BIO
Dr. Kim Wolske is a research associate professor in the Harris School of Public Policy at the University of Chicago and a research fellow with EPIC, the Energy Policy Institute at the University of Chicago. Dr. Wolske's research draws on the fields of environmental, social, and cognitive psychology to examine the behavioral dimensions of energy and climate issues, with an eye toward improving the design of public-facing policies and programs. A central focus of her research is on understanding the motivations and barriers associated with consumer adoption of efficient and renewable energy technologies. She also researches public perceptions of climate change solutions, including large-scale technologies such as carbon dioxide removal. Dr. Wolske is a Fellow of the American Psychological Association and a past president of the Society for Environmental, Population, and Conservation Psychology (Division 34 of APA). She currently serves as a deputy editor for Climatic Change.
SELECT PUBLICATIONS
Günther, A., Engel, L., Hornsey, M. J., Nielsen, K. S., Roy, J., Steg, L., Tam, K-P., van Valkengoed, A. M., Wolske, K.S., Wong-Parodi, G., & Hahnel, U.J.J. (2025). Psychological and contextual determinants of clean energy technology adoption. Nature Reviews Clean Technology. Access paper here: https://rdcu.be/epJUS
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Raimi, K.T., Wolske, K.S., Hart, P.S. & Choi, S. (2024). Exploring public perceptions of carbon capture and utilization in the US. Sustainable Production and Consumption. Open Access here: doi:10.1016/j.spc.2024.08.003
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Brick, C., Nielsen, K. S., Berger, S., Henn, L., Wolske, K. S., Lange, F., Hanss, D., Bauer, J. M., Aldoh, A., Sachisthal, M. S., Johnsen, S. Å., & Cologna, V. (2024). Current research practices on pro-environmental behavior: A survey of environmental psychologists. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 97, 102375. Open Access here: 10.1016/j.jenvp.2024.102375
Nielsen, K. S., Cologna, V., Bauer, J. M., Berger, S., Brick, C., Dietz, T., Hahnel, U. J. J., Henn, L., Lange, F., Stern, P. C., &
Wolske, K.S. (2024). Realizing the full potential of behavioural science for climate change mitigation. Nature Climate Change, 14(4), 322–330. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41558-024-01951-1
Wolske, K.S., Todd-Blick, A. & Tome, E. (2023). Increasing the reach of low-income energy programmes through behaviourally informed peer referral. Nature Energy. Access paper here: https://rdcu.be/dh5R6
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Hart, P.S., Campbell-Arvai, V., Wolske, K.S., & Raimi, K.T. (2022) Moral hazard or not? The effects of learning about carbon dioxide removal (CDR) on mitigation support. Energy Research & Social Science, 89: 102656.
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Stern, P.C., Wolske, K.S., & Dietz, T. 2021. Design principles for climate change decisions. Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability, 52, 9-18.
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Brough, A.R., Donnelly, G.E., Griskevicius, V., Markowitz, E.M., Raimi, K.T., Reeck, C., Trudel, R., Waldman, K.B., Winterich, K.P., and Wolske, K.S. (2020). Understanding How Sustainable Initiatives Fail: A Framework to Aid Design of Effective Interventions. Social Marketing Quarterly. (Authors in alphabetical order)
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Nielsen, K.S., Stern, P.C., Dietz, T., Gilligan, J.M., Vuuren, D.P. van, Figueroa, M.J., Folke, C., Gwozdz, W., Ivanova, D., Reisch, L.A., Vandenbergh, M.P., Wolske, K.S., & Wood, R. (2020). Improving climate change mitigation analysis: A framework for examining feasibility. One Earth, 3(3), 325–336. Read Here
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​Wolske, K.S., Gillingham, K.T., Schultz, P.W. (2020). Peer influence on household energy behaviours. Nature Energy.
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41560-019-0541-9 Read Here
Wolske, K.S. (2020). More alike than different: Profiles of high-income and low-income rooftop solar adopters in the United States. Energy Research & Social Science. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.erss.2019.101399
Raimi, K.T., ^Wolske, K.S., ^Campbell-Arvai, V., ^Hart, P. Sol. (2020). The Aversion to Tampering with Nature (ATN) Scale: Individual Differences in (Dis)comfort with Altering the Natural World. Risk Analysis. (^shared second authorship) https://doi.org/10.1111/risa.13414
Wolske, K.S. ^Raimi, K.T., ^Campbell-Arvai, V., & ^Hart, P.S. (2019). Public support for carbon dioxide removal strategies: The role of tampering with nature perceptions. Climatic Change, 152(3-4): 345-361. (^shared second authorship) Read Here
Wolske, K.S., Todd, A., Rossol, M., McCall, J. & Sigrin, B. (2018). Accelerating demand for residential solar PV: Can simple framing strategies increase consumer interest? Global Environmental Change, 53:68-77. Read Here
*Wolske, K.S. & *Stern, P.C. (2018). Contributions of psychology to limiting climate change: Opportunities through consumer behavior. In S. Clayton & C. Manning (Eds). Psychology and Climate Change: Human Perceptions, Impacts, and Responses. Elsevier Academic Press, pp. 127-160. (*shared first authorship) https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-813130-5.00007-2
*Campbell-Arvai, V., *Hart, P.S., *Raimi, K.T. & *Wolske, K.S. (2017). The influence of learning about carbon dioxide removal (CDR) on support for mitigation policies. Climatic Change, 143(3-4): 321-336. (*shared first authorship) Read Here
Wolske, K.S., Stern, P.C., & Dietz, T. (2017). Explaining interest in adopting residential solar photovoltaic systems in the United States: Toward an integration of behavioral theories. Energy Research & Social Science.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.erss.2016.12.023.