Biographical Information

Marilyn Cornelius was born and raised in Fiji. She holds an AA degree in Graphic Design (summa cum laude) from Chabot College in the East Bay, and a BSc in Business and Environmental Resource Management (summa cum laude) from Menlo College in Atherton. While at Menlo College, Marilyn was a Presidential Scholar and was also awarded the International Student Scholarship. She co-founded a service-learning program for scholarship recipients with a focus on environmental and social justice. In 2003 she graduated as valedictorian.

Marilyn has worked as a research consultant for the Wildlife Conservation Society. She was Assistant National Director for the International Waters Program, a project spanning 14 Pacific Island countries focusing on conservation of freshwater and coastal resources. As Environment Associate for the UNDP, she has managed environmental projects in 10 Pacific Island nations focusing on climate change, land degradation, energy, and biodiversity. Most recently, Marilyn worked closely for two years with Stephen Schneider, one of the world’s eminent climatologists, before commencing her doctoral studies at Stanford.

Using E-IPER’s flexible framework, Marilyn plans to integrate design processes with behavioral science methods to study climate and energy related behavior change. She is currently working on two research projects. The first involves designing, implementing and evaluating an experimental curriculum to motivate adolescents to increase their energy efficiency behaviors. The second includes an innovative ethnographic study to understand home energy use and inform efforts to frame energy feedback from smart meters and other sensing devices to motivate homeowners to reduce their energy usage.