Maurie Cohen

Professor, Humanities

Newark NJ UNITED STATES
Humanities

Maurie's research is centered in the field of environmental/sustainability social science

Contact

Spotlight

May 31, 2022

1 min

Sustainable consumption in the age of CO2

Experts like NJIT’s Maurie Cohen are looking beyond electric cars and alternative sources of energy to combat the rapid rise of carbon dioxide emissions. Their approach is more fundamental and societal, touching everything from the size of our homes to where we work and what we buy.The global pandemic sparked new ways of living and working, bringing previously niche approaches into the mainstream, including:Working from homeTiny housesLocal swap meetsLive nomadically, work digitally Cohen, co-founder of the international Sustainable Consumption Research and Action Initiative and author of “The Future of Consumer Society,” is no newcomer to such ideas. He has studied sustainable consumption and its relationship to environmental policy for 20+ years, bringing a long-term perspective to addressing the carbon crisis.As seen in stories from Fortune, Fast Company, Vice and Yahoo News, Cohen can speak cogently about the implications of behavioral trends such as Facebook “no buy” groups, digital nomads and the shift toward working from home. To reach Cohen, simply click on the button below.Maurie's Profile

Apr 2, 2020

1 min

COVID-19 and a sustainable transition

As the COVID-19 pandemic touches almost every aspect of society, it is becoming increasingly obvious that the slowdowns and shutdowns may inadvertently enable us to shape a new conception of prosperity and good livelihood. What has the global slowdown meant for the environment and sustainable living, and what could it mean if some of the radical changes in our everyday lifestyles and consumption habits persisted long-term?As Maurie Cohen, professor in New Jersey Institute of Technology's department of humanities, explains, "Since we are all living through this unique moment, observing the responses by government, businesses and ordinary people, it marks an opportune time to explore if these changes can provide leverage points for opening pathways to a sustainability transition."The topic attracted a diverse group of scientists, economists, educators and hundreds more around the world virtually during a live webinar titled, “COVID-19 Can Help Wealthier Nations Prepare for a Sustainability Transition.” The open forum-style event, organized by researchers from the international sustainability organization FutureEarth, set up an online discussion on the major global sustainability trends and issues that have evolved in recent months alongside the coronavirus outbreak. Read more: Cohen is available to speak with media directly on issues related to COVID-19 and sustainability. To arrange an interview, click on the button below. Maurie's Profile

Media

Social

Biography

Dr. Maurie Cohen is a professor in the Department of Humanities at the New Jersey Institute of Technology and director of its Science, Technology and Society program. He is a co-founder and executive board member of the Sustainable Consumption Research and Action Initiative (SCORAI), an international knowledge network comprising academics, policy makers and NGO representatives working at the interface of material consumption, sustainable systems innovation and economic transition (http://www.scorai.org). Dr. Cohen is also the Editor of Sustainability: Science, Practice, and Policy, an open-access journal dedicated to the wide dissemination of academic research and professional insights on sustainability science and studies (http://sspp.proquest.com).

Dr. Cohen´s books include Putting Sustainability into Practice: Applications and Advances in Research on Sustainable Consumption (with Emily Huddart Kennedy and Naomi Krogman); Innovations in Sustainable Consumption: New Economics, Socio-technical Transitions, and Social Practices (with Halina Szejnwald Brown and Philip Vergragt); Exploring Sustainable Consumption: Environmental Policy and the Social Sciences (with Joseph Murphy); Risk in the Modern Age: Social Theory, Science, and Environmental Decision Making; and The Exxon Valdez Disaster: Readings on a Social Problem (with J. Steven Picou and Duane Gill). He holds a master´s degree in urban and regional planning from Columbia University (1987) and a PhD in regional science from the University of Pennsylvania (1993).

See his personal website at http://mauriecohen.net.

Areas of Expertise

Socio-Technical Transition Management

Sustainable Consumption

Sustainability Science

Environmental Social Science

Environmental Policy

Alternative Mobility Futures

Education

University of Pennsylvania

Ph.D.

Regional Science

1993

Columbia University in New York City

M.S.

Science, Urban and Regional Planning

1987

New York University

B.S.

Science, Marketing

1984

Media Appearances

The Stanley craze: How a reusable cup became the latest symbol of overconsumption

The 19th online

2024-01-12

From exclusive ‘color drops’ to unboxings, the hype over the popular tumblers shows how influencer culture is driving waste on a planet with finite resources.

How to hack McMansions

Archinect News online

2020-03-13

Citing research published in the journal Housing, Theory & Society by Maurie Cohen, a professor at New Jersey Institute of Technology, Peters argues that "if the world used resources sustainably and equitably, the average home for a single person would be no larger than 215 square feet, and a four-person family would live in no more than 860 square feet."

How much do our oversized McMansions need to shrink to be sustainable?

Fast Company online

2020-03-11

“New construction of homes keeps getting bigger and bigger,” says Maurie Cohen, a professor at New Jersey Institute of Technology and author of a new paper reporting these conclusions, published in the journal Housing, Theory & Society. “It drops off during periods of recession, but then it recovers. And this was sort of part of an effort of trying to begin a discussion about developing a new housing paradigm that’s not so much focused on ‘bigger is better.'”

Show All +

Research Focus

The Intersection of environmental social science, sustainability science, and environmental policy

My research is located at the intersection of environmental social science, sustainability science, and environmental policy. Primary areas of activity focus on sustainable consumption, alternative mobility futures, and socio-technical transition management, I serve as the Editor the journal Sustainability: Science, Practice, and Policy

Articles

COVID-19 Can Help Wealthier Nations Prepare for a Sustainability Transition

Future Earth

Maurie Cohen, Joseph Sarkis, Patrick Schröder, Magnus Bengtsson, Steven McGreevy and Paul Dewick

2020

COVID-19 could inadvertently contribute to meaningful progress toward meeting the goals of the Paris Climate Agreement and several of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.

Climate-governance entrepreneurship, higher-order learning, and sustainable consumption: the case of the state of Oregon, United States

Climate Policy

2019

The ongoing devolution of climate policy-making to sub-national levels has prompted growing interest in policy entrepreneurship by individuals who are politically and technically creative and institutionally resourceful.

Degrowth within – Aligning circular economy and strong sustainability narratives

Resources, Conservation and Recycling

2019

This perspective calls for building greater understanding of overlapping and conflicting considerations between the sustainability principles that inform current conceptions of circular economy and degrowth.