Elif Naz Çoker

Behavioural Scientist

I studied psychology and sociology for my BA at Columbia University, followed by a masters in social and developmental psychology at Cambridge. I first started my bachelor’s as a political science major, but soon realized I was more interested in how and why people make the choices and decisions they do, and who and what gets to influence them – not just in a political context, but in every aspect of life. As someone invested in mitigating climate change and understanding how human beings contribute to it, I got involved in studying what motivates pro-environmental behaviours (everything from recycling to saving energy), and later, sustainable diets in particular. I am now doing a DPhil (PhD) at the Nuffield Department of Primary Care Health Sciences at Oxford, where I research ways in which social norms (information about how other people behave and how they think you should behave) can influence reduction of meat consumption for healthier people and a healthier planet.

Here’s a link for a ‘Science Short’ talk I did at the Oxford University Museum of Natural History: Science Short: Food and Social Networks.