Michaela marincic
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Ms. Marincic graduated Summa Cum Laude with a B.A. in English from a small liberal arts college in 2016. At St. Olaf College, Marincic also studied Environmental Science and Sustainable Development, Economics, and Computer Science. Two deep-seated fascinations drive her intellectual work: human beings and efficiency. Sustainability merges these fields to find how humans can live and organize societies efficiently to reduce waste and emissions. In 2016, Marincic led research at the intersection of environmental psychology and literature that found subjects who read haiku with nature imagery experienced a reduction in negative affect (e.g. anger, nervousness) while subjects who read haiku with non-nature imagery experienced no statistically significant effect on either affect. The findings further support the theory that certain forms of exposure to nature can improve human well-being. Marincic also contributed to research on health benefits resulting from low-income residential weatherization in Knoxville, TN in 2017. For Marincic, energy efficiency and sustainable, healthy living continue to motivate further research and information dissemination.