The Climate Communication Division of the Annenberg Public Policy Center is a hub for interdisciplinary, translational research on climate communication, resilience, action, and policy which focuses on topics at local scales (e.g., environmental justice initiatives in West Philadelphia), global scales (e.g., the development and evaluation of media campaigns that communicate climate science knowledge), and the neural, psychological and/or sociological mechanisms that motivate belief, attitude, and behavior change, as well as resilience and social connection. APPC’s work in this space aims to educate and co-create scholarship with others across the academy, the public, policymakers, and journalists as key contributors and beneficiaries. The Climate Communication Division’s research involves experiments, surveys, computational methods, and neuroimaging. Drawing on grants and APPC support, the division works in partnership with the other APPC divisions and institutes and affiliated centers, including including the Penn Center for Science, Sustainability, and the Media, and the Communication Neuroscience Lab.
Climate Communication
Brain Activity Reveals What Makes Persuasive Messages Stick
A study by the Communication Neuroscience Lab and others finds that activity in brain regions associated with reward and social processing can predict messages' effectiveness.
What Behavioral Strategies Motivate Environmental Action?
An interdisciplinary research team at APPC and Penn ran an “intervention tournament” to test strategies and learn the most effective ways for motivating people to act on climate change.
How To Get People To Share Trustworthy Information Online
New research by APPC scholars finds that people tend to share news that they find relevant to themselves or to people they know.
Q&A: Emily Falk on ‘What We Value: The Neuroscience of Choice & Change’
Director of the Communication Neuroscience Lab and APPC's Climate Communication Division, ASC Professor Emily Falk discusses her book, "What We Value: The Neuroscience of Choice & Change."
APPC Hosts Society of Environmental Journalists (SEJ) Conference at Penn
APPC hosted the annual SEJ conference April 3-7, focusing on Democracy, Disinformation, Activism… What’s Environmental Journalism’s Role?”
Experiencing Extreme Weather Predicts Support for Policies to Mitigate Effects of Climate Change
Most Americans report having experienced the effects of extreme weather, according to a new survey that finds support for policies to lessen the effects of climate change.