Jordan Tam

Jordan Tam is a PhD Candidate at the Institute for Resources, Environment and Sustainability with a broad interest in adaptation and adaptive capcity in social-ecological systems. Specifically he researches the implications of social and environmental change in marine management contexts 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 SSHRC D-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).