Environmental challenges such as climate change and biodiversity loss demand effective responses from individuals, communities, organisations, and governments. Environmental psychology has an important role to play in understanding these challenges and identifying pathways towards change. Yet a persistent question remains: how can we ensure that our research is relevant, useful, and ultimately translated into meaningful societal impact?
This pre-conference will bring together researchers, practitioners, and others interested in environmental psychology to explore how the field can better connect with policy and practice, and how engagement with communities and practitioners can help shape more relevant and impactful research.
"Is Environmental Psychology Research Fit for Purpose?"
Held on the first morning of SASP, ahead of the main conference opening at 1:00 PM.
Environmental psychology has much to contribute to challenges such as climate change and biodiversity loss — but how can we make sure our research actually reaches and supports the people, communities, and organisations working on these issues?
The morning will bring together researchers and practitioners for keynote presentations, a panel discussion, and facilitated conversations about bridging research and practice, building meaningful academic–community collaborations, and developing more place-based and impactful environmental psychology.
We will also have a dedicated networking session for members and friends of the ANZEP Network — a chance to meet others working in the field, build new connections, and contribute to discussions about the future of the network.
If you're attending SASP and interested in environmental psychology, climate and sustainability research, or research impact, we'd love to have you join us.
Both keynote speakers will also join the panel discussion.
Simon Lambert belongs to the Ngāi Tūhoe and Ngāti Ruapani mai Waikaremoana iwi in Te Urewera, central North Island. He has a Masters in Geography from the University of Canterbury (NZ) and a PhD in economic geography from Lincoln University (NZ). His research focuses on Indigenous environmental management, conservation, biosecurity, disaster risk reduction and emergency management. He is the Chief Scientist for Te Tira Whakamātaki, the only national Māori environmental NGO, since 2022.
Simon was Associate Professor of Indigenous Studies at the University of Saskatchewan, Canada from 2017 to 2023 and remains an Adjunct Professor with the Department of Indigenous Studies. He was the inaugural Chief Science Advisor Māori for the Ministry for the Environment, 2023-24, and sits in several advisory committees advocating for Māori and other Indigenous communities in research that supports Indigenous aspirations.
Iain Walker has spent more than four decades doing research on a range of topics in social and environmental psychology. Most recently, he has been involved with colleagues in research looking at resilience and cohesion following bushfires, responses to climate change and environmental degradation, the relationships between environmental and human health, how humans anticipate living in a warmer world, racism and allyship, organ donation, and communicating the science of synbio. He has recently finished editing the forthcoming Handbook of Environmental Psychology.
Iain is currently a professor of psychology at the University of Melbourne, where he was formerly the Director of the Melbourne Centre for Behaviour Change in the School of Psychological Sciences. He has also been Professor and Head of School at the Australian National University, the University of Canberra, and Murdoch University. He spent several years working at the CSIRO, where he was Research Group Leader of the Social and Behavioural Sciences Group, and then Research Program Leader of the Social and Economic Sciences Program. His PhD is from the University of California at Santa Cruz, and his undergraduate degrees from Flinders University and the University of Adelaide. He is a fellow of SPSSI and SPSP.
Simon Lambert and Iain Walker (see above) will be joined on the panel by Bella Zanin and Matthew Hornsey.
Bella is an environmental communications and engagement specialist who is happiest in the ocean or the mountains. She has fought for the protection of coral reefs in the Red Sea, helped implement chemicals and waste policy at the United Nations, and advised the UK Government on climate change public engagement. Most recently, Bella worked as the Policy and Knowledge Exchange Manager at the Centre for Climate Change and Social Transformations (CAST), where she liaised between researchers and key decision-makers to translate scientific evidence into real-world impact.
Matthew Hornsey is a social psychologist at the University of Queensland Business School. Throughout his career he has worked to develop models equipped to understand the logic behind supposedly “irrational” behaviour, and used them to facilitate positive social change. His most recent work focuses on understanding (and reducing) people’s motivations to reject scientific consensus, including the psychology of conspiracy theories, vaccination hesitancy, and climate inaction. Supported by an ARC Laureate Fellowship, Matthew co-leads the Net Zero Observatory, a multi-disciplinary group of academics and practitioners who design strategies to accelerate industry action and community support for rapid decarbonisation.
The inaugural ANZEP pre-conference, held alongside SASP and ACPID at the University of Melbourne, brought together environmental psychology researchers from across Australia and New Zealand. The event aimed to build on the growing momentum of the field by establishing a formal network, sharing insights, identifying opportunities and challenges, and co-developing a shared research agenda focused on real-world impact and research translation.
| Time | Session |
|---|---|
| 1:00 pm | Welcome Speech and Introductions |
| 1:10 pm | Keynote and Facilitated Discussion Pathways to Impact: Building Skills for the Future of Environmental Psychology Dr Wade Kelly, Deakin University |
| 2:15 pm | Lightning Talk Session One Madeline Judge · Boryana Todorova · Sarah McInnes · Ho Huynh |
| 2:45 pm | Coffee Break |
| 3:15 pm | Lightning Talk Session Two David Cheney · Matthew J. Hornsey · Sam Pearson |
| 3:40 pm | Keynote Presentation Generative Debunking and the Holy Grail of Fact-checking Dr John Cook, University of Melbourne |
| 4:10 pm | Final Group Discussion Shared research agenda, collaboration, formalising ANZEP |
| 5:00 pm | Formal Pre-conference Proceedings Conclude |
| 5:30 pm | Dinner — The Greenmans Arms 418 Lygon St, Carlton VIC 3053 (7-min walk from venue) |
An interactive session exploring the skills and strategies researchers need to generate impact — engaging with communities, policy, and practice, and how the ANZEP network can support members to grow their capacity.
An exploration of how machine learning research on fallacy and contrarian claim detection can be combined with generative AI to automatically produce psychologically-informed debunkings of climate misinformation.
Matthew Mackay (Deakin University) · Christoph Klebl (University of Queensland) · Charlie Pittaway (Flinders University) · Madeline Judge (University of Otago) · Iain Walker (University of Melbourne)
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