Doctor John Fraser of the Alaska SeaLife Center in Seward received the Devra Kleiman Scientific Advancement Award last month. The honor has historically gone to biologists for work in animal breeding, genetics, or species recovery.
Fraser is a psychologist who helped establish the field of conservation psychology, according to a SeaLife Center announcement on the award. Fraser said the discipline studies how people connect with nature and how human behavior influences conservation.
“So I was really excited to see the field drawing attention to the social sciences as central to a sustainable future,” Fraser said.
Fraser said the award is a personal milestone. He worked directly with Devra Kleiman – the award’s namesake – early in his career.
Over the years, his research has mapped symptoms in conservationists similar to post-traumatic stress disorder, which he links to witnessing environmental decline.
“To deal with the environment today is to deal with grief every day,” Fraser said.
Fraser said his work highlights the need to support scientists to prevent burnout. His studies on hope have also shaped a national program that trains aquarium educators to talk about climate change in ways that leave visitors feeling capable.
More recently, Fraser has partnered with the Anchorage-based Chugachmiut Heritage Preservation Council. They created an audio tour for the SeaLife Center that introduces Sugt'stun words and Sugpiaq stories from local elders. Fraser said learning the language is a different way to experience the relationship between people and nature.
In his acceptance speech he urged colleagues to treat social science as an equal partner to biology. He told the audience, “We don’t have an environmental problem. We have a human behavior problem. The people who study people can help us meet this moment.”
