Jordan Tam is a first year PhD student at the Institute for Resources, Environment and Sustainability with a broad interest in the intersection of biological conservation and poverty alleviation. Specifically he hopes to research the implications of marine management for local livelihoods and the feedbacks between policy and social systems for ecological sustainability. He is also deeply interested in understanding the perpetuation and origins of consumer culture in both the developed and developing world and its implications for development, well-being and the environment.
His past work examined the cognitive and affective constraints to adaptation under climate change. Specifically he studied perceptions of conservation policy and explored how environmental beliefs, emotion, and perceptions of risk affected people’s willingness to endorse (sometimes controversial) adaptation strategies in a protected area contexts. A former SSHRC CGS Scholar, he is now a BRITE fellow and his current research is supported by a Four-Year Fellowship from UBC.
Jordan holds an MA in Resource Management & Environmental Studies (2010) and a BA in Psychology (2005) from the University of British Columbia.
Supervision: Dr. Kai Chan, tier 2 Canada Research Chair, and Dr. Terre Satterfield, both of UBC’s Institute for Resources, Enviornment and Sustainability (IRES).
