Max Boykoff

My research and creative work center on two themes. One is the ‘cultural politics of science, policy, and the environment,’ which refers to how the attitudes, intentions, beliefs, and behaviors of individuals and groups shape (and are shaped by) the perceived spectrum of possible action in the context of environmental challenges such as climate change. A second is the transformations of carbon-based economies and societies, with a particular emphasis on the interface of science, sustainability, and practical action, including policies. Through many connected projects and collaborations, my research commitments involve questions of how climate science and policy find meaning in people’s everyday lives, as well as how this, in turn, feeds back into science- policy decision-making. Together, my work has sought to critically analyze the role of various actors and organizations shaping political and cultural dimensions of environmental science and policy discussions in the public arena.    For example:

• Through the Media and Climate Change Observatory, colleagues and I monitor media coverage of climate change at various scales, updated monthly. We have established and maintain appraisals of 82 sources across 40 countries around the world and monitor country-level coverage in Australia, Canada, Germany, India, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the United States. In addition, through collaborations with Rogelio Fernandez-Reyes in Spain, and Midori Aoyagi-Usui and Shoko Yamaguchi in Japan, we maintain country-level counts there as well. As offshoots from this work, we work with many partners (e.g., Lancet Countdown on climate change and health issues) and we have produced a number of related reports and journal articles.
• With colleagues Beth Osnes (Theater Department) and Rebecca Safran (Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Department) we run a multi-faceted project called ‘Inside the Greenhouse’. This project works to deepen our understanding of how issues associated with climate change are/can be communicated, by creating artifacts through interactive theatre, film, fine art, performance art, television programming, and appraising as well as extracting effective methods for multimodal climate communication. We also seek to build competence and confidence in the students with whom we work. The project effectively fosters a deliberative space for CU Boulder students to experiment with creative climate communications and build capacity for more systematic, capable and effective environmental communication strategies. As part of this project we teach numerous courses and produce seasonal events and various research outputs.

Projects

  ICECaps: International Collective on Environment, Culture & Politics Founded in 2012 at the University of Colorado Boulder, the International Collective on Environment, Culture and Politics is a research group that examines some of today’s most pressing environmental issues. ICE CaPs members and affiliates cross disciplines to apply a wide range of theories and perspectives to study issues at the human-environment interface. We work across scales from the individual to the global. Read more ...   Inside the Greenhouse Max Boykoff and Beth Osnes of the Theater Department at University of Colorado Boulder are working to deepen our understanding of how issues associated with climate change are/can be communicated, by creating artifacts through interactive theatre, film, fine art, performance art, television programming, and appraising as well as extracting effective methods for multimodal climate communication. Read more ...   Media Coverage of Climate Change/Global Warming Monthly updated figure tracking newspaper coverage of climate change or global warming in 50 newspapers across 20 countries and 6 continents. Max Boykoff (University of Colorado) and Maria Mansfield (University of Exeter) continue to track newspaper coverage of climate change or global warming in 50 newspapers across 20 countries and 6 continents. They update this figure on a monthly basis as a resource for journalists, researchers, and others who may be interested in tracking these trends. Max Boykoff also has a book coming out with Cambridge University Press in September 2011 titled Who Speaks for Climate? Making Sense of Media Reporting on Climate Change. Read more ...   Red Cross/Red Crescent Climate Centre Internship Program This program seeks to improve climate change communication and adaptation decision-making in response to climate variability and change within the humanitarian sector. It connects humanitarian practitioners from the Red Cross/Red Crescent Climate Centre [RC/RC CC] an affiliate of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies [IFRC] with science-policy graduate student researchers at the University of Colorado. Read more ...  

A Note for Prospective Graduate Students

Professor Boykoff is not taking new students in the incoming Fall 2022 class.

• The Media and Climate Change Observatory (MeCCO)
• Inside the Greenhouse