Amanda Carrico

Amanda Carrico is an Associate Professor and Department Chair in Environmental Studies at the University of Colorado Boulder. She is an environmental psychologist whose research examines behavioral responses to climate stress with an emphasis on migration, livelihood adaptations, and household risk management. She also investigates the social and psychological conditions that lead to pro-environmental action and policy support.

Dr. Carrico earned her PhD and MS in Psychological Science with an emphasis in Environmental/Social Psychology and Quantitative Methods from Vanderbilt University, and her BA in Psychology from Transylvania University.

Her research focuses on the behavioral dimensions of climate change, environmental demography, climate change and migration, individual & household behavior, and adaptation to environmental stress. She uses mixed methods and diverse data to examine how individuals and households engage in conservation efforts and adapt to climate change impacts. Her work spans international contexts including Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, as well as domestic research in Colorado.

• Elected member of the APA's Board of Scientific Affairs
• Deputy Editor at the journal Climatic Change

Dr. Carrico advises graduate students in the Environmental Studies program. Recent students include Jeremiah Osborne-Gowey, who completed a dissertation on 'The Effects of Social Capital and Migration on Agricultural Practices and Well-Being among Farmers in Sri Lanka and Bangladesh,' and Urooj Raja, who completed research on 'Bridging Psychological Distance: Engaging the Public on Climate Change and Broader Environmental Problems.' She has led major research projects including the Bangladesh Environment and Migration Survey (BEMS) and Sri Lankan Homegarden Survey, funded by the National Science Foundation, Office of Naval Research, and City of Boulder.

She leads the Environment & Behavior Lab at CU Boulder, which conducts research on the social and behavioral dimensions of environmental change using surveys, experimental methods, and quantitative approaches. The lab has conducted field research in Bangladesh examining rural-to-urban migration in Dhaka, in Sri Lanka studying agricultural adaptation to drought, and in Colorado exploring sustainable use of public lands and parks.