Lab News

New Publication in Indoor AIr

June 2026

We are excited to share a new publication in Indoor Air. Lab member Jiaxuan (Flora) Xu led a study following 460 remote workers that found indoor nature features are linked to lower stress, higher creativity, and more environmentally friendly behaviors, pointing to complementary roles for indoor and outdoor nature exposure. The findings are a reminder that our relationship with nature shapes wellbeing, even within the spaces we build. Co-authors include Nicole , Nik Sawe (lab alum), Laura Bloomfield (University of Vermont), Basma Altaf (KFUPM), Elizabeth Murnane (Dartmouth College), and Sarah Billington (Stanford).

Xu, J. F., Bloomfield, L. S. P., Sawe, N., Altaf, B., Ardoin, N. M., Murnane, E. L. & Billington, S. L. 2026. Complementary pathways to wellbeing and pro-environmental behavior: Indoor and outdoor nature exposure during remote work. Indoor Air, 2026, 1552884. https://doi.org/10.1155/ina/1552884

New Publication in npj Clean Energy

June 2026

We have a new publication in npj Clean Energy. Lab member Rachel Herring and Nicole, alongside co-authors Andrew Chapman and Emily Polk, have published "Who Defines a Just Transition: Epistemic Justice and Rural Energy Futures in Japan." Drawing on interviews, surveys, and focus groups with rural residents and energy stakeholders in Kyushu, Japan, the study explores how rural communities are experiencing the energy transition not only as a technological shift, but as a deeply cultural transformation. The research presents epistemic justice as a core tenet of just transition frameworks, centering place-based knowledge, Edo-era traditions of circular living, and community-led resource stewardship as legitimate expertise in shaping energy futures.

Herring, R., Chapman, A., Polk, E., & Ardoin, N. M. (2026). Who defines a just transition: epistemic justice and rural energy futures in Japan. npj Clean Energy, 2(1), 13. https://doi.org/10.1038/s44406-026-00030-y

Happy Graduation to Dr. Kannan

June 2026

We are thrilled to congratulate Dr. Archana Kannan on earning her PhD! As a student in the Stanford Graduate School of Education and a member of the Social Ecology Lab, Archana's dissertation, A Qualitative Study of Social and Emotional Learning in Residential Environmental Education: Exploring Children's Reflections, Program Practices, and Practitioner Perspectives, examined how children experience and make meaning of these programs, what program practices support their growth, and how practitioners understand and integrate socio-emotional learning into their work.

Nicole across the Pond

June 2026

Nicole traveled to the University of Cambridge where she participated in the inaugural Stanford-Cambridge Inclusive Ordering Initiative workshop on moving from disorder to resilience, hosted by Prof. Ramit Debnath of the Cambridge climaTRACES Lab. She also met with Prof. Lucia Reisch, PhD student Arjun Kamdar, and other colleagues at the El-Erian Institute of Behavioural Economics and Policy, where they discussed development of the Doerr School of Sustainability and shared research interests, including conservation behavior and motivating collective environmental action.

Civil Society and Sustainability Conference

June 2026

In early June, we attended the Civil Society and Sustainability Conference, hosted by Stanford GSB and the Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability. Nicole, Alison, and Hilary joined scholars and practitioners to explore how civil society organizations, nonprofits, and communities can advance sustainability. Nicole and Alison presented work from their forthcoming book chapter on place connections and civil society, examining how meaningful connections to place can motivate collective environmental action. Thank you to conference organizer Tricia Bromley (Associate Professor of Education, of Environmental Social Sciences and, by courtesy, of Sociology).

Spring Lab Retreat

May 2026

On May 29th, we gathered at the O’Donohue Family Stanford Educational Farm for our spring retreat and enjoyed a day to slow down, connect, and think together about the work we are doing and where it is going. We spent time in small groups with advisees, mapped our research interests and networks, and shared insights into career development. A highlight was a closing session presented by lab member Rudy Gharib, who led us in journaling and meditation. The day wrapped up with a Happy Hour celebrating some important milestones among our lab community.

Cultivating Epistemological Humility Workshop

May 2026

The Social Ecology Lab gathered at the O'Donohue Family Stanford Educational Farm for Cultivating Epistemological Humility, a half-day workshop exploring what counts as knowledge, whose knowledge matters, and how researchers can collaborate more thoughtfully across epistemological differences. Fifteen students, staff, faculty, and postdocs joined us for conversations spanning positivist, interpretivist, constructivist, and Indigenous knowledge frameworks. The workshop was co-led by Research Associate Caroline Ferguson Irlanda and Postdoctoral Scholar Ben Mylius, and made possible with funding from ePluribus Stanford.

