Originally from Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Jennifer Wang is currently a Ph.D. student with the Emmett Interdisciplinary Program and Environment and Resources (E-IPER) at Stanford University, supported by a Stanford Graduate Fellowship. Her research interests address human behaviour change in the context of climate change, with the ultimate aim of shifting normative practices and paradigms within public policy, business, and individual behaviour to effectively account for the impacts and risks of climate change and environmental sustainability.

Prior to Stanford, Jennifer obtained a B.S. in Molecular Biology in 2010 from Yale University. She went on to work for the World Bank, as part of the Africa Sustainability Network Environment & Natural Resource Management unit. While there, she saw first-hand the disproportionate effects of climate change on those most vulnerable, as well as the wealth of opportunities to leverage human behaviour change in support of a more sustainable future. She has also worked across sectors, in various language settings (English, French, Mandarin) and in countries including Kazakhstan and China, and with organizations including the Natural Resource Defense Council, the Joint US-China Collaboration for Clean Energy, the StartingBloc Institute for Social Innovation, and the Shad Valley Program in Science, Technology, and Entrepreneurship. Jennifers common belief across these experiences has been that many of the most creative breakthroughs have come from the cross-pollination and application of disparate ideas and paradigms.

Driven by passions for interdisciplinary innovation and social justice, Jennifer has helped to found multiple initiatives including the We Are Many Arts & Environmental Festival (Saskatoon, SK, 2008) and the multidisciplinary Sitka Fellows summer residency program (Sitka, AK, 2012). While at Stanford she has worked with others to spearhead the creation of SHINE, a student organization and workshop series teaching and promoting interdisciplinary research methods; as well as ClimateWeek, a campaign to increase understanding and action by Stanford business students regarding climate risks and opportunities.

Jennifer is a recipient of the Canadian Top 20 Under 20 award, and has previously received national and international recognition for public and persuasive speaking, and for innovation and leadership from Shad Valley International and the Ernest E. Manning Foundation.