Elise L. Amel, has a Ph.D. in Industrial-Organizational Psychology from Purdue University and has been teaching at the University of St. Thomas for over two decades. Amel is an award-winning Professor of Psychology; past-chair of the Department of Earth, Environment, & Society; Past-President of the Society of Environmental, Population, & Conservation Psychology; and is a Fellow of the American Psychological Association. She has co-authored numerous articles and books about the role of psychology in addressing environmental crises. She co-created the St. Thomas Office of Sustainability Initiatives, and has successfully led efforts at the University of St. Thomas to create a culture of sustainability leadership through systems-level changes including committing to carbon neutrality, embracing sustainability as a strategic priority, developing a strategic sustainability action plan for the university, and creating a system for integrating sustainability across the curriculum.
Amel, E.L., Manning, C.M., Daus, C.S., & Quinn, M.R. (2024). Fostering sustainability in higher education: Leveraging human behavior in organizations.
Scott, B.A., Amel, E.L. Koger, S.M., & Manning, C.M. (2021). Psychology for Sustainability (5th Edition). Routledge: NY, NY.
Häger, A., Little, M., Amel, E. & Calderón, G. (2021). By wasting the coffee fruit, we waste opportunities: Transformational experiences from a shade-grown coffee farm in Atenas, Costa Rica. Case Studies in the Environment, 5(1), 1227777. doi: 10.1525/cse.2021.1227777
Koger, S.M., Manning, C.M. & Amel, E.L. (2021). Supplementary Instructor Resources for Psychology for Sustainability (5th Edition). Routledge: NY, NY.
Amel, E.L., & Manning, C.M. (2019). Fostering collective effort toward ecosystem conservation. E3S Web of Conferences, 119 (00006). doi: 10.1051/e3sconf/201911900006
Small, G., Simeon, M., Shrestha, P., Dahmus, M., & Amel, E. (2019). Research Note: Assessing the potential of urban ecology research to inform municipal sustainability practices. Cities and the Environment (CATE), 12(1).
Manning, C., Mangas, H., Amel, E., Tank, H., Humes, L., Foo, R. Sidlova, V., Cargos, K. (2018). Psychological distance and response to human versus non-human victims of climate change. In W. Leal Filho, R.W. Marans, & J. Callewaert (Eds.), Handbook of Sustainability and Social Science Research (pp.143-161). doi:10.1007/978-3-319-67122-2_8
Amel, E.L., Manning, C.M., Scott, B.A., & Koger, S.M. (2017). Beyond the roots of human inaction: Fostering collective effort toward ecosystem conservation. Science, 356, 275–279. doi: 10.1126/science.aal1931
Amel. E., Manning, C., Koger, S., Scott, B., & Ruedi, B. (2017). Can eco-leadership save the planet? AAAS/NSF Science in the Classroom Annotated Research Papers and Accompanying Teaching Materials. www.scienceintheclassroom.org
John Ireland Presidential Award for Outstanding Achievement as a Teacher-Scholar, 2019
APA Division 34 Fellow, 2018
MN CERTs Women in Energy, 2017
Office of Service-Learning Service-Learning Faculty Award, 2013 Undergraduate Research & Collaborative Scholarship Undergraduate Research Award, 2011
Undergraduate Student Government Accolades, May 2008
Amel, E.L. & Manning, C.M. (2023, October). Fostering Sustainable Behavior through Organizational Transformation. APA Division 34 Online Conference.
Stuhlmacher, A., Caruth, N., Amel, E.L., Mason, C, Jones, D.A., & Landon, M. (2023, April) I-O's Role in Pursuing the Triple Bottom Line: Boosting our Green Game. Panel Discussion at Annual Conference of the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology, Boston, MA.
Amel, E.L. & Manning, C.M. (2022, August). Amplifying Sustainability by Fostering Organizational Behavior Change. American Psychological Association, Minneapolis, MN.
Amel, E.L., & Manning, C.M. (2022, June). Organizational Culture Change in Service of Sustainability: Transformational leadership, Policy, and Human Behavior. Presentation at The International Association for Society and Natural Resources, San Jose, Costa Rica.Amel, E.L. (2021, January). Fostering Change: The Role of Individuals. Panel presentation at McGill Sustainability Research Symposium: Sustainable Business, on-line.
