Mick Smyer

smyer@bucknell.edu

Experience

G'day from Canberra, where I am visiting as part of my project Graying Green: Climate Action for an Aging World.

I am a clinical psychologist by training and for more than forty years I have been studying the intersection of psychology and aging, with an emphasis on the impact of contexts on older adults' behavior (e.g., nursing homes, the legal and policy systems, work sites, etc).  I have written on aging and mental health, aging and decision making capacity, and aging and work.  Throughout my career, I have also been involved in academic administration at Penn State , at Boston College (chief research officer and dean of the graduate school of arts & sciences) and, most recently, at Bucknell University where I served as provost for seven years.

So what does this have to do with our project?  With time off for good behavior, I have a sabbatical and I am focusing on Graying Green: Climate Action for an Aging World.  I am trying to link two global patterns-- population aging and climate change.  The premise is simple: climate scientists and climate communicators should focus some of their efforts at engaging older adults on the climate action front.  (For more of the rationale see:  Aging Population Could Drive O’Bama’s Climate Change Policies)

During this year, I am a visitor at Yale's Project on Climate Change Communication, at the Australian national U., and at Stanford's Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences, trying to engage climate communicators and scientists in this effort.

I have much to learn from this group, and I will try to contribute insights from the behavioral sciences.