Discuss the latest research from the Climate Change and the American Mind project (CCAM) presented by Ed Maibach, one of the project’s lead researchers.

Since 2008 CCAM has conducted a series of public opinion surveys on the topic of climate change and how we should respond to it. The research identified “Six Americas,” or six segments of the American public each with their own characteristics and suite of opinions on our changing climate. In December 2022 CCAM published results from a new survey, identifying voters’ opinions on global warming and what actions (if any) our government, corporations and individuals should take. Ed will delve into some of the key points most relevant to our community and highlight a couple of online tools that can help you learn more about your audience’s views on climate change. We’ll leave plenty of time for Q&A and group discussions. 

Ed Maibach is known to many of our Earth to Sky alumni as one of the key researchers who produced the Global Warming Six Americas research. Ed, a George Mason distinguished University Professor, is a communication scientist who is expert in the uses of strategic communication and social marketing to address climate change and related public health challenges. His research – funded by NSF, NASA and private foundations – focuses on public understanding of climate change and clean energy; the psychology underlying public engagement; and cultivating TV weathercasters, health professionals, and climate scientists as effective climate educators. From 2011 to 2014, Ed co-chaired the Engagement & Communication Working Group for the 3rd National Climate Assessment. He currently advises government agencies, museums, science societies and civic organizations on their climate change public engagement initiatives and serves on the Board of of the Global Climate and Health Alliance. In 2018, he was appointed a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and in 2020 he was awarded Mason’s top research honor—the Beck Family Presidential Medal of Excellence in Research and Scholarship—and the Stephen H. Schneider Award for Outstanding Climate Science Communication (with Anthony Leiserowitz). In 2021, Ed was identified by Thompson Reuters as one of the world’s 10 most influential scientists working on climate change. Previously, Ed served as an Associate Director of the National Cancer Institute, and as Worldwide Director of Social Marketing at Porter Novelli. Ed earned his PhD in communication science at Stanford University, his MPH at San Diego State University, and his BA in psychology at University of California, San Diego.