Board on Environmental Change & Society (BECS)

The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) is seeking nominations for individuals to serve on the Board on Environmental Change and Society (BECS).

BECS mobilizes social and behavioral sciences to identify equitable and effective solutions to the challenges at the intersection of environmental change and society. Such solutions must consider drivers of behavior and decision making at all scales, including individuals, communities, businesses and governments. Critical drivers include societal values, norms, socioeconomic factors, markets, and policies. The Board draws on interdisciplinary expertise to address the social, political, economic, and equity dimensions of environmental change.

Board members meet semi-annually and interact frequently in small ad hoc groups through conference calls, webinars, and other electronic means to provide oversight to scientific consensus studies, workshops, and other activities around a number of critical concerns for policy, including research, planning, and decision-making.

BECS members come from many disciplines of the social and natural sciences and focus on interdisciplinary research on topics crucial to understanding human-environment interactions. Nominations for members are welcome in all the following areas, and others that are also relevant but not included here (such as individuals at the local, state, and federal level): behavior decision making
•   environmental decision making
•   sociology
•   anthropology
•   risk perception, uncertainty, and communication
•   big data
•   environmental change
•   mitigation and adaptation management and transitions
•   transformative change
•   systems science
•   socio-ecological systems
•   environmental justice
•   economics
•   environmental policy and law
•   psychology
•   environmental and occupational health
•   renewable energy policy
•   stakeholder engagement
•   human geography
•   human-environment interactions
•   climate governance

Members typically serve 3-year terms with an option to reappoint after the first term. Nominations are sought for 2022.

The National Academies are committed to enhancing diversity and inclusion in order to strengthen the quality of our work. Diverse perspectives contribute to finding innovative approaches and solutions to challenging issues. We encourage the nomination of volunteers who reflect the populations we serve and also welcome in particular nominations of candidates from underrepresented racial and ethnic groups, women, and early- and mid-career professionals.

We invite you to submit nominations for board members by February 20, 2022.

Contact information:
Name: Thomas Thornton
Email: TThornton@nas.edu
Phone: 202-334-2021
Board Website