Human ecology is an interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary study of the relationship between humans and their natural, social, and built environments. The philosophy and study of human ecology has a diffuse history with advancements in ecology, geography, sociology, psychology, anthropology, zoology, epidemiology, public health, and home economics, among others.
Ecological psychology is the scientific study of perception-action from a direct realist approach. Ecological psychology is a school of psychology that follows much of the writings of Roger Barker and James J. Gibson. Those in the field of Ecological Psychology reject the mainstream explanations of perception laid out by cognitive psychology. The ecological psychology can be broken into a few sub categories: perception, action, and dynamical systems. As a clarification, many in this field would reject the separation of perception and action, stating that perception and action are inseparable. These perceptions are shaped by an individual's ability to engage with their emotional experiences in relation to the environment and reflect on and process these. This capacity for emotional engagement leads to action, collective processing, social capital, and pro environmental behaviour.
Environmental psychology is a branch of psychology that explores the relationship between humans and the external world. It examines the way in which the natural environment and our built environments shape us as individuals. Environmental psychology emphasizes how humans change the environment and how the environment changes humans' experiences and behaviors. The field defines the term environment broadly, encompassing natural environments, social settings, built environments, learning environments, and informational environments. According to an article on APA Psychnet, environmental psychology is when a person thinks of a plan, travels to a certain place, and follows through with the plan throughout their behavior.
Health ecology is an emerging field that studies the impact of ecosystems on human health. It examines alterations in the biological, physical, social, and economic environments to understand how these changes affect mental and physical human health. Health ecology focuses on a transdisciplinary approach to understanding all the factors which influence an individual's physiological, social, and emotional well-being.
C. Anderson (Andy) Johnson is University Professor at Claremont Graduate University (CGU) in Claremont, California. He was Founding Dean of the CGU School of Community and Global Health and served in that capacity from 2008 to 2013 when he assumed the position of CEO of the Community Translational Research Institute (CTRI), a not-for-profit research and education corporation headquartered in Riverside California. CTRI links public health, medical and health administration schools and departments at CGU, UC Riverside, Loma Linda University, and the University of La Verne with public health, health care and other community based institutions in Southern California, including the County of Riverside, the Inland Empire Health Plan, and municipalities, school systems and NGO's in the region for translating health promotion and disease prevention science into public policy and practice. His teaching in population health and prevention science at CGU links faculty and students with the practice of translational research.
Socio-ecological models were developed to further the understanding of the dynamic interrelations among various personal and environmental factors. Socioecological models were introduced to urban studies by sociologists associated with the Chicago School after the First World War as a reaction to the narrow scope of most research conducted by developmental psychologists. These models bridge the gap between behavioral theories that focus on small settings and anthropological theories.
The Monash University Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences is an Australian healthcare provider. It comprises 10 schools, teaching and clinical centers and research institutes. The faculty offers undergraduate, postgraduate and professional education programs in medicine, nursing and allied health, and is a member of the M8 Alliance of Academic Health Centers, Universities and National Academies.
The School of Social Ecology (SSE) is a school at the University of California, Irvine (UCI) that focuses on social ecology. Students in SSE at UCI undergo a multidisciplinary program that examines real-world social and environmental issues, involves the students in off-campus internships and SSE offers undergraduate and graduate degrees, including bachelor's, professional master's, and Ph.D.s.
Perry N. Halkitis is an American of Greek ancestry public health psychologist and applied statistician known for his research on the health of LGBT populations with an emphasis on HIV/AIDS, substance use, and mental health. Perry is Dean and Professor of Biostatistics, Health Education, and Behavioral Science at the Rutgers School of Public Health.
Translational research is research aimed at translating (converting) results in basic research into results that directly benefit humans. The term is used in science and technology, especially in biology and medical science. As such, translational research forms a subset of applied research.
The concept of team science is a field of scientific philosophy and methodology which advocates using cross-disciplinary collaboration from diverse scientific fields to solve present-day to day problems. The field encompasses conceptual and methodological strategies aimed at understanding and enhancing the processes and outcomes of collaborative, team-based research by pooling resources from different countries, labs and groups to solve problems.
The Center for Study of Gene Structure and Function is a consortium of fifty-three researchers. It is based at Hunter College in Manhattan. It focuses on cross-disciplinary and translational research by promoting dialogue and cooperation among scientists working in diverse biomedical research fields. It is funded by the Research Centers in Minority Institutions (RCMI) program of the National Center for Research Resources(NCRR) of the National Institute of Health (NIH) Since its establishment in 1985, the NIH has awarded the Gene Center over $38 million in federal grants.
Social ecology studies relationships between people and their environment, often the interdependence of people, collectives and institutions. Evolving out of biological ecology, human ecology, systems theory and ecological psychology, social ecology takes a “broad, interdisciplinary perspective that gives greater attention to the social, psychological, institutional, and cultural contexts of people-environment relations than did earlier versions of human ecology.” The concept has been employed to study a diverse array of social problems and policies within the behavioural and social sciences.
Jutta Heckhausen is Professor of Psychological Science, University of California, Irvine. She specializes in life-span developmental psychology, motivation, individual agency and social context. She expanded her education at the Center for Social and Behavioral Science, Stanford University and at the Center for Interdisciplinary Research, University Bielefeld, Germany. At the Department of Psychological Science at University of California, Irvine, she teaches in the areas of life-span development and motivational psychology.
Kisha Braithwaite Holden is a scientist known for her research on mental health of African-Americans and members of other minority groups. She is professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences and community health & preventive medicine and interim director of Satcher Health Leadership Institute (SHLI) at Morehouse School of Medicine.
Candice Lynn Odgers is a developmental and quantitative psychologist who studies how early adversity and exposure to poverty influences adolescent mental health. Her team has developed new approaches for studying health and development using mobile devices and online tools, with a focus on how digital tools and spaces can be improved to support children and adolescents. Odgers is currently a professor of Psychological Science at the University of California, Irvine and a research professor at Duke University. Odgers is also the co-director of the Child and Brain Development Program at the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research.
Oladele "Dele" Abiola Ogunseitan is a Nigerian public health researcher who is the University of California Presidential Chair at the University of California, Irvine. His research considers how toxic pollutants impact human and environmental health. He is an elected a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
A. Alonso Aguirre is an American veterinarian, wildlife biologist, academic and researcher. He is Professor and Chair of the Department of Environmental Science and Policy, College of Science, and he also chairs the university Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) at George Mason University.
Tracey A. Revenson is a health psychologist known for her research on how people cope with chronic illness and how people's lifestyles can affect their health and influence their coping mechanisms. She holds the position of Professor of Psychology at Hunter College and the Graduate Center of the City University of New York, and directs the Coping and health in context (CHiC) lab.
