Brian King
Professor, Head of Department (Geography)
Research Interests: Impacts of conservation and development in Southern Africa, social and environmental justice, and the intersections between livelihoods, health, and environment.
Current Lab Members
Ruchi Patel
PhD Candidate (Geography & Human Dimensions of Natural Resources and the Environment)
Research Interests: conservation and development, landscape change and management, livelihoods, Latin America.
Andrea Rishworth
Postdoctoral Fellow (PhD, Geography)
McMaster University
Research Interests: Health and environment, political ecologies of health, geographies of aging, Sub-Saharan Africa.
Alumni
Meg Boyle
Alumni (PhD, Geography)
Research Interests: International climate governance, climate vulnerability, development, global environmental change, food security, transnational cooperation, and civic studies.
Arielle Hesse
Alumni (PhD, Geography & Women’s Studies)
Postdoctoral Fellow, Drexel University
Research Interests: Health and environmental policy, governance and justice, occupational health hazards, feminist geography, extractive industries.
Nari Senanayake
Alumni (PhD, Geography)
Assistant Professor, University of Kentucky
Research Interests: Political ecologies of health, STS, contested environmental illnesses, mystery kidney disease.
Kayla Yurco
Alumni (PhD, Geography)
Assistant Professor, James Madison University
Research Interests: Conservation; Development; Environmental governance; Food security; Gender and women’s studies; Human-animal relations; Justice; Political ecology; Sub-Saharan Africa.
Jamie Shinn
Alumni (PhD, Geography)
Assistant Professor, West Virginia University
Research Interests: Environmental governance, political ecology, and adaptation to climate change, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa. Jamie’s current research investigates how existing social vulnerabilities lead to differential adaptive capacities for people living in changing environments. This project is based in the Okavango Delta of Botswana.
Margaret Winchester
Alumni (PhD, Anthropology)
Research Interests: Medical anthropology; global health; HIV/AIDS; Uganda; South Africa; international development partner violence; research ethics; therapeutic landscapes.
Past Visiting Scholars
Gabrielle Linscott
Undergraduate Student (Spanish and Hispanic Studies & Geoscience)
Gabby Linscott is a rising senior at Hobart and William Smith Colleges in Geneva, New York, working with the HELIX Lab through the Climate REU at Penn State. She is a double major in Spanish and Hispanic Studies and Geoscience, with a concentration in Atmospheric Science. Gabby is an aspiring climate scientist and has broad research interests in climate and synoptic meteorology, hydrometeorology, extreme weather and societal and human impacts, public health, resilience, and vulnerable populations. As long there is a junction between humans and atmospheric phenomena, Gabby is all in. This summer, she will be working on a project focusing on the impact of extreme precipitation and flooding in urban environments on populations with varying socioeconomic backgrounds.
Norma Garcia
Undergraduate Student (Political Science, Global and International Studies, & Spanish)
I am a current senior at Penn State. I will be graduating this spring in both Political Science and Global and International Studies with a minor in Spanish. I am incredibly involved with the Schreyer Honors College as well as Residence Life as a Scholar Ambassador and Resident Assistant. I am also a member of the Presidential Leadership Academy which has allowed me the opportunity to engage in critical thinking, policy proposal, leadership seminars, and networking. My interests include sustainability, specifically food security, health disparity, and education. I aspire to work in the non-profit sector and pursue a career in social advocacy.
Nemapate Ndivhuwo
PhD Student (Geography)
Research Interests: Mining, environmental degradation, geology, climate change, South Africa