Catherine (Cat) Lambert is an assistant professor at Northeastern University, studying risk communication and the relationships between people, landscapes, and hazards. Her research examines how these relationships shape the way that people interpret and respond to risk, and how we can use this understanding to improve risk communication practices. In contexts ranging from renewable energy acceptance, to natural hazards and social media, to responses to climate change hazards in underserved communities, her work identifies drivers of public concern and risk-related behaviors in order to inform strategic communication and public engagement efforts. In her research on deep geothermal energy development, she investigates how legacies of past extractive industries, visions of energy futures, and narratives of “the underworld” influence responses to subterranean technologies.
As part of this work, she cofounded the GEOHUB collaboration between Cornell University, King’s College London, Edinburgh University, and Sterling University, investigating policy and engagement challenges in geothermal development. Before joining the faculty at Northeastern, Dr. Lambert served as a lecturer in the Department of Communication at Cornell University. She has a PhD in Communication and a Masters in Geology from Cornell, along with a BS in Geology and BA in Creative Writing from the University of Rochester. Her work has appeared in journals including Environmental Communication, Energy Research and Social Science, Risk Analysis, and Sustainability, and has been supported by awards including an NSF Graduate Research Fellowship and an NSF Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Grant.
Catherine E. Lambert 