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 is also a Faculty Fellow at the Center for Affective Science at Stanford University, the chair of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology at the United Nations, and a committee member of the Psychology Coalition at the United Nations, and the International Panel on the Information Environment. 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 and social processes that give rise to emergent phenomena such as collective beliefs, collective decision-making, and collective action, 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 Fellow | Ekaterina (Kath) Landgren
Starting in Fall 2025, Ekaterina (Kath) Landgren will be 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.
Postdoctoral Scholar | Cameron S. Kay
Starting in Fall 2025, Cameron S. Kay will join the Climate Cognition Lab at Stanford University as a postdoctoral scholar. 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.
Lab Manager | Yash Patel
Yash Patel is the lab manager of the Climate Cognition Lab 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 third 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 third 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 | Evelina Bao
Evelina is a third-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 | Kayley Okst
Kayley is a third 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 | Kay (Ke) Fang
Kay is a first 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
Lab Alumni
Michael Berkebile-Weinberg, Ph.D., postdoctoral fellow, Columbia Business School
Lina Koppel, Ph.D., postdoctoral fellow, Linköping University
Matthias Hudecek, Ph.D., postdoctoral fellow, University of Regensburg
Sarah Mughal, predoc at NYU
Yifei Pei, predoc at Yale School of Medicine
Angel Xing, MA student, Columbia University