We understand how information drives behavior and how behavior drives information.

Rubicon Research and Think Tank

Solutions for a complicated world and changing environment

Contact us

Anthropology and Our Approach

As Anthropologists, our expertise is in understanding the interplay among Individuals, Social Norms, and Institutions. We have over 40 years of combined experience with applied research and analyses. Our unique backgrounds in both human behavior, as well as the sciences, means that we can work across numerous fields and understand your needs to get  you the specific answers you need.


From high level/institutional level concerns to low level/ individual and community issues, we have lots of experience to help you. Among the topics we have recently addressed are:

  • How to promote positive norm changes on social media
  • How to use positive norms to address population stresses
  • Normative information and responses to environmental changes
  • Population and individual norms towards responsible adaption to new technology
  • Responsible (and realistic) adaption to new technologies in the work place


Our insight can illuminate what strategies will and will not work for the desired goals and our systematic approach is always ethically designed to support the best possible future for us all. We can help you focus on the best path forward. 0ne that is informed and supported with the most current information.


Curious? Follow our work with Social Norms


Publications

Systems, Structures, and Patterns

Systems are fed and maintained by multiple interacting lines of processes. A problem can arise that is difficult to track down. And it might not be where you might expect.


We specifically look for places where problems are or might arise.

How, What, Why Approach

How, what, and why are three sides of any problem. Each side effects the other two. We look at all three sides and their contributions for how to improve your specific needs.

Data and Analytics

We analyze a problem with methods that are the best fit to get you an answer. This includes not only those from data science, but also from science, and the social sciences.


We believe that answers are derived where more options are available, not less.

Past and On-going Projects

Change

It can feel like our environment – the physical environment, the social environment, the political or regulatory environment – is always changing.

We have worked with policy makers and governmental officials looking to promote positive behaviors geared to address climate supporting actions naturally. Change behavior now with the best chance to preserve good conditions in the future.

Outcome:

  • Course design
  • Workshop and discussion
  • Long term suggestions and approaches


Adaptation

It may seem that humans have always been this way, and change is impossible.  Yet when we consider generational differences, and Historical and Archaeological data, Human adaptation and change becomes clear.

We have applied archaeological data of successful strategies and cautionary data of failures to modern problems. Millions of potential solutions!

Join the list of forward thinking government policy makers and environmental agencies looking to promote future-minded preparedness.

Communication

As the world becomes increasingly interconnected, so do the the effects of decisions and the consequences of actions. Conversations are more productive when everyone is on the same page. How many definitions are there for the concepts you are discussing, and are you sure everyone is using the same definitions? 

We have worked with international agencies and policy groups to find common language to discuss core topics.

Outcome:

  • Presentations
  • Round table discussion
  • Strategies and long term design and recommendations

Across the Rubicon

Archaeological excavations, Caerleon [6] by Robin Drayton, [CC BY-SA 2.0]

The Corporate World Needs More… Archaeologists? Data Storytelling Across the Ages

By RISC, LLC • February 24, 2022
The whole discipline of archaeology, and the reason for all of our methods, is geared towards finding ways to collect as many forms of data possible to understand and fully describe events in the past. All of human behavior leaves something behind, and the questions are how can we find it and how much of it can we collect? Curiously, the reason why we do these admittedly strange things is exactly why the corporate world really needs more archaeologists…
black hole

Reconsidering Nothing - Sometimes Nothing is Something

By RISC, LLC • February 17, 2022
Some might say that one is the loneliest number, but more often than not it’s zero that really gets the short end of the stick. This post is dedicated to a topic that frequently gets overlooked and is often under-considered – the absence of something. Very often, it’s just as important for us to know where something isn’t happening as it is to know where something does occur. So important, in fact, that it’s crucial to understand that zero isn’t really defined as the absence of something – it is actually the presence of nothing.
sustainable world

Is it Sustainable Yet? Examining the Multiple Meanings of ‘Sustainability’

By RISC, LLC • February 9, 2022
One wouldn’t think that it would be overly difficult to agree on what a word means, but a remarkably large number of meanings seem to get attached to sustainable. There are nearly as many definitions of sustainable and sustainability as there are suggestions on how to achieve them. Not surprisingly, there is also a rather strong correlation between how the terms are defined and the problems or objectives they are used to discuss. Therein lies a bit of a problem – it’s difficult to arrive at any consensus on a subject if people are using the same word to mean different things. Since policy debates require consensus, this is not a trivial problem.