About Lauren
Dr. Lauren Watkins is a psychologist who specializes in environmental and conservation social science, community-based social marketing, and behavior change strategies. By understanding the relationship between people and natural resources, she helps organizations and communities address today’s most pressing environmental challenges without compromising their values.
What do environmental and conservation social scientists like Lauren do?
They explore how people interact with and are influenced by their environments, including their emotional, mental, and behavioral responses to places, ecosystems, and wildlife. These relationships shape our decisions and well-being. By understanding how people connect with nature, environmental psychologists and conservation social scientists can help design solutions to pressing environmental challenges—often by creating campaigns, programs, or other initiatives that foster healthier and more sustainable interactions between people and the environment. The result is positive outcomes for people, economies, and nature.
What values guide Lauren’s work?
Integrity
Committing to ethical practices, transparency, and accountability in everything we do.
Collaboration
Believing that the best solutions come from working together with communities and organizations.
Empathy
Approaching our work with understanding and compassion for the challenges people, communities, and ecosystems face.
Sustainability
Focusing on creating long-term, lasting impacts that support people, nature, and livelihoods. Creating initiatives that can have a lasting impact.
Inclusivity
Prioritizing diverse perspectives and ensuring that solutions are inclusive, meet people where they are, and consider the culture and values of others.
Lauren’s Services & Sample Projects
Community-based Social Marketing Initiatives that Lead to Sustainable Behavior Change
If you build it without them, they may not come. Let me help you work better with your audiences.
For six years, I collaborated with communities, leaders, and experts in western Tanzania to create a large-scale composting campaign, helping restore soil fertility and slow deforestation. Learn more on the Jane Goodall Institute's website.
I've designed in-depth case studies in the southeastern USA and Pacific Northwest that explored environmental challenges community members were experiencing and then led project teams and community members in designing pilot behavior change initiatives to support positive change.
Social Science Research and Evaluation
You get what you ask for. Let me help you ask better questions of your project, data, and target audiences.
I've led large-scale, mixed-methods research projects on exotic pet ownership, attitudes toward environmental topics, the likelihood of engaging in illegal hunting behaviors, motivations for consuming wild meat, and many other topics.
I've designed thoughtful, data-informed strategies with local governments, tribes, and communities to uncover and understand barriers people face in accessing clean water, air, food, forests, and shoreline spaces. I have experience in engaging communities of color and cultures other than my own in ways that create safe spaces for collaboration.
Environmental Communication, Education, and Interpretation
Good communication is like a bridge between your organization's mission and the heart and mind of your audiences.
I've designed Master Communication and Interpretive Plans for non-profits, international NGOs, parks, and zoos, empowering teams to share cohesive, impactful stories with partners and respond to crises when necessary.
I offer customized training workshops on values-based communication that help organizations engage with diverse audiences to reach specific goals, such as motivating behavior change or strategically raising awareness.