This course is an introduction to the science underlying decision making with an emphasis on environmental decisions. The course will introduce the basics of judgment and decision-making theory and demonstrate how and why people often make ‘bad’ decisions. Students will learn how policy makers are able to influence people’s environmental behavior. Working in teams, student will try to influence environmental behavior around campus or town, developing an experiment and executing it. In the process students will learn how to write up an academic study that provides rationale, theoretical justification, and presents the results of their experiment.

Outcome 1
Use the lens of behavioral science to understand environmental problems and the implications for sustainability.

Outcome 2
Articulate the core drivers of environmental decision-making and barriers to pro-environmental behavior.

Outcome 3
Develop a behavioral experiment to test interventions for increasing sustainable behavior in coordination with a community partner.

Outcome 4
Assess the behavioral outcomes of various environmental policy interventions.

Outcome 5
Write a clear academic manuscript contextualizing and analyzing the results of an experimental study.