Community Partnerships

New York City Community

American Museum of Natural History's Polar Exploration
Why do some people willingly expose themselves to extreme situations? CRED researchers presented information on decision making under uncertainty and weather-related risk attitudes at the American Museum of Natural History's International Polar Year Symposium, "New York and Polar Research - A Partnership Spanning the Centuries". The program focused on bringing attention to New York City's century-long involvement with polar exploration.

Sabine Marx presented a talk, "A Picture is Worth a Thousand Graphs: The Psychology of Environmental Decision Making". As part of the polar fair, CRED researchers administered an online version of the DOSPERT risk taking scale developed by CRED Co-Director Elke Weber. It measures whether an individual is a risk taker or risk averse in different aspects of their life including social, recreational, and weather-related risk.
» View the AMNH Polar Exploration website

Siemens Science Day
Siemens Science Day was held at Columbia University on Saturday, Oct 20th. More than 1,300 students, parents and instructors participated in 20-plus workshops and exhibits, taught by Columbia faculty and graduate students, as well as Siemens professionals and specialists. CRED hosted a table where students could play the interactive game, "To Pollute or Not Pollute: Common's Dilemma and Environmental Decision Making.
» View Siemen's Science Day website

Lamont Open House
CRED has partnered with Lamont Doherty Earth Observatory for Lamont's annual open house in an attempt to show the public what our researchers do and why it is so important to the future of our planet Earth. Close to 4,000 people tour Open House every year.
» View Lamont's Open House website

Solar One
In 2006, CRED researchers teamed with the Solar One's CitySol Festival organizers to integrate principles of effective communication into exhibit descriptions. CRED drew on its research results to repackage information presented at the event through exhibits and brochures.

The exhibits, a series of large-scale installations constructed to bring attention to key green policies and innovations in New York City, were part of a festival hosted by Solar One on Manhattan's East River. The primary focus of the displays was on a number of the City's most chronic environmental and quality of life challenges -- most notably, poor air and water quality, escalating energy use, the urban heat island effect, climate change and unacceptable waste generation. Each event attracted 1500 city goers.
» View Solar One's website

Double Discover Center
CRED and the Double Discovery Center (DDC) partnered to teach local high school students from economically disadvantaged areas in New York City about the social science of climate change. DDC was established at Columbia in 1957 and annually serves over 1,000 students in grades 7-12 from the Morningside Heights area. On April 20, 2007 CRED researchers made a presentation on the impacts of climate change and solutions to reducing climate change at an individual and group level.
» View DDC's website