Faculty member since 1985

How I got interested in this field
As an undergraduate, I majored in chemistry then art and then architecture before psychology came and got me. After one psych course, I was hooked. My background in architecture and design was perfect for the Environmental Psychology program at the University of Arizona (one of the strongest Environmental Psychology programs in the world at the time), and the faculty recruited me to the graduate program. My first work as a graduate student was on zoo visitor behavior and preferences. I was a very active hiker/camper and I quickly became more interested in work relating more to natural environments than in built environments. In my dissertation I examined the role of emotions, which were ignored by most psychologists at that time, in environmental decisions.

Curriculum Vitae (PDF)

Research Interests
I am interested in emotional foundations for environmental cognition and behavior, with emphases on conservation behavior, environmental quality, and human-animal interactions. Descriptions of my current research projects may be found at http://humannaturelab.nres.uiuc.edu

I also serve on the Advisory Board for a new nonprofit called HomePlanet Inc. The business plan for this nonprofit was developed as a master’s project by Carol Jo Morgan, a former student in NRES. Three of the board members are current or former NRES students. In addition to conducting environmental education and awareness campaigns, one of HomePlanet’s activities will be to open the Arts Recovery Center in which we will collect materials that would otherwise go to a landfill and resell them to local artists and schools for creative projects.

Joanne Vining