Kim Wolske

Kim Wolske is a research associate professor at the University of Chicago Harris School of Public Policy and a fellow with the Energy Policy Institute at the University of Chicago (EPIC). Her work draws on the fields of environmental, social, and cognitive psychology to examine the behavioral dimensions of energy issues, with an eye toward improving the design of public-facing policies and programs. Most recently she collaborated with the National Renewable Energy Laboratory as part of the Department of Energy's Sunshot Initiative to investigate strategies for lowering the soft costs of residential rooftop solar. Other research examines how different ways of framing climate change solutions may influence public perceptions of the issue and support for mitigation and adaptation policies.

Wolske previously worked at the Erb Institute for Global Sustainable Enterprise and as an independent consultant to Opower. She received a BA in environmental studies from Connecticut College, an MS in natural resource policy and behavior from the School of Natural Resources & Environment at the University of Michigan, and a PhD in environmental psychology, also from the University of Michigan.

Research interests:

• Environmental psychology, Behavior Change, Climate Change, Emergent Technologies, Energy behaviors

Education

• Ph.D. University of Michigan
• M.S. University of Michigan
• B.A. Connecticut College

Select Publications

• Wolske, K.S., Gillingham, K.T., Schultz, P.W., (2020) Peer Influence on Household Energy Behaviours. Nature Energy.

• Wolske, K.S. (2020). More alike than different: Profiles of high-income and low-income rooftop solar adopters in the United States. Energy Research & Social Science.

• Raimi, K.T., Wolske, K.S., Campbell-Arvai, V., Hart, P.S. (2019). The Aversion to Tampering with Nature (ATN) Scale: Individual Differences in (Dis)comfort with Altering the Natural World. Risk Analysis.

• Wolske, K.S. Raimi, K.T., Campbell-Arvai, V., & Hart, P.S. (2019). Public support for carbon dioxide removal strategies: The role of tampering with nature perceptions. Climatic Change.

• Wolske, K.S., Todd, A., Rossol, M., McCall, J. & Sigrin, B. (2018). Accelerating demand for residential solar PV: Can simple framing strategies increase consumer interest? Global Environmental Change.

• Wolske, K.S. & Stern, P.C. (2018). Contributions of psychology to limiting climate change: Opportunities through consumer behavior. In S. Clayton & C. Manning (Eds). Psychology and Climate Change: Human Perceptions, Impacts, and Responses. Elsevier Academic Press, pp. 127-160.

• Campbell-Arvai*, V., Hart*, P.S., Raimi*, K.T. & Wolske*, K.S. (2017). The influence of learning about carbon dioxide removal (CDR) on support for mitigation policies. Climatic Change. (*Shared first authorship)

• Wolske, K.S., Stern, P.C., & Dietz, T. (2017). Explaining interest in adopting residential solar photovoltaic systems in the United States: Toward an integration of behavioral theories. Energy Research & Social Science.