About

I'm a SSHRC Postdoctoral Fellow (2024-2026) and Associate Faculty at Royal Roads University. I am stubbornly curious and most interested in how to motivate pro-environmental behaviour and climate action. I explore how various emotions influence environmental behaviour and choices - from career path to activism to end-of-life disposal decisions - among differing groups of people

I examine why people make the choices they do to design impactful and effective environmental communication strategies that activate climate actions and lead to equitable, resilient sustainability outcomes.

My Vanier CGS-funded dissertation determined human psychological responses to mortality reminders within water crisis (e.g., flooding, drought) communication (Smith & Wolfe, 2023; Smith & Wolfe, 2025) and how responses to these reminders can influence views of same or different gender water managers (Smith, Bergsieker, & Wolfe, submitted).

 

My MES - WATER (2017) in Sustainability Management evaluated a local household storm water management program compared to community-based social marketing best practices (Smith et al., 2019). I also founded and managed a cleantech startup (2017-2023) working to solve the microplastics problem - which was certainly a journey and tale best told over a beverage.

 

My current research interests center on climate emotions, their intersection with pro-environmental behaviour, and investigating how to rebuild communities of care, including sustainable and equitable dynamics in deathcare practices (e.g., green burial adoption; care access and labour),

 

I am also a member of the Science & Research Advisory Panel for the Green Burial Council.