Introducing the ANZEP (Australia New Zealand Environmental Psychology Network) Speaker Series. We plan to organise this as a quarterly seminar series to provide opportunities for researchers and students across Australia and New Zealand (and beyond) to connect, share their work, and engage in discussions on important topics in environmental psychology.
For our first seminar, we will focus on mis/disinformation, and we are very pleased to welcome two scholars working at the forefront of environmental psychology, science communication, and misinformation research.
Dr Samuel Pearson
Postdoctoral Fellow, University of Queensland
Dr Samuel Pearson works within the Net Zero Observatory led by ARC Laureate Fellow Professor Matthew Hornsey. His research sits at the intersection of social psychology, artificial intelligence, and science communication, with a focus on how AI systems shape belief change, persuasion, and the spread (and correction) of misinformation about climate change and other contentious scientific issues. His work has appeared in outlets including Nature Energy, Nature Climate Change, and PNAS.
Dr William Chan
The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
Hoi-Wing Chan is an assistant professor at the Department of Applied Social Sciences at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University. His research focuses on understanding how people respond to contemporary social issues (e.g., climate change, disease outbreaks, intergroup conflicts, and misinformation). His research integrates insights from socio-ecological, cross-cultural, and social psychological perspectives into understanding pro-environmental attitudes and behaviors, climate change beliefs and their psychological impacts, climate anxiety, conspiracy theories, and intergroup processes.
Seminar details
Date: Wednesday, 19 August 2026
Time: 12:00–13:00 pm (Australian Eastern Standard Time); 14:00 - 15:00 (New Zealand Standard Time)
Format: Two 20-minute presentations followed by Q&A and discussion
Venue (Zoom meeting): https://anu.zoom.us/j/82725501662?pwd=3Emfa9aum4ZecOrNGbyaadWetRSRSa.1