Congratulations to Dr. Anne-Marie Hanson, ENS!

Dr. Hanson and Dr. Rachel Havrelock, UIC, have been awarded funds by the University of Illinois System’s Presidential Initiative: Expanding the Impact of the Arts and the Humanities for their “American Plumbing: The Canals, Rivers, and Communities that Bridge North and South – Illinois Rivers Project”.

With plans to host a series of events along Illinois’ rivers, this project is designed to increase knowledge about the state’s waterways and bring new voices to issues related to the environment and climate change. The five planned events will showcase local culture and open dialogues about water that allow experts from the U of I System to both teach and learn from the public. Working with partners, project leaders also plan to author stories, record knowledge and design interactive digital features – including an Illinois rivers website – that will later be featured in a series of public events.

Dr. Anne-Marie Hanson is an Associate Professor in the Department of Environmental Studies at UIS. She has a Ph.D. in Geography from the University of Arizona. She also holds an MA in Latin American Studies and BA in Anthropology and Spanish. Dr. Hanson teaches courses in sustainable development, urban sustainability, political ecology, environmental justice, and environmental social sciences and humanities. She is author and co-editor of A Political Ecology of Women, Water, and Global Environmental Change (Routledge, 2015). Her current interdisciplinary research is focused on three projects: (1) gender, water, sanitation and hygiene as related to environmental change, tourism and plastic pollution, and urban sustainable development in coastal Mexico and the Caribbean; (2) citizen science and pollution prevention strategies in Central Illinois waterways; (3) environmental justice and inclusive regional sustainability in Illinois and the Great Lakes region.