Nadav, A. & Amel, E.L. (2020, September). Creating Organizational Culture Change in Higher Education. AASHE Conference & Expo, on-line.
Amel, E.L. (2020, August). Harnessing Organizational Behavior to Build Systems-Scale Ecological Sustainability. In B. Held (Chair), Toward an Ethically Sustainable World: General, Theoretical, Environmental, & Societal Perspectives. Symposium presentation for the 125th Annual Convention of the American Psychological Association, Washington, DC, on-line.
Amel, E.L., Dahmus, M.E., Reichman, A., & Russel, S. (2020, April). Educational Partnerships for Innovation in Communities (EPIC): Creating Future Experts while Contributing to Sustainable Systems. ASHOKA Exchange, Minneapolis, MN.
Amel, E.L., & Nadav, A. (2020, April). Empowering Changemaking Through Organizational Culture Change in Higher Education. ASHOKA Exchange, Minneapolis, MN.
Amel, E.L., & Manning, C.M. (2019, August). Higher education for the long haul: Achieving university sustainability using psychological tools. Symposium presentation for the 124th Annual Convention of the American Psychological Association, Chicago, IL.
Amel, E.L. (2018, November). Fostering collective effort toward ecosystem conservation. Science and the Future 2, Torino, Italy.
Amel, E.L., & Manning, C.M. (2018, August). Goal specificity, climate change distance frames, and goal commitment. In S. Dreyer (Chair), The Who, What and How of Responses to Climate Initiatives. Symposium presentation for the 123th Annual Convention of the American Psychological Association, San Francisco, CA.
Heller, A. Krengel, S., Mulugeta M., Johnson, A.J., Nakabuye, L.F., & Amel, E.L. (2018, April). Demographic Predictors of Awareness and Satisfaction with Campus Racial Climate. Poster submitted to 2018 Meeting of the Midwestern Psychological Association, Chicago, IL.
Ness, J. & Amel, E.L. (2014, May). Climate change attitudes and behavior: Is it powered by psychological distance and action goals? Poster for the Annual Conference of the Midwestern Psychological Assocation, Chicago, IL. Winner of the Midwestern Regional Research Award from Psi Chi.
Michalak, N., Korcak, O., Amel, E.L., Manning, C.M., & Scott, B.A. (2013, May). How perceived behavioral control influences donations of time & money to the problem of global climate change. Poster for the Association for Psychological Science, Washington, DC
Kelly, B., Manning, C.M. & Amel, E.L. (2012, June). Conservation psychology in Germany. Paper for the Association for Environmental Studies and Sciences, Santa Clara, CA. Selected for Best Student Paper.
Hays, A. (2012, February). Impact of urban gardening on a university campus. Selected for Scholars at the Capitol, St. Paul, MN. Sponsored by a 2011 $4,000 Community-Based Research Grant http://www.stthomas.edu/bulletin/2012/02/15/cilce-corner-garden/
Lyons, R.E., Amel, E.L., Manning, C.M., & Scott, B.A. (2011, April). To fly or not to fly: using the theory of planned behavior to understand personal travel. Symposium for Society for Human Ecology, Las Vegas, NV.
Lyons, R. & Amel, E.L. (2010, May). Pets as purses: Treating pets as accessories and its influence on how humans value the natural environment. Annual Conference of the Midwestern Psychological Association, Chicago, IL.
Forsman, J.W., Amel, E.L., Manning, C.M., & Scott, B.A. (2010, April). Applying the transtheoretical model of change to sustainable work behaviors. In A.M. Sanders, & A.H. Huffman (Chairs), Earth and I/O: Implications for a sustainable workforce. Symposium for the annual meeting of the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology, Atlanta, GA.
Forsman, J.W., Amel, E.L., Manning, C.M., & Scott, B.A. (2008, September). Getting hooked: Finding effective frames for religious and Residence-related worldviews. In B.A. Scott (Chair), Shades of green: Implications of human diversity for environmental education and advocacy. Symposium for Society for Human Ecology, Bellingham, WA.
Duclos, E.L. (2007, April). The influence of self-efficacy and knowledge in sustainable behaviors. Poster session presented at the 21st National Conference on Undergraduate Research at Dominican University of California. Sponsored by a $4,000 Young Scholars grant.