Becoming an Environmental Psychologist Autobiographical Career Paths Toward Applied Social Science

This book explores the interdisciplinary pathways that leading environmental psychologists have taken to become educators, researchers, consultants, and professionals in this highly applied and growing field. Environmental psychology examines the transactions between people and the built and natural settings in which they inhabit. Despite this broad scope, few direct avenues to careers in environmental psychology exist, and students must forge varied and individualized routes to becoming scholars and practitioners in this important area of study. The aim of the book is to serve as an inspiring supplemental resource for those who wish to know more about how leading thinkers established themselves as environmental psychologists. Individuals with backgrounds in architecture, urban planning, and geography, as well as in the health sciences, describe how they discovered environmental psychology. In each chapter, the author describes their inspirations, decisions about undergraduate and graduate courses, particular schools, and professional connections that have made a difference to their careers—with the hope that others will follow in their footsteps.