Prof. Bidwell is an environmental social scientist, hired as part of the Provost’s interdisciplinary Ocean Renewable Energy Cluster (OREC) initiative. Dr. Bidwell has conducted research on public acceptance of wind energy developments along the Great Lakes’ coasts. His specific interests revolve around the structure of public attitudes and mechanisms of attitude change.
Prof. Bidwell recently served as the program manager of the Great Lakes Integrated Sciences and Assessments Center (GLISA), a NOAA-funded collaboration of the University of Michigan and Michigan State University. As part of a network of Regional Integrated Science and Assessments organizations, GLISA worked closely with boundary organizations, as well as climate and social scientists, to build capacity for the adaptation to climate change and variability in the Great Lakes region. Bidwell also co-edited Climate Change in the Great Lakes Region: Navigating an Uncertain Future, a collection of chapters by eminent scholars on climate and decision making.
Prof. Bidwell holds a PhD in Sociology from Michigan State University, also earning doctoral specialization in environmental science and policy. His M.S. is from the School of Natural Resources and Environment at the University of Michigan is in Natural Resources Policy and Behavior. Bidwell also served as an associate at the National Center for Environmental Decision Making, conducting case studies on habitat conservation planning under the Endangered Species Act.
Professionally, Dr. Bidwell has worked as a facilitator and public participation consultant for clients including state agencies, the U.S. EPA, and the U.S. Department of Energy. Projects included community-scale planning processes, statewide environmental justice policy making, and the cleanup of contaminated sites. These experiences inform his current work on decision making under uncertainty and risk management. His fist career was as an environmental and natural science educator at a major zoo and at outdoor education centers (including a brief stint on Cape Cod).
Prof. Bidwell is the father of two boys, aged 2 and 5, who are looking forward to long days of digging sand on Rhode Island beaches.