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Nicole Ardoin

Associate Professor of Environmental Social Sciences and Senior Fellow at the Woods Institute for the Environment

Current Research and Scholarly InterestsNicole Ardoin, the Emmett Family Faculty Scholar, is an associate professor of Environmental Behavioral Sciences in the Environmental Social Sciences Department of the Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability (SDSS).

Professor Ardoin studies motivations for and barriers to environmental behavior among a range of audiences and in varying settings; the use of social strategies by NGOs to engage individuals and communities in decisionmaking related to the environment; and the role of place-based connections and environmental learning on engagement in place-protective and stewardship actions over time.

Professor Ardoin's Social Ecology Lab group uses mixed-methods approaches--including participant observation, interviews, surveys, mapping, network analysis, and ethnography, among others--to pursue their interdisciplinary scholarship with community collaborators through a field-based, participatory frame. Professor Ardoin is an associate editor of the journal Environmental Education Research, a trustee of the California Academy of Sciences, and chair of NatureBridge's Education Advisory Council, among other areas of service to the environment and conservation field.

RECENT RESEARCH (Selected):

Accelerating 30x30 Through a Collaborative Regional Prioritization Partnership
With support from the SDSS Accelerator
PI: Liz Hadly; co-PIs Nicole Ardoin, Debbie Sivas

Empowering Youth in Frontline Communities through Climate Data
PI: Victor Lee; co-PIs Nicole Ardoin, Jenny Suckale

A Social Science/Sustainability Incubator: Interdisciplinary scholarship and practice to amplify impact and redefine solutions
With support from Stanford’s Sustainability Initiative
PI: Nicole Ardoin; co-PI: James H. Jones

Tracking Socio-Ecological Recovery after Forest Fire: The Case of Big Basin
With support from: Digital Learning Initiative of the Stanford Accelerator for Learning

The Summen Project: Coastal Fog-mediated Interactions Between Climate Change, Upwelling, and Coast Redwood Resilience
With support from NSF Coastal SEES Program, the National Geographic Society, and the TELOS Fund
In partnership with UC Santa Cruz, UC Berkeley, Carnegie, Oregon State University

Scholars and Land-Trust Managers Collaborating for Solutions
With support from Realizing Environmental Innovations Projects (REIP), Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment
PI: Nicole Ardoin; co-PI: Deborah Gordon

Community and Collective Environmental Literacy as a Motivator for Participating in Environmental Stewardship
With support from the Pisces Foundation

Hybrid Physical and Digital Spaces for Enhanced Sustainability and Wellbeing
WIth support from Stanford Catalyst for Collaborative Solutions
PI: Sarah Billington, Civil and Environmental Engineering; co-PIs Nicole Ardoin, James Landay, Hazel Markus

Blue Habits: Leveraging Behavioral Science to Support Pro-Ocean Behaviors
With support from The Oceanic Society

eeWorks: Examining the body of evidence for environmental education with regard to conservation, academic outcomes, civic engagement, and positive youth development
With support from the North American Association for Environmental Education, US EPA, Fish and Wildlife Service, and others