- Phone:
- (812) 855-1467
- Email:
- sattari@indiana.edu
- Website:
- http://www.szattari.com/
- Room Number:
- 347
- Areas of Interest:
- Human behavior and resource use ,
- Environmental psychology ,
- Social dilemmas
Education
- Ph.D., Civil and Environmental Engineering & Engineering and Public Policy, Carnegie Mellon University, 2009
- M.S., Civil and Environmental Engineering, Carnegie Mellon University, 2005
- B.S., Engineering Physics, University of Illinois, 2004
Courses
- Human Behavior and Energy Consumption
- Environment and People
Biography
Dr. Shahzeen Attari’s research focuses on the psychology of resource use and how to motivate action on climate change. Attari and her lab work on problems that draw on both cognitive and environmental science, and focus on perceptions, motivations, and biases related to climate change and sustainability.
Attari’s work has been published in leading science journals such as the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences and Climatic Change, and has received media attention from major news outlets including the BBC, The Economist, The New York Times, and NPR.
Prior to working at Indiana University, Attari was a postdoctoral fellow at the Earth Institute and the Center for Research on Environmental Decisions (CRED) at Columbia University. She holds a Ph.D. in Civil and Environmental Engineering & Engineering and Public Policy from Carnegie Mellon University, and a Bachelors of Science in Engineering Physics from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
Highlights
- Indiana University Bicentennial Professor (2019-20)
- Andrew Carnegie Fellow (2018)
- SN10 – Among top ten scientists to watch under the age of 40, Science News (2018)
- Fellow, Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University (2017-18)
- Outstanding Junior Faculty, Indiana University (2017)
- Excellence in Teaching, Campus Catalyst Award (2014), Indiana University
- Outstanding Teaching Award (2009), Civil and Environmental Engineering, Carnegie Mellon University
In the News
- "How our brains make it hard to solve climate change" - The Washington Post, May 14, 2020
- "Hope for the Future Lies in the Multitude- A conversation about capital, consumption, and population"- Sierra Magazine, October 31, 2019
- "Climate Scientists' Personal Carbon Footprints Come Under Scrutiny" - InsideClimate News, June 23, 2016
- "Blame cognitive biases when efforts to conserve water aren't effective" - NPR Morning Edition, May 5, 2015
- "A special Earth Day edition of Profiles features two interviews with noted authorities on sustainability." - WFIU, April 19, 2015
Selected Works
- "Shared vision for a decarbonized future energy system in the United States," (with D. Miniard and J. Kantenbacher), Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 117 (13) 7108-7114 (2020)
- "Climate change communicators’ carbon footprints affect their audience’s policy support,"
- (with D. H. Krantz and E. U. Weber), Climatic Change, 154(3), 529–545 (2019)
- "Perceptions of water systems," (with K. Poinsatte-Jones and K. Hinton), Judgment and Decision Making, 12 (3) 314-327 (2017)
- "Statements about climate researchers’ carbon footprints affect their credibility and the impact of their advice," (with D.H. Krantz and E.U. Weber) Climatic Change 1-14 (2016)
- "Reasons for cooperation and defection in real-world social dilemmas," (with D. H. Krantz and E. U. Weber), Judgment and Decision Making9 (4): 316-334 (2014).
- "Perceptions of water use,"Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences,111 (14): 5129-5134 (2014)
- "Paying for what was free: Lessons from the New York Times paywall," (with J.E. Cook), Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking15 (12): 1-6 (2012)
- "Public perceptions of energy consumption and savings," (with M. L. DeKay, C. I. Davidson, W. Bruine de Bruin), Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 107(37), 16504–16059 (2010)