Lab Member Flora Xu Featured at Pint of Science Festival

May 2026

Flora presented her research on nature identity at the Pint of Science Festival in Palo Alto on May 20, 2026. Her talk was part of an evening event titled "The Science of Feeling Safe," which brought together four researchers exploring stress, learning, and wellbeing at Sprout Café. Pint of Science is a global nonprofit festival that connects researchers with the public in accessible, community-centered settings.

Writeshop for the Transformation Science Program

May 2026

The Transformation Science Program (TSP), part of the Sustainable Societies Initiative (SSI) at the Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability (SDSS), explores broad approaches to achieve transformative change across contexts and scales. On May 14 and 15, Nicole and Gabrielle Wong-Parodi hosted a 2-day writeshop attended by Arun Agrawal, Alison Bowers, Maxine Burkett, Dejda Collins, Rachelle Gould, Alicia Harley, Roberta Katz, Jim Leape, and Anjana Richards. We are excited by the progress we made and appreciate the hard work of everyone involved!

Lab Dinner with Arun Agrawal

Nicole was joined by lab members Arjun, Anaïs, Flora, and Hilary, as they hosted a dinner for Arun Agrawal, the Pulte Family Professor of Development Policy at the Keough School of Global Affairs and the inaugural director of the Just Transformations to Sustainability Initiative at the University of Notre Dame.

New Publication!

May 2026

We are excited to share our latest article, published in Climatic Change: "A Youth-Led Study of Motivations and Supports in Youth Climate Activism."

The paper explores climate change education-related research that we conducted in collaboration with local young people. Over the past decade, youth climate activism has garnered significant attention from both media and researchers. Understanding how young people engage with and sustain their involvement in climate activism is crucial for nurturing and supporting these efforts. This study draws on sociocultural learning theory and the concept of learningscapes to examine the role of formal education within a dynamic ecosystem of climate learning and action. Youth researchers conducted interviews with young people engaged in various climate activism efforts. Thematic qualitative analysis revealed that formal education experiences positively influenced climate activism through: (1) Structural elements, such as curriculum and extracurricular activities and (2) Normative influences, including passionate educators and peer interactions.

Read the open-access article here: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10584-026-04204-6

SGSI Teaching Team Happy Hour

April 2026

Nicole joined Thom, Ben, Sarah, and Eeshan for a teaching team reunion to catch up with the wonderful team that has supported the SGSI course, Exploring Sustainability Systems and Solutions in a Rapidly Changing World, held for the past four years at the Stanford Farm. It was so great to reconnect with everyone!

Lab Members Honored with Community Impact Awards

April 2026

Stephanie Caddell (left) & Julia Sharapi (right) were honored as recipients of Stanford Alumni Association's Community Impact Award on Saturday, April 18th. The award acknowledges outstanding contributions to service by Stanford graduate students. Stephanie was nominated for her work as co-founder and inaugural president of the Stanford MOLAS, an outreach group which seeks to bring accessible ocean education to under-resourced K-12 schools in the Bay Area. Julia was honored for her work as Community Associate with the Graduate Life Office at Stanford. As Community Associate, she works to foster community by coordinating and planning events as well as providing support services for students who live on campus.

AI and Climate Masterclass

April 2026

Nicole led Stanford Doerr’s first AI and Climate Masterclass, a full day bringing together leaders from across sectors to explore how we can harness AI responsibly in the face of a changing climate. The room included researchers, executives, and changemakers from energy, finance, technology, philanthropy, and international development. A huge thank you to the Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability's External Education and Mobilization team — especially Jenn Gardner and Riley Stevens — for making this day possible.

‘Global Alliance’ at Laudato si’ Village

April 2026

Nicole recently traveled to Rome for a meeting sponsored by the Vatican and the University of Notre Dame in Castel Gandolfo—the Pope’s summer home. The inaugural gathering of the Global Alliance brought together more than 60 academics and environmental organization representatives to create a plan for making Laudato si’ actionable through principles of integral ecology and sustainability.

Alumni Visits

April 2026

We’ve had lots of alumni visits in the Social Ecology Lab lately! We were delighted to have coffee with former postdoc Anncy Thresher, now an assistant professor of philosophy at Northeastern. We welcomed former PhD student Rachelle Gould, now an associate professor at University of Vermont’s Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources, for a lab co-sponsored talk at the Humanities Center and to join our daylong writing retreat. And we had an inspiring lab talk from former undergrad and master’s advisee Amelia Farber—recent PhD graduate from the University of Oxford—on her research on environmental literacy in Galapagos.

