at PolicyInteractive. I'm excited to serve as a member-at-large for our Division!