Shandell Houlden

Dr. Shandell Houlden is an interdisciplinary scholar working at the Cascade Institute on the Anti-Polarization team, where she investigates both technical and socio-cultural interventions to address rising polarization. Her current work focuses on how polarization intersects with energy transitions and climate change, with an emphasis on governance, communication, and public trust.

Shandell brings a deeply interdisciplinary lens to her research, grounded in a PhD in English and Cultural Studies from McMaster University. Her scholarly work spans education, critical technology studies, media and misinformation, and the social dimensions of digital culture. She is a widely published researcher with numerous peer-reviewed articles exploring the intersections of power, technology, and knowledge in the digital age.

At the Cascade Institute, she contributes to initiatives that aim to design and implement actionable solutions to reduce polarization and strengthen democratic resilience. She is particularly interested in how narrative, relational systems thinking, and participatory approaches can be leveraged to support inclusive and sustainable policy development in a rapidly changing world.

Outside of research, she spends her time with her family, reading speculative fiction, practicing jiu-jitsu, and co-stewarding a community-based learning collective focused on relational education and just climate transitions.