Trevor S. Lies

Department of Psychology

University of Kansas



I am a doctoral candidate in the social psychology Ph.D. program at the University of Kansas. My research examines how people think about and engage with the ecological crisis, nature, land, and movements for environmental justice. I apply a cultural psychological lens to study how personal attitudes and behavior can either reinforce or challenge systems of colonialism, capitalism, and racism.

Biography

Trevor's research applies insights from decolonial theory, critical race theory, and cultural psychology to study how people engage with the ecological crisis. One line of research works to understand how colonial conceptions of nature and environmental concern impact engagement with climate change in U.S. state parks. Another line of his work investigates how people racialized and political power inhibit the pursuit of environmental justice. His dissertation examines the relationship between neoliberal subjectivity and support for continued urban development in the context of the Wakarusa Wetlands south of Lawrence, Kansas.

In 2019, Trevor graduated with distinction from the University of Kansas with a bachelor's in Psychology and a minor in Spanish. He was awarded the Senior Award for Outstanding Performance by the KU Department of Psychology. In 2021, Trevor received his Master of Arts degree in Psychology from the University of Kansas.

Trevor strives to be an interdisciplinary, mixed-methods, and applied scholar. He has worked with non-profit organizations such as The Resilient Activist and governmental organizations such as the Douglas County (KS) Sustainability Office and Tucson Water (AZ). Trevor currently oversees the Cultural Psychology Research Group at the University of Kansas where he plans to graduate with a Ph.D. in Social Psychology in 2025. He currently lives in Arizona with his wife Valentina.

Education

Expected 2025 Ph.D. Psychology, University of Kansas

Dissertation title: Denaturalizing Development: Neoliberal Subjectivity, Colonial Conceptions of Land, and Environmental Injustice

2021 M.A. Psychology, University of Kansas                                                                   

Thesis title: Investment in Whiteness and Climate Change Skepticism

2019 B.A. Psychology, University of Kansas