Originally from Saskatoon, Jennifer Wang is currently a Ph.D. candidate at Stanford University in the Emmett Interdisciplinary Program in Environment and Resources (E-IPER), supported by the Stanford Graduate Fellowship and the Diversifying Academia and Recruiting Excellence Fellowship. Taking the perspective that environmental issues transcend any one academic discipline, E-IPER provides doctoral students with independent funding and the mandate to recruit lead advisors from at least two different disciplines in order to create an interdisciplinary dissertation. She is advised by Dale Miller (Organizational Behavior), Nicole Ardoin (Education), Leonard Ortolano (Civil & Environmental Engineering), and Carrie Armel (Precourt Center for Energy Efficiency).
Jennifer’s current research looks at attitudes and decision-making related to prosocial behaviors and common goods, particularly those in the environmental and health domain. Her current projects look at business attitudes towards environmental sustainability and climate change, variation in teenage food choices by socio-economic status and family food practices, and consumer attitudes and perceptions of "green" products and environmental violations. She uses both quantitative and qualitative methods and draws on multiple disciplines including organizational behavior, psychology, sociology, and communications.
In addition to her doctoral projects, Jennifer has taken time out of her PhD to work with a number of organizations such as the Natural Resource Defense Council and the UK Behavioral Insights Team to conduct policy-relevant research. Her work with the Yale Center for Business and the Environment resulted in a 2015 report, "Rising Leaders on Environmental Sustainability and Climate Change: A Global Survey of Business Students", which was timed to be released in advance of the 2015 Paris Climate Change Conference, and was covered in a report presented to the World Economic Forum, as well as multiple media outlets including the Financial Times, the Wall Street Journal and BusinessWire.
Jennifer has also been spurred to promote collaboration across disciplines and sectors, starting a number of groups while at Stanford, including the Students Helping Interdisciplinary Networking and Education (SHINE) workshop series and ClimateWeek at the Stanford Graduate School of Business. She co-founded and continues to lead the Stanford Environment Behavior (SEB) group, which brings together students across disciplines to share resources, participate in journal club and social events, and receive feedback in student seminars on research related to environmental decision-making and behavior. She also developed and teaches the course "Changing Human Behavior: Drivers and Barriers in Environmental Action", which is offered as part of the Environmental Engineering, Environmental & Water Studies Summer Program.
Prior to graduate school, Jennifer graduated from Yale University with a BS in Molecular Biology and worked for the World Bank in the Africa Sustainability Network, Environment & Natural Resources Management Unit. She has been recognized for leadership and innovation, including with the Canadian Top 20 Under 20 award, as well as for public speaking and debate, which she continues to grow as an oral communications coach at Stanford. She is also an avid musician and received her Performer's Diploma with First Class Honors with Distinction in piano from the Royal Conservatory of Music, and has since played everything from big band to chamber to bluegrass music as a pianist, singer, and general enthusiast (!).
