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This California prof changed course from neuroscience to develop a new curriculum for climate activism.
In 2021, Dr. Adam Aron returned a research grant worth about $350,000 and turned away from his 15-year career teaching and researching neuropsychology at the University of California San Diego (UCSD). Instead of the study of the biological basis of the mind, Adam committed himself and his work to addressing the climate crisis by creating courses, launching research projects, and increasing his own activism.
Committing to the Climate Crisis
Everyone likes a story with a eureka moment, says Adam. “In real life, things are often more gradual. For me, it was a building-up process of concern, which corresponds to the increased impacts of global heating.” That’s why he’s careful when he talks about his leap from neuropsychology into climate activism. “I've been worried about the state of our planet for decades,” he says. In 2016, for example, he joined others pushing the University of California with its 10 campuses and 300,000 student population to divest its fossil fuel investments.
The tipping point for Adam came when he read the 2018 United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report that set a goal of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius. “I really looked at the science,” Adam says. “Then I thought, oh my goodness, this is much more serious than I thought. From that moment, I got more involved as an activist and organizer. The neuroscience work became less important to me, and I started shedding it.”
Now, Adam teaches graduate and undergraduate courses like the Psychology of the Climate Crisis. The reading list for his courses includes his book, The Climate Crisis: Science, Impacts, Policy, Psychology, Justice, Social Movements (on Amazon). He changed the name of his research lab to the Climate Psychology and Action Lab. The focus of Adam’s work is climate activism itself.
Engaging Climate Activists
One of Adam’s key findings is that commitment to a group identity keeps activists engaged. Forging social bonds and developing a shared sense of responsibility to that group leads to more effective activism. “You feel bound by this sense of responsibility or commitment to each other,” he says.
These aren’t necessarily new discoveries, he says, pointing to the suffragette movement, Nixon-era environmental policies, and the acceptance of same-sex marriage. Given the scale of the climate crisis, he says, “It's astonishing there’s so little engagement. Compare it with the Vietnam War protests on U.S. campuses.” One of the differences is that the results of climate activism may be invisible.
“It's not like atmospheric CO2 is going down because you've won your campaign in California,” says Adam. “You have to have a local theory of change — when we pull the lever in California, it's going to reverberate more widely. Acting locally is worth it. It triggers changes at a national level. If we get national action, we will eventually get international action.”
This work is urgent, Adam says. “We’re coming to the end of some profound riddle. How on earth are we going to galvanize wider sectors of society to step up quickly?” He says part of the answer is what motivates people beyond cut-and-dry winning — a sense of common purpose, building courage, gaining skills, and developing a values-based system.
Developing a New Area of Study
Adam’s research on real-world climate activism is filtering into his classroom, then back out again. On the UCSD campus serving 35,000 students, teaching and actually taking action on climate change was severely lacking.
You have to have a local theory of change — when we pull the lever in California, it's going to reverberate more widely. Acting locally is worth it. It triggers changes at a national level. If we get national action, we will eventually get international action.
– Dr. Adam Aron
“Climate and earth scientists are beavering away, but studying physical science has almost nothing to do with actions or policy and compelling decision makers to do anything,” Adam says.
His courses and research are linked to a movement at UCSD called the Green New Deal that’s had its successes and failures. It has influenced the university to allocate $13 million for electrification and to drop its carbon offset program — a scheme Adam calls a ridiculous fig leaf. But UCSD has yet to replace the burning of fracked methane gas that emits nearly 200,000 tons of carbon dioxide annually, the full university about 1 million tons.
Influencing Beyond UCSD
Adam and his students have connected with allies on the university’s other campuses. In addition, he advocates for his students to work for change in the broader community of San Diego on issues correlated with climate change such as cycling and housing. “Students work in environmental organizations, go into law or environmental policy master's degrees,” adds Adam.
The study of climate activism is a new field, but Adam believes it will and must develop quickly, even in the face of barriers such as scarce research funding. He says, “Institutions aren’t thrilled about research programs actually mobilizing people.” Still, he’s hoping to publish more papers, speak at more conferences, and keep in touch with colleagues worldwide to show others the way.
The psychology of climate activism is, he says, “a bit at the vanguard. I hope in the next five to 10 years, lots more social scientists, particularly social environmental psychologists, really start applying ourselves to this question of mobilization.”
