Sara Constantino Lab

The Sustainability and Social Change Lab is an interdisciplinary research lab led by Sara Constantino, located in the Department of Environmental Social Sciences at the Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability. In this lab, we apply methods and perspectives from psychology, political science, and economics to understand the interdependent relationships among individuals, groups, institutions and the environment. For example, our research explores barriers and opportunities for cooperation, coordination and collective action; the processes by which social norms, collective beliefs, and cultural narratives emerge and become entrenched or polarized; how policy feedbacks can or should be accounted for in policy design; and the impacts of acute shocks/crises and deep uncertainty on communities and adaptive decision-making. To understand these complex dynamics, we use lab and field experiments, observational research, formal and computational modeling, and qualitative methods. The lab bridges basic and applied science, drawing on theories of human behavior to inform our solutions to persistent societal challenges such as climate change and poverty.

Sara also co-leads the Politics, Accountability and Climate Transitions Lab, a King Center initiative, with Amanda Kennard.