Ezra Markowitz

Interpersonal communication as under-appreciated pathway to positive behavior change

Most approaches to environmental communication rely on top-down, unidirectional (i.e., traditional) messaging techniques. Although important, decades of research in communications, marketing and psychology highlights the critical and powerful role that more informal forms of interpersonal communication play in shaping behavior and beliefs. Our group has begun exploring factors that influence various forms of interpersonal communication (e.g., social sanctioning, signaling, everyday conversation) regarding environmental issues, including individual differences, issue framing and reputational concerns (e.g., Guckian et al., 2018).

Multi-disciplinary perspectives on climate justice and ethics

The field of climate ethics has traditionally been dominated by philosophers. Recently, however, there has been an explosion of research across numerous disciplinary domains (including Psychology, Law, Economics, Geography and Political Science) on the ethical dimensions and implications of anthropogenic climate change. My work in this area aims to integrate disparate perspectives and bring more empirical research into the broader, multidisciplinary field of climate ethics (e.g., Feygina, Chapman & Markowitz, forthcoming). I’m also interested in how feasibility constraints influence the design of climate justice policies and frameworks (Markowitz & Monroe, under review).

Public engagement with science (and scientist engagement with the public)

Gaining a better understanding of how the general (U.S.) public thinks about and interacts with science and technology is critically important for protecting and expanding the role that scientific knowledge and discovery plays in modern life (particularly policymaking). Moreover, decreasing levels of public trust in essentially all major institutions (including science and scientists) underscores the need to better understand scientists’ motivations to engage with the public as well as to identify best practices for supporting fruitful engagement from both directions. To this end, a number of projects focus on identifying what the public thinks of new and emerging scientific issues and technologies (e.g., Markowitz, Englebourgh, Nisbet & Danylchuk, 2017; Nisbet & Markowitz, 2014) as well as factors that shape faculty members’ public engagement efforts (e.g., Rose, Markowitz & Brossard, 2020).

NRC 494EI- Environmental Decision-making

ECO 690P- Public Engagement & Communication

NRC 222- Conservation Social Science

(Complete list available at personal website)

PhD University of Oregon, Environmental Sciences, Studies & Policy

MS University of Oregon, Psychology

BA Vassar College, Psychology

I’m interested in uncovering the underlying psychological, social and contextual factors that influence individual and collective environmental decision-making. Understanding what drives the conservation- and sustainability-related actions people take can help inform strategies, programs, interventions and policies designed to improve both environmental conservation and human well-being. I primarily use methods and theory from the behavioral and communication sciences to reveal how individuals and communities make environmentally-relevant decisions, often in the face of conflicting priorities and significant tradeoffs. My research, teaching and practice all aim to develop and highlight the insights that behavioral science has to offer in promoting positive environmental and societal outcomes.

Bluesky handle:  @ezramarkowitz.bsky.social

ORCID is 0000-0002-8140-2970