The commitment of the IAPS to foment work on the interrelations between people and their socio-physical surroundings is more important today than ever, and I am truly honoured to be nominated for the IAPS Board. My commitment to interdisciplinary activities and scholarship in this area is of long standing and growing stronger with time.

I am an academic staff at the School of Psychology and Deputy Director of the Centre for Applied Cross-Cultural Research at the Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand. I received my BA and MSc from Brazilian universities, and obtained my PhD in social and environmental psychology from the University of Auckland. I have been a member of the Editorial Board of the Journal of Environmental Psychology and Environment and Behavior since 2011 and have published more than 120 peer-reviewed articles and book chapters, including a chapter in the Oxford Handbook of Environmental and Conservation Psychology. My current research interests focus on a cross-cultural understanding of people–environment interactions.

If elected, one primary mission would be to work very closely with the other board members to support the IAPS in its current direction while implementing strategies to expand its role internationally, particularly attracting new members in Oceania and Asia. I believe our association is the ideal multidisciplinary forum for researchers and practitioners to communicate and work together to find solutions to issues related to people’s interaction with their environments, and I would work intensively to expand and further realise the potential of this forum. I would also be closely involved in the Young Researchers Workshop and related activities to help young researchers/practitioners with their involvement with the IAPS.