Climate change poses a potentially significant threat to the public's health, and addressing it is among President Obama's top priorities. Co-PIs Edward W. Maibach, Ph.D., M.P.H. and Matthew C. Nisbet, Ph.D. believe that citizens and stakeholders need to play an active role in formulating effective public policies and investments in greenhouse gas reduction. Their project, Mobilizing Citizen Support for Climate Stabilization and Adaptation Policies, investigates how best to engage Americans on climate control issues and analyzes the extent to which a health perspective can enlist community interest and participation. Through surveys and interviews, Drs. Maibach and Nisbet explore people's beliefs and motivations and test their reactions to various policy proposals and messages about climate change and its health implications. Their research findings could help galvanize the public health community and provide policy experts, government agencies, journalists, and other stakeholders with practical guidance on how best to increase public understanding of the implications of climate change.

Matthew Nisbet is an associate professor in the School of Communication at American University, Washington DC. As a social scientist, he studies public engagement in policy-making and political affairs, focusing on controversies surrounding science, the environment, and public health. In this area, Nisbet has used content analysis, in-depth interviews, case studies, and survey research to understand the communication dynamics on issues such as climate change, stem cell research, food biotechnology, and the teaching of evolution in schools. He is the author of more than two dozen journal articles and book chapters, and serves on the editorial boards of the International Journal of Press/Politics and Science Communication. Nisbet holds an A.B. in Government from Dartmouth College and an M.S./Ph.D. in Communication from Cornell University.