In the winter of 2007, I joined the staff of what was then called the School of Forestry and Environmental Studies to help launch an effort to engage the American public in the urgency of addressing climate change. On June 30th, I’ll be retiring from the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication, proud of the impactful program we’ve built, excited for its future, and looking forward to undertaking some personal adventures.
At the time we started, climate change was not high on the list of public or political priorities in the US. There were competing voices, both alarmist and dismissive in almost equal measure, creating doubt in the public mind about the importance of tackling it. Also, what to call it. We wrote a report about that, called “What’s in a Name? Global Warming vs. Climate Change.” While the complexity of the issue remains today, we launched a variety of programs to build awareness of the problem, improve climate literacy, and develop networks to solve it. We took two directions, one on the research side, to study public attitudes toward global warming with the goal of providing insights to scholars and practitioners to identify strategic audiences and improve effective communication. I am proud to have facilitated this critical research, which is fundamental to everything YPCCC does.
Secondly, we seek impact. We care deeply about applying our research beyond academia. It’s thrilling to see how “Global Warming’s Six Americas” and the “Climate Change in the American Mind” project have become go-to resources for the climate community, from practitioners and activists, to policy makers and the business sector. From the start, this work was accomplished with our steadfast research partners at the George Mason University Center for Climate Change Communication. In another effort to apply our research to increase awareness and understanding, we created what was first called the “National Conversation on Climate Action” in 2008. We’ve since built a robust Partnerships program that helps strategists use our insights to build effective communication about climate change that changes minds and hearts and motivates concrete action. Shout outs also to my colleagues conducting message experiments helping us make climate communication more effective and strategic. Kudos to the modelers and data whizzes at YPCCC making interactive tools like the ever-popular Yale Climate Opinion Maps. The maps downscale our national results to the local level so you can see, for example, what your neighbors in your congressional district feel, think, and do about climate change.
From the beginning, we also sought to strengthen climate change journalism. From early dialogues with newspaper editors we built what was first called “The National Forum on Climate Change and the Media.” It has evolved into “Yale Climate Connections,” a unique and critical voice in online climate reporting and analysis that is helping fill the growing void in mainstream reporting on the subject. Much of the content is now available in Spanish. We’ve built a significant following among primary Spanish speakers in the US and overseas, including among those most vulnerable to, but least responsible for, global warming’s impacts.
We’ve gone international too with our surveys and message experiments and the insights stemming from them. A highlight was co-hosting, with partners in China, the first international convening on climate change communication, at Renmin University in Beijing back in 2013. Indeed, we nurtured the very first PhD awarded in the field of climate change communication at a Chinese university. Dr. Binbin Wang remains a stalwart partner and friend.
Speaking of students, one of the things I’m most proud of is the generations of Yale students we’ve engaged ever since running an ambitious conference exploring “creating a society in harmony with nature” in Aspen in 2007. I am grateful to the hundreds of students who remain part of our sprawling network of alumni, many of them continuing to make a difference and using our tools in their careers. The students have been especially instrumental in refining and expanding YPCCC’s external communications, by supporting events, hosting webinars, and most critically, continually growing our social media presence. In this they are ably led by my amazing colleagues running Digital Communications. New this year, we’ve expanded the community of learners we can reach even further. We just launched an online course called “Strategic Climate Change Communication.” The applicant pool was impressive, both in numbers and qualifications, and we’re hoping we will learn as much from the inaugural cohort, as they will learn from us.
Our strong social media presence worldwide has allowed YPCCC to co-create a global network, spawning research and evidence-based climate communication around the world, especially in high GHG-emitting countries such as Brazil and India. When the tides turned and a climate change denier took the White House, YPCCC was able to show our partners at home and abroad that the American public remains worried about climate change, and many are hungry to act. These findings have helped keep the wind in the sails of the climate community during these challenging times.
I am pleased to be part of the YPCCC team which has won recognition from our peers. On the practitioner side, we received a “Friend of the Planet” award from the National Center for Science Education. On the research side, the American Association of Public Opinion Research recognized YPCCC’s pioneering methodology to map public opinion at high resolution, and for developing the first climate change audience segmentations in the US and other countries.
Ultimately, the work we do only happens because of the people doing it. I could not be more proud of the YPCCC team we’ve brought together over these past two decades. In the beginning it was just me and my boss all this time, Dr. Anthony Leiserowitz, a brilliant mentor and friend. Now we’ve grown almost 12-fold, with 23 staff and faculty at YPCCC. With partners and research affiliates at Yale and elsewhere we can count more than 100 colleagues. Many of them are former students, post-docs and staff. You’d be hard-pressed to find a more devoted, motivated and skilled bunch than what I like to call “team YPCCC.” It has been my privilege to hire them and support their growth here. Thank you to all at the Yale School of the Environment who have welcomed YPCCC and helped it evolve. We would not be where we are today without you. I’m grateful for the support in finding the funds for YPCCC to operate from our close colleagues in the Office of Development and Alumni Affairs. Once the funds are in, the Business Office has been a reliable and trusted partner in managing our finances. YSE’s HR group is patient and kind with my many asks. And, to my friends in the Dean’s Office: you have always had our back.
Speaking of people, I am delighted to pass the baton to my successor, Jono Anzalone, who will bring new skills, a strategic mindset, and enthusiasm to the managing director position and is by all counts a “people person.” I’m positive he’ll continue to strengthen YPCCC and keep it fun!
At this time when efforts to address climate change are under attack, YPCCC’s work is a beacon in the storm. Our surveys show that publics around the world overwhelmingly support action. Our tools and insights, accessible to all on our website, can support the changes needed to create a sustainable world. I am optimistic and I hope you are too, that together we will achieve that goal.
For me personally, ever since I was a little girl I had no choice but to be outside in nature and try to protect it. The day I turned nine was the first Earth Day: April 22nd, 1970. I will never forget planting flowers on Main Street in Hanover, New Hampshire with my mother to celebrate. My experience that day gave me my life’s calling. My father taught me to ice skate when I was small, and we used to glide together on the Connecticut River near our house. It is rare indeed to be able to do so these days. Those memories are motivating however, and I am often reminded of the observation attributed to Rabbi Tarfon: “It is not your duty to finish the work, but neither are you at liberty to neglect it.” It inspires me to persevere and I hope you will too. Many thanks for being with me on this journey!