Chair, 2018 – present: Lindsay J. McCunn, Ph.D.
Professor, Department of Psychology
Director, Environmental Psychology Research Lab, Faculty of Social Sciences
Principal, McCunn & Associates Consulting
Vancouver Island University,
Nanaimo, BC
Email: lindsay.mccunn@viu.ca
https://drlindsaymccunn.com
Mission
How can we encourage people to live more sustainable lifestyles? What are the psychological and physical health benefits of time spent in nature? How do people respond to extreme environmental conditions and to environmental disasters? How do we design features of buildings and neighbourhoods to increase people’s health and well-being?
If questions like these interest you, join our section. Our members study the relationships between behaviour and the physical environment, both built and natural. Areas of interests include: management of scarce natural resources; psychological effects of lighting, noise, and extreme environments; territoriality and personal space; and perception and evaluation of buildings.
Members of our section receive the section newsletter and are subscribed to an e-mail discussion list. The annual section fee for members of CPA is $15.00 for Members/Fellows and $5.00 for Student Affiliates. Individuals who are not members of CPA can join the Behaviour-Environment Interest Group (BEInG) and become members of our section for an annual fee of $15.00. These fees support the communication activities of the section, the student research award and the costs associated with invited speakers at the CPA Convention.
News and Events from the Section
Robert Sommer Award winners:
- 2022 – Yasmeen Ibrahim (Dalhousie University)
- 2021 – Jenn Leckey (Dalhousie University)
- 2020 – Karine Lacroix (University of Victoria)
- 2019 – Youval Aberman (University of Toronto)
- 2018 – Elizabeth Williams (University of British Columbia)
- 2017 – Caroline MacKay (Simon Fraser University)
- 2016 – Emmanuelle Gagné (Université Laval)
- 2015 – Colin Capaldi (Carleton University)
Undergraduate Student Research Award winners:
- 2021 – Tish Lewis (Vancouver Island University)
- 2021 – Sara Cochrane (Dalhousie University)
What is Environmental Psychology?
Environmental Psychology covers a wide variety of research topics. It can be described on a continuum that ranges from the study of the impact of spatial-physical environment on human behaviour to the influence of human behaviour on the natural environment, and sustainable development. At one end of this continuum, human behaviour is conceived as a consequence of a built physical environment. At the other end of the continuum, human behaviour is conceived as a cause of the physical environment. To find out more about specific research topics on Environmental Psychology check out the page on Research Topics
Getting In Touch With the Membership
Current section members can send an email to the membership of the section using this email address: envpsyc@unbc.ca
Get Involved with the Section
If you are interested in getting involved with this section please contact our chair, Lindsay McCunn (lindsay.mccunn@viu.ca).