Nancy Chaney (AD-RN ’77, BA Psychology ’79) has been selected by the president of the American Psychological Association (APA) to serve on that organization’s new 12-member Task Force on Climate Change.
“My background is in nursing, psychology, and environmental science, so this feels like a perfect fit,” Chaney said. “I am excited to work with a diverse group of professionals from around the world, to address something as important as the climate crisis. It’s a complex challenge that warrants an integrated, broad-based approach.”
According to the APA press release, the Task Force will “review APA’s past and current activities related to how psychology, as a discipline and profession, has addressed global climate change; recommend goals and strategies for future APA activities that will strengthen the role and impact of psychology in addressing the global climate change crisis … take an interdisciplinary and international perspective (and) produce a report to be submitted to the Council of Representatives and shared with the APA membership and the general public.”
As a nurse, Chaney started her career on the neurosurgical unit at Saint Alphonsus in Boise, and subsequently worked in clinical and private duty settings. After becoming an RN, she earned a bachelor of arts in psychology (both from Boise State), an MS in environmental science (University of Idaho ’02), and honed policy skills during two terms as mayor of Moscow, with associated state, national, and international leadership roles.
Her graduate research involved neuro-psychology and learning-theories, in the context of internalizing environmental messaging. In 2020, she was recognized with honorary diplomate status by the American Veterinary Epidemiology Society (AVES) for her work on the One Health Advisory Board, linking human, animal, and environmental health. She serves in Climate Change and Policy/Advocacy Work Groups for the Alliance of Nurses for Healthy Environments. Chaney lives in North Idaho, where she and her husband own a veterinary specialty business.