Virtual: Zoom Webinar

Abstract

Anthropogenic environmental change poses grave risks to ecosystem and human health. Examples include biodiversity loss in coral reef environments and health threats from wildfire smoke events. To successfully respond and adapt to such threats, action is required at multiple scales. Individual behavior can mitigate threats from climate-related health hazards, contribute to the conservation of natural resources and, in the aggregate, enhance the ability of ecosystems and human communities to adapt to climate change. Across three chapters, my dissertation investigates social and affective dimensions associated with individual-level conservation and adaptation behavior.

In my first chapter, I examine how affective dimensions (e.g., place attachment) and other psychological factors relate to coral reef conservation behavior on Maui, Hawai‘i through a community-engaged survey-based study. In chapter two, I draw on semi-structured interviews of Northern California residents to explore how social processes and perceptions of wildfire smoke threat and efficacy shape pathways to protective health decision-making. My third chapter assesses the extent to which threat perceptions, efficacy perceptions, and social contextual factors interact and are associated with adaptation behavior in response to wildfire smoke and COVID-19 in the United States.

Overall, the findings from this dissertation provide theoretical frameworks and original data on the role of affective and social dimensions in conservation and adaptation behavior, and contribute insights for developing effective behavioral interventions and health communications.