Leaders in Energy recently celebrated a huge milestone – over 2,500 members in the Leaders in Energy Research, Communications, Policies & Analysis group on LinkedIn.

Whenever this happens, we like to shine the spotlight on our members to show the diversity of talents and backgrounds that are joining our group – either virtually or by attending our monthly networking events in the Washington, DC area. Last year we gave the spotlight to Velina Apostolova from Iceland, Steve Williams from Houston, Texas, and Whitaker Irvin Jr. from Park City, Utah.

Today, let’s welcome Matthew Shonman, a researcher with an interest in trends in climate change perceptions. Here’s what he had to say.

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I am a recent graduate of the University of California, Berkeley with a background in cognitive science and climate-related survey research. As a student, I quickly realized that my passion lay in researching and working to change public opinion on clean energy and climate issues. I spent three years working with the Berkeley Reasoning Research Group to develop short YouTube videos to better explain global warming to the public, which are featured on the website https://www.howglobalwarmingworks.org. I then designed a research study demonstrating that our brief explanations can raise knowledge and acceptance of this issue among members of the public.

I see increased adoption of clean energy as our best hope to mitigate the ongoing threat of global warming.

Following graduation, I worked for several months as a research coordinator at the George Mason University Center for Climate Change Communication, helping to plan and run a study of global warming attitudes in Maryland neighborhoods. I am currently earning a data science certificate from Johns Hopkins University. I joined Leaders in Energy as part of my efforts to become more involved in the energy and environmental community in the Washington, DC area.

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Welcome to the group, Matthew. With members in over 100 countries, the LinkedIn group Leaders in Energy Research, Communications, Policies & Analysis has passed another milestone. Learn more about the group in a recent profile by Tamaki Stiles and read our 2016 year in review article.