Biography

Michelle Handy is a Behavioral Scientist with over 8 years of experience leading research at tech companies and in academia. She earned her PhD in Social Psychology from UC Santa Barbara in 2022, working with Dr. David Sherman as her advisor. Currently, she is a Research Lead at FM Global, where she is responsible for defining the research strategy for a new Business Technology Platform that will be used by account managers, underwriters, and field engineers.

Research Area

In her psychological research at UCSB, Michelle studied the ways that experiencing extreme weather influences people's climate change beliefs, policy support, and behavior, using a variety of methods including analyzing search patterns on Google Trends, conducting a survey with a large online sample selected to be representative of the U.S. population, conducting a field experiment in Montecito, California after the debris flows occurred, and conducting a field experiment with citizen climate lobbyists in Washington, D.C.

Michelle's research has spanned the full range of behavior — from climate change to weight loss to political persuasion — providing her with a deep understanding of how humans think and behave, which she leverages to inform business strategy. Michelle is passionate about helping organizations optimize their program, products, and processes through Behavioral Science. She cares deeply about mentorship and supporting others to constantly grow and evolve.

Outside of work, you can find Michelle enjoying the lovely Southern Rhode Island, taking classes at her local yoga studio or going sailing with her husband Jonathan and their two dogs, Francine and Pauline.