Overcoming political polarization on environmental issues

Postdoctoral researcher Sara Hoose investigates how environmental policies can be popular across the political spectrum.

The Northwestern University Sustainability and Energy Fellows (NUSEF) program draws top postdoctoral researchers from a wide range of academic disciplines. Sara Hoose joined the program after completing her master’s degree and PhD in political science at the University of Colorado, Boulder. Her research examines what makes certain environmental policies—such as access to green space—popular across the political spectrum. She aims to identify aspects of these policies that give them broad appeal and apply these insights to build greater bipartisan support for environmental initiatives. She shared her thoughts about being a member of the NUSEF program’s inaugural cohort.

What do you find most exciting about the Northwestern University Sustainability and Energy Fellows program?

I'm excited to talk to people outside my home discipline of political science and interact with people working in nonprofits and the practical policy space. In political science, it's important to consider the broader context of living within a state and a country. Doing that in an interdisciplinary way adds valuable layers. Also, it’s a rare opportunity that will allow me to continue the work I started in my PhD program rather than taking on a new project.

What will you work on during your fellowship?

My work focuses on overcoming political polarization around environmental issues. Some types of environmental policies are broadly supported across the political spectrum, such as access to green space and protection of parks and state lands. These types of policies have been popular even as we've seen rising political polarization and other issues have become extremely polarized, especially in state legislatures. I want to look at why green space policies and protection for parklands are popular, and then how attributes of those policies can be applied to other environmental policies that are much more polarized. So, the project focuses on overcoming political polarization to create effective environmental policy.

How does your research help address real-world challenges in energy or sustainability?

I think that things like carbon abatement, the adoption of electric cars, and other measures to address climate change are extremely important. With this project, I hope to create more knowledge about how to shape policy to achieve these goals effectively. I want to learn how we can develop policies that can be popular among Republicans and Democrats, as well as people who don’t necessarily care about the environment. People have preconceived notions about the importance of the environment, and these preconceived views influence how they think about things like carbon abatement or the adoption of renewable energy. It’s about understanding how to overcome this problem and to bridge these political divides.

What do you hope to learn from your fellowship experience and your mentors in particular?

I'm excited to work with my mentors and to learn more about the post-grad school research process. There are a lot of big transitions from being an undergraduate student to being a graduate student, to being a PhD candidate, and then moving on to this post-grad school research experience. I look forward to learning from them how to successfully transition away from the more structured research and life of a graduate student to this postdoctoral program and postdoctoral research. I'm also really excited to work with people who have extensive knowledge in the field.

What do you look forward to about your time at Northwestern and in the Evanston and Chicago area?

I'm so excited about being in the Chicago area. I'm actually from the Midwest. I'm from Cleveland, so I'm looking forward to being a little bit closer to home. I'm super excited about living near the lake. I think it's so unbelievably gorgeous. I live near the mountains right now, which are gorgeous, so I'm really excited to experience a different part of the country and different nature. Also, I think that Northwestern's campus is absolutely gorgeous. I had the opportunity to walk around recently while we were apartment hunting, and it’s just beautiful. I'm so excited to be part of the community and to learn more about opportunities for postdocs to get involved at Northwestern.

Outside of your work, do you have any hobbies or interests you would like to share?

I do have a couple of hobbies. I'm really into swimming. I do master's swimming and running. I'm trying to get into triathlons, but I don't particularly like to bike. And then I've also been learning how to knit.