Research
My research spans environmental psychology, social psychology, sociology, neuroscience and behavioural economics. All of my papers are available in PDFs or open access links below.
I currently work as a Senior Research Consultant on various projects, and am Co-Director of Climate Barometer, a new initiative aligning public and political climate change views in the UK.
Past Appointments
Senior Research Consultant, Climate Outreach, UK
Research Scientist, See Change Institute, USA
Postdoctoral Fellow, The University of Groningen, The Netherlands
PhD, Psychology, The University of Western Australia, Perth, Australia.
Peer Reviewed Publications (incl. PDF or open-access link)
Yang, J., Liu, Y., van den Berg, B., Wang, S., Chen, L., Liu, M., Bi, J. (2024). 'Clean air captures attention whereas pollution distracts: evidence from brain activities', Frontiers of Environmental Science and Engineering, 18:41. doi: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11783-024-1801-x
Poortinga, W., Latter, B., & Wang, S. (2022). Comparing coronavirus (COVID-19) and climate change perceptions: Implications for support for individual and collective-level policies, Frontiers in Psychology, 13: 996546. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.996546
Pidcock, R., Heath, K., Messling, L., Wang, S., Pirani, A., Connors, S., Corner, A., Shaw, C., & Gomis, M. (2021). Evaluating effective public engagement: local stories from a global network of IPCC scientists, Climatic Change, 168: 21. doi: 10.1007/s10584-021-03230-w PDF
Wang, S.* & van den Berg, B.* (2021) Neuroscience and climate change: How brain recordings can help to understand human responses to climate change. Current Opinion in Psychology. (Open Access)
Wang, S., Hurlstone, M.J., Leviston, Z., Walker, I., & Lawrence, C. (2021). Construal-level theory and psychological distancing: Implications for grand environmental challenges. One Earth. doi: 10.1016/j.oneear.2021.03.009 PDF
Capstick, S., Khosla, R., Wang, S., et al. (2020). Bridging the Gap–the Role of Equitable Low-carbon Lifestyles. UNEP Emissions Gap Report 2020. UNEP: Nairobi. PDF
Hurlstone, M.J., Price, A., Wang, S., Leviston, Z., & Walker, I. (2019). Activating the legacy motive mitigates intergenerational discounting in the climate game. Global Environmental Change. PDF
Wang, S., Hurlstone, M.J., Leviston, Z., Walker, I., & Lawrence, C. (2019). Climate change from a distance: Psychological distance and construal level as predictors of pro-environmental engagement. Frontiers in Psychology: The Cognitive Psychology of Climate Change. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2019.00230
Corner, A., Shaw, C., Clarke, J. and Wang, S. (2018). Communicating Environmental and Sustainability Science - Challenges, opportunities, and the changing political context. Oxford: Climate Outreach. PDF
Wang, S., Leviston, Z., Hurlstone, M.J, Lawrence, C., Walker, I. (2018) Emotions predict policy support: Why it matters how people feel about climate change. Global Environmental Change, 50, pp. 25-40. doi:10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2018.03.002. PDF, Supplement
Wang, S., Corner, A., Chapman, D. & Markowitz, E. (2017). Public engagement with climate imagery in a changing digital landscape. WIREs Climate Change. doi:10.1002/wcc.509. PDF
Hurlstone, M.J., Wang, S., Price, A., Leviston, Z., Walker, I. (2016). Cooperation studies of catastrophe avoidance: Implications for climate change negotiations. Climatic Change. doi: 10.1007/s10584-016-1838-3 PDF
*indicates joint first authorship
Media & Other articles:
BAME groups are underrepresented in polls of public opinion – here’s why it matters The Conversation
Interview on "Everything's Changing" Podcast
Achieving low-carbon and equitable lifestyle change, CAST Briefing paper 06
Interview with UWA Alumni
The shared imagery of climate change - Blog for Climate Outreach on Making Climate Social
The diverse geography of climate change views - Blog for Climate Outreach
Public engagement with climate change imagery - Article for Advanced Science News
Is digital media changing how climate change is visualised? - Blog for Climate Outreach
Research synthesis articles for the Climate Communication Project
Work featured on FiveThirtyEight