Sloan Postdoctoral Fellows working on New Carbon Economy Research Join C4E

West Lafayette, IN -- Postdoctoral fellows Henry Seeger (Communication) and Janel Jett (Political Science), having won prestigious Sloan Post-doctoral Fellowships to conduct research relating to the New Carbon Economy through the Center for the Environment, have joined the Center as C4E Sloan Scholars.

Their efforts will be supported by the Sloan Foundation and the New Carbon Economy Consortium (NCEC), a union of universities, research labs, and non-governmental organizations launched in 2017. Members of this network have a common goal of transitioning to a carbon reduction economy and carbon removal solutions and Purdue University is a founding member of the consortium.

An important and often overlooked aspect of this transition to less carbon usage is the underlying social implications it will likely promote. The NCEC Social Science Research Fellowship program was designed to promote post-doctoral research that seeks to determine the best course of action toward a more carbon-conscious world with an understanding of these social implications.

Henry Seeger, under the mentorship of Stacey Connaughton (director of Purdue Policy Research Institute, professor of Communication in Purdue’s Brian Lamb School of Communication ) and Tim Filley (professor of Geography, Environmental Sustainability, and Geology, U. of Oklahoma)  is to identify obstacles that slow adoption of carbon reduction strategies in agricultural communities.  One key question he is investigating is how various agricultural communities respond to innovation or the potential of it. He will assess legal, cultural, financial, and attitudinal barriers in Indiana as well as in Peru through a partnership with the Arequipa Nexus Institute.

Within Seeger’s home discipline of Communication Studies, there is a tradition of understanding both implemented progress and barriers to change in agriculture. Seeger said, “I’ve always seen the agricultural and research communities as essential partners in a comprehensive approach to climate change, and I am excited to affirm this through my research.”

Janel Jett’s research, titled “Bypassing Populist Barriers: How Framing Influences Public Support for Carbon Dioxide Removal (CDR) Technologies,” focuses on the association between trust and the effectiveness of messaging relating to environmental sustainability and carbon reduction removal (CDR) technologies.

Jett said she hopes to “identify…barriers to climate action while also promoting…the development of new communication channels promoting more sustainable, trust-driven relationships between scientists, industry, and society.” Jett will conduct this work with the help of mentor Erin Hennes (assistant professor of Psychological Sciences and Political Science).

Both post-docs have academic homes as well as a research ‘home’ within the Center for the Environment as C4E Sloan Scholars.  The Center welcomes them both and looks forward to having them share their work with the Purdue community soon.

Writers: Lauren Wetterau, Communication Intern, Center for the Environment and Lynne Dahmen, Managing Director, ldahmen@purdue.edu.

About Purdue’s Center for the Environment: The Center for the Environment promotes proactive, interdisciplinary research, learning, and engagement that addresses important environmental challenges. The Center connects the faculty and students across departments and disciplines who work on environmental challenges by actively supporting the development and implementation of innovative projects and teams