More about PhD Programs:
- PhD Program: Emmett Interdisciplinary Program in Environment and Resources
- PhD Program: Social Sciences Division / Environmental Behavioral Sciences
Affiliated Graduate Programs
Professor Ardoin is a faculty member in the Environmental Behavioral Sciences Group of the Social Sciences Division in the Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability. She advises PhD students as a core faculty member and faculty director of the Emmett Interdisciplinary Program in Environment and Resources (E-IPER). Beginning in fall 2024, the Environmental Behavioral Sciences group will begin accepting PhD students for matriculation in the 2025-26 academic year. Please refer to the EBS website for further information.
Broadly, Professor Ardoin’s scholarship focuses on human/nature interactions, with an emphasis on principles of behavioral science, social-ecological systems theory, and environmental learning as avenues to engage people in sustainable environmental practices. One of her research interests is on the role of place connections in encouraging and supporting pro-environmental behaviors, community engagement, and conservation commitments, more broadly. Professor Ardoin and members of her Social Ecology Lab examine environmental and sustainability-related issues and behaviors through a social science lens, applying theoretical approaches from social psychology, sociology, and anthropology to consider individual and collective engagement in a range of environmental challenges.
Professor Ardoin seeks graduate students (and, at times, postdoctoral scholars) who are curious and passionate about social ecology, behavioral science, community-based conservation, and informal learning. Related to new and ongoing research projects, she is interested in working with graduate students or postdoctoral fellows with a focus on: community-based and engaged research; integrated social-ecological systems theory and approaches (SES); environmental learning in everyday life; environmental behavior and sustained environmental practices; civic participation and engagement related to the environment; sense of place, place research, and connection to place; and resilience theory. Professor Ardoin also has active research in perceptions of climate change and motivations for climate change action; nature-based tourism; awe, inspiration, curiosity, hope, and optimism as related to nature connection; and research/practice partnerships and the science of actionable knowledge. Opportunities exist for students with expertise/interest in qualitative, quantitative, and mixed-methods approaches.
If you are interested in pursuing a PhD within Prof. Ardoin’s Social Ecology Lab, please read below for more details. The following programmatic descriptions and accompanying FAQs should answer many of your initial questions; we also provide information on where to go for further information, should you not find the appropriate details here.
For information about E-IPER, please visit the home page or the PhD admissions page. The admissions site provides details related to timelines, prerequisites, and the courses of study as well as how your areas of interest might fit with work being conducted at Stanford. Note that E-IPER offers admissions webinars. For information about the E-IPER joint MS program, visit the joint MS admissions and FAQ pages.
Please complete this form if you are a prospective PhD student who would like to receive more information about Prof. Ardoin and the Social Ecology Lab. If your questions are still not addressed at that point, please email the lab’s senior research associate, Dr. Alison Bowers at awbowers@stanford.edu. Be advised that, due to the volume of messages, you may receive a standardized response.
Please note that, as of 2022, Prof. Ardoin is no longer affiliated with the Stanford Graduate School of Education (GSE). For more information about GSE programs, visit the GSE Admissions website or contact the admissions office staff at gseadmissions@stanford.edu.
If you are a current Stanford student and interested in working with our lab, please contact Dr. Bowers, and we will be in touch with available openings.
Research Overview
Professor Ardoin’s professional background is in environmental conservation and sustainability, parks/protected areas, nonprofit management, human dimensions of resource management, museums/informal science education, and environmental learning/interpretation. At the broadest level, her research focuses on human/nature interactions with an interest in community engagement in the environment, broadly conceptualized. Working internationally as well as domestically, she examines environmental issues, opportunities, conflicts, and behaviors through an interdisciplinary social science lens, specifically anthropology, sociology, and social psychology.
Much of Prof. Ardoin’s work takes place in collaboration with partners, including non-governmental organizations (NGOs), such as World Wildlife Fund and the National Audubon Society; informal institutions, such as the California Academy of Sciences and NatureBridge; and government agencies, such as the National Park Service, California State Parks, and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, among others. Her work with those groups relates to community-based conservation; facilitating environmental behavior and supporting longer-term environmental practices; and studying the effect of environmental conservation efforts on dimensions such as resilience, place connections, social-ecological systems integration, and community engagement.
Prof. Ardoin supervises and runs the Ardoin Social Ecology Lab. Her graduate students, postdoctoral scholars, and affiliates comprise this group and their work focuses on human/nature interactions, with a social-ecological lens. Lab members examine environmental issues and behaviors, using theoretical frames from social psychology, sociology, anthropology, political science, philosophy, and other social science fields.
The Social Ecology Lab meets bi-weekly throughout the academic year, developing a shared and supportive intellectual community in which members cultivate and grow as scholars. PhD students and postdoctoral fellows attend lab meetings regularly as part of their training. Through the lab, students and postdoctoral fellows receive and provide mentoring; lab members also build and are exposed to a range of research approaches, study designs, topics, and skillsets. Topics range depending on the dynamic interests of the community, but have included social norms in conservation interventions, engaging communities in collective environmental actions, operationalizing connectedness-to-nature measures, and theorizing research/practice partnerships as well as collaborative decision-making frames.