Vanderbilt University legal scholar has been named a and has been awarded $200,000 to support his research into overcoming political polarization to address the causes of climate change and the issues it is creating.
鈥淎s one of the nation鈥檚 leading thinkers in the field of environmental policy, Professor Vandenbergh鈥檚 work fundamentally challenges conventional ways to address the issue of climate change,鈥� said , who nominated Vandenbergh for the fellowship. 鈥淭his highly prestigious recognition of his scholarship will enable him to tackle two of the most difficult problems of our time: climate change and polarization.鈥�
Vandenbergh was one of 28 fellows announced on April 26 by the Carnegie Corporation of New York, which awarded a total of $5.6 million in support for research in the humanities and social sciences.
鈥淭his fellowship is tremendous recognition of Professor Vandenbergh鈥檚 interdisciplinary scholarship, which harnesses a broad array of methodological tools鈥攕cientific, legal, economic and sociological鈥攖o address one of the world鈥檚 most pressing policy problems,鈥� said.
Vandenbergh is Vanderbilt鈥檚 fifth Carnegie Fellow since the program launched in 2015. was named as a fellow in 2019 to support her research on the extent to which the courts can intervene when there is encroaching executive power. In 2018, 听was named a fellow to support his research into the future of American democracy.听听received a fellowship in 2017 to support her research on politicians and democracy in Uganda. In 2015,听, was selected for the first class of fellows for his work on how politicians respond to the wishes of citizens from differing economic classes.
鈥淭he fact that the Carnegie Foundation has chosen to invest in five Vanderbilt faculty since launching this program just eight years ago is testament to the remarkable caliber of our faculty and the relevance and impact their work has on our society,鈥� Raver said.
Vandenbergh, David Daniels Allen Distinguished Professor of Law, is the director of the Climate Change Research Network and co-director of the Energy, Environment and Land Use Program at Vanderbilt.
鈥淧rofessor Vandenbergh鈥檚 leadership and commitment to bringing together scholars and scholarship reflecting different viewpoints recognizes the importance of identifying nonpartisan and bipartisan solutions to climate change,鈥� said Chris Guthrie, .
Carnegie projects are selected for originality and promise of the research, its potential impact and the scholar鈥檚 plans for communicating the findings to a broad audience. For his project, 鈥淏ypassing Polarization: Engaging Conservatives to Achieve Climate Justice,鈥� Vandenbergh will draw on insights from social psychology, law and policy to propose strategies to bypass polarization and foster the development of large-scale interventions to address the causes of climate change and the issues it is creating. He plans to write a book and organize a conference, among other outreach initiatives.
鈥淐limate change is a 鈥榗ode red鈥� problem,鈥� Vandenbergh said. 鈥淏ecause the political debate is so polarized, we need to understand not only how progressives and liberals think about climate change, but also moderates and conservatives. The democratic design in the U.S. means that support from moderates and conservatives is essential for us to take meaningful action鈥� My project aims to identify ways to engage moderates and conservatives in the essential task of developing effective ways to address the causes of climate change.鈥�
About Michael Vandenbergh
Vandenbergh is an award-winning teacher and scholar who has worked throughout his career with interdisciplinary teams to explore environmental governance, environmental behavior and climate change. His interdisciplinary work with Vanderbilt鈥檚 Climate Change Research Network has focused on the reduction of carbon emissions from the household sector. He is one of the top 25 law professors in the U.S. based on peer-reviewed literature citations, and his research focuses on working with interdisciplinary teams to explore environmental governance, environmental behavior and climate change.
He is the author, with physicist Jonathan Gilligan, of听Beyond Politics: The Private Governance Response to Climate Change听(Cambridge University Press, 2017), which was favorably reviewed in听Science,听Nature Climate Change听and听Legal Planet; won Vanderbilt鈥檚 2018 Chancellor鈥檚 Award for Research; and was named by the听Environmental Forum听as one of the most important environmental policy books of the last 50 years. His article 鈥淏eyond Gridlock,鈥� also co-authored with Gilligan, won the 2015 Morrison Prize for North America鈥檚 best sustainability article.
Before joining Vanderbilt鈥檚 law faculty, Vandenbergh served as chief of staff of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency from 1993 to 1995. He is a fellow of the American College of Environmental Lawyers and a member of the Board on Environmental Change and Society of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine.
About Andrew Carnegie Fellows Program
The most generous stipend of its kind, the Andrew Carnegie Fellows Program has funded a total of 244 scholars, journalists, and authors, representing an investment of $48.8 million. It focuses on subjects such as U.S. democracy, the environment, technological and cultural evolution, and international relations.
The Andrew Carnegie Fellows Program is a continuation of the corporation鈥檚 more than 100-year history of promoting the advancement and diffusion of knowledge and understanding by supporting the work of a host of institutions, causes, organizations and individual scholars.
鈥淚n recent years, as we have looked to respond to our world’s most complex problems, the Carnegie Fellows have provided important contributions through their exceptional research, pursuit of knowledge and creative approaches,鈥� said , chair of the Andrew Carnegie Fellows Program jury and president of Georgetown University. 鈥淥ur panel of jurors were gratified and inspired by the caliber of the research proposals. We believe that this year鈥檚 fellows show extraordinary potential for lasting impact.鈥�
A distinguished panel of 13 jurors chose the fellows based on the quality, originality and potential impact of their proposals, as well as each scholar鈥檚 capacity to communicate the findings to a broad audience. The award is for a period of up to two years, and its anticipated result is a book or major study.
