Climate Cognition Lab Madalina Vlasceanu

Lab Members

Principal Investigator | Madalina Vlasceanu, PhD 
CV | Google Scholar | Profile 

Madalina Vlasceanu is an Assistant Professor of Environmental Behavioral Sciences in the Department of Environmental Social Sciences at Stanford University’s Doerr School of Sustainability and the Director of the Climate Cognition Lab. Professor Vlasceanu also hold a courtesy appointment in the Organization Behavior Unit at the Stanford Graduate School of Business, and is a Faculty Fellow at the Center for Affective Science at Stanford University and at the Stanford Impact Labs. She is also a faculty affiliate at Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment, Stanford Center on Philanthropy and Civil Society, and Stanford Sustainable Societies Initiatives. She obtained a PhD in Psychology and Neuroscience from Princeton University in 2021 and a BA in Psychology and Economics from the University of Rochester in 2016. Prior to Stanford, she was an Assistant Professor of Psychology at New York University. Her research focuses on the cognitive, social, environmental, and political processes underlying belief and behavioral change, with direct applications to climate policy. Guided by a theoretical framework of investigation, her research employs a large array of methods including behavioral laboratory experiments, social network analysis, field studies, randomized controlled trials, megastudies, and international many-lab collaborations, with the goal of understanding the processes underlying climate awareness and action at the individual, collective, and system level. Professor Vlasceanu's research is theoretically grounded and focused on applications for practice, incorporates an interdisciplinary perspective, and directly informs policies and practices relevant to climate mitigation and adaptation.

Postdoctoral Scholar | Mike Berkebile-Weinberg

Mike is a postdoctoral scholar in the Climate Cognition Lab. His program of research broadly examines how individual minds and large-scale social systems shape one another. He studies how shared beliefs form, how people and institutions understand climate change, and how social biases propagate through organizations. He earned his PhD in psychology at New York University, and holds a BA in psychology from the University of California, San Diego. Outside the lab, he enjoys spending time at the beach with his family, playing board games, and cooking.

Postdoctoral Scholar | Cameron S. Kay

Cameron S. Kay is a postdoctoral scholar in the Climate Cognition Lab. His research explores the psychological foundations of antisocial beliefs and behaviours, including why people believe in conspiracy theories, harbour prejudicial beliefs, and gaslight others. To support this work, he develops psychometrically sound scales and tools for improving data quality. Before joining Stanford, Cameron was a visiting assistant professor at Union College in Upstate New York. He earned his PhD in psychology with a specialization in quantitative research methods at the University of Oregon, where he also completed master’s degrees in psychology and journalism. He holds a BA in psychology from the University of British Columbia. Outside the lab, he enjoys reading, playing soccer, hiking, and producing music.

Postdoctoral Fellow | Ekaterina (Kath) Landgren

Ekaterina (Kath) Landgren is a Stanford Doerr School Dean's Sustainability Leaders Postdoctoral Fellow. Her research investigates how social dynamics among citizens, politicians, and media affect the actual and perceived popularity of climate policies. In her work, she employs mathematical models grounded in empirical data. Prior to Stanford, she was a Visiting Postdoctoral Fellow at the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Science at the University of Colorado Boulder. Ekaterina holds a PhD in Applied Mathematics from Cornell University and a BSc from Brown University, where she double majored in Applied Mathematics and Philosophy. She enjoys calligraphy, language learning, and weightlifting.

PhD Student | Yash Patel

Yash Patel is a first year PhD candidate in the Department of Environmental Behavioral Sciences at Stanford University. Yash has a BA in Psychology from New York University, where he also graduated with minors in Sociology and Chemistry. He's interested in social cognition and neuroscience, especially the effects our identity has on our decision making, cognition, and fixations. Outside of research, he enjoys reading old books, cycling, and cooking.

PhD Student | Danielle Goldwert

Danielle is a fourth year Ph.D. student in Social Psychology at NYU. Her research lies at the intersection of social psychology and global climate change, with interests including social norms, communication, and social change. In her work, she investigates how psychological, sociopolitical, and cultural factors influence public perception and behavior towards climate change, and how this understanding can drive more effective climate action. In 2021, Danielle received a BA from the University of Miami, where she double majored in Psychology and Studio Art. Outside of the lab, Danielle is passionate about painting, rock climbing, backpacking, and stop motion animation.

