Bio:
Karen Akerlof is a doctoral candidate in Environmental Science & Public Policy at George Mason University, where she is currently working on a project assessing the use of community deliberation in the formation of local policy responses to sea-level rise and inundation. She has conducted a survey on global warming public opinion and household energy use behaviors for a regional watershed partnership and national lakeshore, and has written on media coverage of climate science, popular usage of the terms global warming and climate change, and international perceptions of the impacts of climate change on public health. She worked at Mason’s Center for Climate Change Communication from 2007-2010, where she assisted with research to evaluate messages framed around public health for their efficacy in engaging the public on climate change. She is currently an affiliated researcher with 4C.
Education:
BA (’91), Political Science, University of Michigan
MS (’09), Environmental Science & Policy, George Mason University
Refereed journal articles:
Akerlof, K. & Maibach, E. W. (2011). A rose by any other name ...? What members of the general public prefer to call "climate change." Climatic Change, 106(4), 699. Journal link. SSRN link.
Akerlof, K., DeBono, R., Berry, P., Leiserowitz, A., Roser-Renouf, C., Clarke, K., Rogaeva, A., Nisbet, M. C., Weathers, M. R., & Maibach, E. W. (2010). Public perceptions of climate change as a human health risk: Surveys of the United States, Canada and Malta. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 7(6), 2559-2606. Journal link.
Maibach, E. W., Nisbet, M. C., Baldwin, P. K., Akerlof, K., & Diao, G. (2010). Reframing climate change as a public health issue: An exploratory study of public reactions. BMC Public Health, 10, 299. Journal link.
Book chapter:
Maibach, E., Leiserowitz, A., Roser-Renouf, C., Akerlof, K., & Nisbet, M. (2010). Saving energy is a value shared by all Americans. of public reactions: Results of a global warming audience segmentation analysis. In K. Ehrhardt-Martinez & J.A. Laitner (eds). People-centered initiatives for increasing energy savings. Pgs. 8-1 to 14. Washington, DC: American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy.
Publicly released research reports:
Akerlof, K. (2010). Assessing household energy use and global warming opinion: Alger County 2010 [Prepared for Superior Watershed Partnership and Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore]. Fairfax, VA: George Mason University. Report link.
Leiserowitz, A. & Akerlof, K. (2010). Race, ethnicity and public responses to climate change. Yale University and George Mason University. New Haven, CT: Yale Project on Climate Change. Report link.
Other publications:
Akerlof, K., Bruff, G., & Witte, J. (2011). Audience segmentation as a tool for communicating climate change: Understanding the differences and bridging the divides. ParkScience, 28(1), 56-64. Article link.
Akerlof, K. (Mar. 2011). When news media pass on covering complexity: The case of missing coverage of models. The Yale Forum on Climate Change & The Media. Article link.
Akerlof, K. (Jan. 2011). Contested predictions: The significance of modeling to public climate debates. Weather and Society Watch. Article link.
Akerlof, K., & Maibach, E. W. (2008). “Sermons” as a climate change policy tool: Do they work? Evidence from the international community. Global Studies Review, 4(3), 4-6.
Contact:
kakerlof@gmu.edu
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