Photo by Iakov Filimonov via 123RF

In talking about environmental issues, psychology and sustainability do not seem to be linked with each other. However, it is possible to have a fusion of the two, as elaborated in the lecture, “How Psychology Can Save the Planet,” that is geared towards orienting people on how psychology can be used to govern people's attitudes, behavior, and understanding of the climate change issue.

The lecture is part of a monthly lecture series hosted by the University of Iowa’s Environmental Coalition. Cassie Joyce, one of the committee heads supervising the lectures, expressed her delight over the union of environment and psychology.

Joyce noted that the pairing is a good link for people whose courses are not environmentally connected, and expressed her desire to determine how they can initiate conversations with people who do not believe in global warming and to study their perspectives about the issue. Environmental Coalition co-president Ioannis Koutsonikolis relayed that the group's members seek to look at the issue of sustainability via a psychological perspective to prove that the two elements can blend.

The Daily Iowan reported that Psychology Professor Shaun Vecera presided the lecture, which recognized that 97 percent of climate scientists agree that the Earth is warming, and that humans and fossil-fuel emissions are the catalysts behind global warming. Vecera remarked that educating people through the lecture has shifted their attitudes toward climate change.