Jessica M. Nolan

Dr. Jessica M. Nolan is Professor of Psychology and Director of the Environmental Studies Concentration at The University of Scranton. She teaches Fundamentals of Psychology, Social Psychology, Statistics, Industrial/Organizational Psychology, Environmental and Conservation Psychology, and Psychology of Diversity.

Her research focuses on applying psychological tools to solve social and environmental problems, with two primary areas: studying the effects of normative social influence on environmental behaviors (energy conservation and household recycling), and examining how individuals react to feedback indicating they hold biases. She runs both the Conservation Psychology Lab and the Reducing Implicit Prejudice (RIP) Lab, where her team investigates informal systems of social control and reactions to prejudice feedback.

Dr. Nolan has published more than a dozen articles on environmental behavior in peer-reviewed scientific journals and has presented her research at numerous professional conferences. Her work has received significant media attention including coverage in the Scranton Times-Tribune, HuffPost, USA Today, and New Scientist Magazine.

• 2021 Women in Conservation Award for Woman of Environmental Education from PennFuture
• 2018 Excellence in Integrating Sustainability into the Curriculum Award

As Director of the Environmental Studies Concentration, she partners with local environmental groups including Friends of Lackawanna, Eastern Pennsylvania Coalition for Abandoned Mine Reclamation, and the Lackawanna River Conservation Association. She founded Green Drinks Scranton, an informal networking group for residents interested in environmental issues.

Dr. Nolan earned her bachelor's degree at Cornell University, her master's degree at California State University, and her Ph.D. at the University of Arkansas.