Overview Effect Study Launches

April 2026

Not your typical day at the pool! This week, lab member Anaïs Voşki kicked off data collection for her Overview Effect study at Stanford's AOERC pool, joined throughout the week by Nicole, Gabrielle Wong-Parodi (Associate Professor of Earth System Science), Jeremy Bailenson (founding director, Stanford Virtual Human Interaction Lab, VHIL), Géraldine Fauville (Associate Professor, University of Gothenburg, and VHIL affiliate), and Gustav Petersen (visiting postdoc in the VHIL. A big thanks to our research assistants (Alina, Bailey, Cherrie, Marijn, Rainey, and Serena). With Artemis II astronauts currently sharing amazing views of Earth from space, the timing could not be better! Anaïs's study is testing whether that same 'overview effect' can be sparked through virtual and underwater VR.

First Spring Quarter Writing Retreat

April 2026

Lab members gathered for our monthly in-person writing retreat, dedicating focused time to advancing writing projects and other work. The group was joined by lab alum Rachelle Gould, visiting from the University of Vermont. Research on writing groups suggests that structured co-working sessions not only increase writing productivity but also foster scholarly community and informal mentoring among colleagues (Bourgault et al., 2022)!

Lab Members Join Field Course in Mexico

March 2026

Social Ecology Lab members Tatiana, Hilary, Stephanie, Erinn, Rachel, and Maggie joined Xavier Basurto and Nicole Franz's course EBS236: The Quest for Sustainable Community-Based Livelihoods along the Gulf of California coast in Mexico over Spring Break! After ten weeks of engaging readings and discussions, a group of ten students from the course joined to learn from Indigenous Comcáac and mestizo fishers, elders, and community members, about their relationship with their coastal homes. Students traveled across fishing towns and camps, including in El Decemboque, Sargento, and on Isla del Tiburón, and camped on nearby beaches and at Prescott College's field station in Bahía Kino. They had an unforgettable experience participating in this field course and are excited to take lessons learned about human-environment relationships to their own research!

Winter Quarter in the Classroom

March 2026

We had THREE lab-affiliated winter quarter courses! In EBS 308, Sarah Fendrich, Ryan O'Connor, and Nicole taught qualitative research methods. Along with co-Instructor Sara Constantino, Nicole worked with Alex Basaraba and Naama Sadaan to teach EBS 302: Human Behavior and the Environment. And last but not least, Nicole, Lily Colburn, Camille Effler, and Quinn Mitsuko Parker led a 5-week short course, EBS 325: Foundations of Political Ecology. It has been a rewarding quarter of teaching, learning, and collaboration!

Research Opportunities Available for Spring & Summer 2026

March 2026

We are excited to announce several research opportunities for students in the Social Ecology Lab for Spring and Summer 2026! Positions are available across multiple projects. Time commitments and compensation vary by project. View the full flyer for details.

New Publication in Sustainability Science

February 2026

We are thrilled to share another new publication! “Complementary Interactional Contexts Facilitate Learning about the Environment in Everyday Life” in Sustainability Science is an open-access article that addresses opportunities for learning about the environment in interconnected everyday-life contexts. This study of 100+ participants through community listening sessions finds that environmental learning emerges from settings far beyond formal schooling—through workplace conversations, policy incentives, family practices, and engagement with nature itself. Understanding these complementary learning contexts is essential for engaging broader publics in transformative environmental action and addressing pressing sustainability challenges.

Ardoin, N.M., Gould, R.K., Wojcik, D., Wheaton, M. Complementary interactional contexts facilitate learning about the environment in everyday life. Sustain Sci (2026). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11625-026-01816-w

New Publication in People & Nature

February 2026

We are delighted to announce the publication of “Engaging People in Educational Processes that Foster Environmentally Valuable Outcomes: A synthesis of key findings across eight systematic reviews” in People & Nature. This article is the culmination of a multi-year endeavor—the eeWORKS initiative—which has been a profoundly enriching professional and personal experience. It truly has been a joy to work with countless colleagues on this effort over the past decade. We hope the eight related reviews, as well as this synthesis article, are of use to many! And please note the special dedication of this article to our dear friend Drew Burnett (1961-2023), whose spirit, perseverance, and laughter were core not only to eeWORKS, but to the environmental education field overall. We miss Drew every day.