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 the lingering influence of colonial conceptions of nature and environmental concern in the cultural institution of U.S. state parks. Another line of work investigates how people imbue racialized and political power in determining the character of environmentalism. His active dissertation research explores the coloniality of support for continued urban development into the Wakarusa Wetlands in 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