Susan Clayton

I consider myself to be a conservation psychologist: interested in understanding and promoting a healthy relationship between humans and nature. Harm to nature can result in harm to humans, and my research explores the implications of climate change for psychological wellbeing, including climate anxiety. I also examine positive impacts of nature; for example, I have worked with zoos, where a wide and diverse range of people come to interact with wild animals and may learn about nature and about conservation needs during their visit. Underlying all these research topics is my interest, as a social psychologist, in the social processes that promote environmental concern and environmental identity. I also maintain a strong interest in the psychology of justice: how people define what is fair and how they respond to perceived injustice. Environmental challenges present an important context for examples of justice and injustice, from the intergenerational injustice of climate change to questions of whether people have the right to a healthy environment.