PhD Student | Katie Mason

Katie is a fourth year Ph.D. student in Social Psychology at New York University working under the primary mentorship of Dr. John Jost and supported by a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship. She is a Spring 2021 graduate of Purdue University with majors in Psychology and Political Science and a minor in Spanish. After graduation, she was the lab manager for the Social Cognition of Social Change lab at Purdue University under the guidance of Dr. Erin Hennes. Her research interests broadly lie within the psychology of social justice. She is interested in why people are resistant to positive social change, instead defending flawed systems, and how scientists, politicians, the media, and universities can encourage change that promotes equity. Outside of the lab, Katie is a dancer and likes to read, listen to music, and explore the city.

PhD Student | Kayley Okst

Kayley is a fourth year PhD student in the Social Psychology program at NYU. Her research focuses on intergroup conflict and political polarization, with an emphasis on belief formation. She is particularly interested in how people form beliefs in opposition to those they dislike. Her work explores the psychological mechanisms underlying this phenomenon, examining how partisan identity, affective polarization, and social norms shape self-concept and political attitudes. She also investigates the broader consequences of polarization, including its effects on collective action and democratic engagement. Outside of the lab, you can find her traveling with friends or curled up on the couch with a fantasy novel. 

PhD Student | Evelina Bao

Evelina is a fourth-year Ph.D. student in Social Psychology at NYU. Her research interests broadly lie in the effect of emotions on individual and collective actions and belief updating. With her computer science background, she plans to use computational methods to inform researchers of better ways to design interventions that elicit emotions and promote collective actions and social changes. Evelina received her BA in Psychology and BS in Computer Science from the University of Southern California (USC) in Los Angeles in 2022. Outside the lab, Evelina loves concerts, photography, and good food.

PhD Student | Kay (Ke) Fang

Kay is a second year Ph.D. student at Stanford University. His research focuses on the polarization and synchronization of group-level memories, emotions, and attitudes that lead to collective action. He is especially interested in using novel ways to expand traditional social psychology research by bringing in theories and methods from macro-level sociology and communication studies as well as neuroscience. Kay has an MA from NYU, and a Bachelor of Management from Lanzhou University in China. He also writes popular science articles in Chinese to promote the wise use of scientific research. Outside of research, he enjoys pour-over coffee, going to museums, and drawing.

PhD Student | Victor Yuhang Wu

Victor is a 3L at Stanford Law School and a Ph.D. student in Political Science at Stanford University. His research explores a wide range of topics in environmental law, policy, and politics, but he is particularly interested in environmental political psychology and partisan polarization on climate change. Victor graduated from Dartmouth College in 2022 as valedictorian with a triple major in Government, Environmental Studies, and Quantitative Social Science. In his free time, Victor enjoys rock climbing, chess, triathlon, and piano.

PhD Student | Jake Reynolds

Jake is a doctoral researcher in Behavioral Marketing at Columbia Business School, specializing in behavior change and green choices. Prior, Jake worked in applied behavioral public policy within the Behavioural Insights Team (the world's first 'Nudge Unit’) across energy, transport, resource and decarbonization policy domains. Jake has developed behavioral policy with the United Nations; the UK Climate Change Committee for Parliament; UK Department for Transport; UK Department for Environment, Farming and Rural Affairs; UK Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, and more. Prior to BIT, Jake was a quantitative researcher at Kantar (a global market research firm) and graduated Summa Cum Laude from his BA in Behavioral Sciences at the University of Cambridge and from the MSc in Behavior Change at UCL

Research Assistant | Allison Oh

Allison is a high school junior at Crystal Springs Uplands School. She is deeply interested in the effects of climate change on human well-being and is working on a community initiative to support youth worried about climate change. She is also interested in how people decide to take collective action. Allison enjoys playing sports and listening to a good audiobook.

Lab Alumni

  1. Lina Koppel, Ph.D., postdoctoral fellow, Linköping University
  2. Matthias Hudecek, Ph.D., postdoctoral fellow, University of Regensburg
  3. Runji Gao, doctoral student at UCSD
  4. Sarah Mughal, predoc at NYU
  5. Yifei Pei, predoc at Yale School of Medicine
  6. Angel Xing, MA student, Columbia University