Rachael Shwom is Professor in the School of Environmental and Biological Science’s Department of Human Ecology and Chair of the Department of Human Ecology. She conducts research that links sociology, psychology, engineering, economics, and public policy to investigate how social and political factors influence society’s responses to energy and climate problems. Rachael was recently a Co-PI on a multi-university, $1.5 million National Science Foundation grant on “Reducing Household Food, Energy and Water Consumption: A Quantitative Analysis of Interventions and Impacts of Conservation” and is currently PI on a collaborative National Science Foundation Grant “Responses to complex disruptive events: Cognition in a socio-political context” and a Sloan Foundation grant studying the public’s energy preferences for decarbonization. She is a member of the National Academy of Sciences Committee to Advise the U.S. Global Change Research Program and a co-author to the National Climate Assessment’s Chapter 5 (Human and Social Systems).