Dr. Julie Maldonado (Ph.D., public anthropology, American University) is the co-founder and Associate Director for the Livelihoods Knowledge Exchange Network (LiKEN), a link-tank nonprofit organization that collaborates with communities, organizations, and scholars to foster sustainable, resilient communities. Dr. Maldonado serves as LiKEN's Disaster Resilience Program Director, managing a multitude of projects with LiKEN and core partners, facilitating participatory action research activities. Dr. Maldonado is also an associate professor at Future Generations University, a continuing lecturer in the University of California-Santa Barbara’s Environmental Studies Program, collaborates with the Institute for Tribal Environmental Professionals' Tribal Well Being for Seven Generations Program to support tribes’ climate change adaptation planning and actions, and co-initiated the Disaster Justice Network. For 11-years she served as the co-director of the Rising Voices Center for Indigenous and Earth Sciences, which facilitated intercultural, relational-based approaches for understanding and adapting to extreme weather and climate events, variability, and change. As a public anthropologist, she has worked for local, national, and international institutions on disaster and climate change risk reduction, recovery, and adaptation strategies. Dr. Maldonado served as an author on the 3rd, 4th, and 5th US National Climate Assessments.
Research
Dr. Maldonado’s research focuses on climate change and adaptation; migration, displacement, and resettlement; and disaster recovery and risk reduction
Education
Ph.D., Anthropology, American University
B.A., Psychology, Washington University in St. Louis
Courses Taught
ENV S 130A: Un-naturalizing Disasters: Risk, Vulnerability, and Resilience
ENV S 130B: Global Tourism and Environmental Justice
ENVS134CJ: Climate Justice
ENV S 186: Development, Displacement, and Environmental Justice