Matthew Goldberg, director of experimental research at the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication, will present a keynote talk on  “Strategic climate communication research for real-world impact” at 4 p.m. on Feb. 24 in the Foster Auditorium of Paterno Library. The talk is sponsored by the Sustainability Council at the Donald P. Bellisario College of Communications at Penn State.

Goldberg’s research focuses on persuasion, social influence and strategic communication about urgent environmental issues like climate change and renewable energy. In his lecture, he will share communication tactics for creating real-world climate impact. He said he hopes to “nudge people” toward a different way of thinking about these topics.

Drawing on social psychology and his work at the Yale Program, Goldberg will show how message reach, geography, novelty and audience targeting interact. He’ll emphasize shifting attention from familiar, low‑impact actions, like bringing reusable bags to the grocery store, to high‑impact behaviors, such as taking international flights, and influential habits that meaningfully cut emissions.

The talk is free and open to all.