Megan Lynn Maurer

• Presentation
• CV
• Research outputs

Megan Maurer

ORCID 0000-0003-4998-4883

 

 

Education                                                                                                              

University of Kentucky          Anthropology                       PhD            2017

Kenyon College                  Anthropology                BA                         2007

 

 

Academic Appointments                                                                                      

2021–present            Assistant Professor, Landscape Architecture and Planning, Department of Geosciences and Natural Resource Management, University of Copenhagen

2018–2021    Postdoctoral Research Fellow, The Earth Institute at Columbia University. (September 4, 2018–January 31, 2021)

 

 

Grants and Fellowships                                                                                      

2021   Multi-seasonal assessment of human wellbeing, social resilience, and ecosystems in NYC during and after the Covid-19 pandemic. Earth Frontiers Seed Grant, Earth Institute, Columbia University. $25,000. Role: co-PI.

2020   RAPID: Examining How Access to Green Space Impacts Subjective Well-being during the COVID-19 Pandemic. Grant #2029301. National Science Foundation – Engineering: Environmental Sustainability. $99,970. Role: co-PI.

2014   Dissertation Research Fellowship: Growing Change? Urban Gardening and Citizenship in Southeast Michigan. Grant #8883. Wenner-Gren Foundation for Anthropological Research. $6456.

2014   Doctoral Dissertation Research Improvement Grant: An Anthropological Examination of the Re-ordering of Urban Space in Food Security and Redevelopment Efforts. Grant #1356904. National Science Foundation - Social, Behavioral, and Economic Sciences. $11,385.

 

 

Publications                                                                                          

Single / Lead author

2021   Understanding Multiple Dimensions of Perceived Greenspace Accessibility and their Effect on Subjective Well-being During a Global Pandemic. Maurer, M, E Cook, L Yoon, O Visnic, B Orlove, P Culligan, and B Mailloux. Frontiers in Sustainable Cities. DOI:10.3389/frsc.2021.709997

2021   More than nature: Linkages between well-being and greenspace influenced by a

combination of elements of nature and non-nature in a New York City urban park. Maurer, M, L Zaval, B Orlove, V Moraga, and P Culligan. Urban Foresty & Urban Greening. DOI:10.1016/j.ufug.2021.127081

2020   Nourishing Environments, Caring Cities: Gardening and the Social Reproduction of the Urban Environment in Deindustrial Michigan. City & Society. DOI:10.1111/ciso.12347

2020   Chickens, Weeds, and the Production of Green Middle-class Identity through Urban Agriculture in Deindustrial Michigan, USA. Agriculture & Human Values. DOI:10.1007/s10460-020-10174-x

 

Co-author

2020   Fostering interdisciplinary research careers to solve complex sustainability crises. Hernandez, J.N. W. Anderson, A. Bridges, M.P. Fernandez, M. Maurer, W. Hansen, E. Nebie, and A. Stock. Nature Sustainability. DOI:10.1038/s41893-020-00679-y

 

 

Conference Participation                                                                        

Papers Presented (last 5 years)

2021   Parks and greenspace as critical infrastructure supporting social resilience and well-being: Lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic for public space planning and management. With L Campbell, R Christiana, E Cook, M Johnson, C Kennedy, L Landau, S Plitt, S Sachdeva, I Schneider, E Svendsen, K Tangtrakul, S Woerdeman. Reimagining Public Spaces and Built Environments in the Post-pandemic World Symposium. University of Alberta. 10–11 December 2021.

 

2021   Laboring from Home: Reflections on the tolls of reproductive labor and the way forward. With L Dixon, A Wilkinson, M El Kotni, S Bever, V Miranda, J Dailey, L Milanes, S Rubin, and A Miranda. Virtual Roundtable Discussion. American Anthropological Association Meetings. 19 November 2021.

 

2019   Governing Urban Natures: Infrastructure, Citizenship and Municipal Ecologies. Aarhus University, Aarhus, DK. “Making trees infrastructure: stewardship, neoliberal governance, and contested ecologies in New York City.” December 4–5, 2019.

2019   American Anthropological Association, Annual Meeting. Vancouver, BC. “Time, Trees, and the Troubling of Green Infrastructural Promise in New York City.” November 20–24, 2019.

2019   American Ethnological Society, Annual Meeting. St. Louis, MO. “Urban Trees, Urban Futures: Imagining environmental sustainability and ‘the good life’ in New York City.” March 14–16, 2019.

2018   Agriculture, Food, and Human Values Society, Annual Meeting. Madison, WI. “Hippies and Fuddy-duddies: The Role of Urban Agriculture in Environmental Gentrification.” June 13–16, 2018.

2017   American Anthropological Association, Annual Meetings. Washington, D.C. “Making habitat for people, plants, and pollinators: Urban vegetable gardening as a practice of care for communities and ecosystems.” November 29–December 3, 2017.

 

Panels Organized

2019   American Ethnological Society, Annual Meeting. St. Louis, MO. “Locating Urban Futures: Ethnographic Engagements with Cities and Environments In-the-Making.” (w/ Dr. Kristin Monroe) March 14–16, 2019.

2017   American Anthropological Association, Annual Meetings. Washington, D.C. “Planting for a Different Future: Gardens and the Making of New Environmental Subjects.” (w/ Dr. Amy Cox Hall) November 29–December 3, 2017.

 

 

Awards and Honors                                                                                        

2014   Dissertation Enhancement Award, Graduate School, University of Kentucky.

2011   Susan Abbott-Jamieson Award, Department of Anthropology, University of Kentucky.

2009–2012    Multi-Year Fellowship, Graduate School, University of Kentucky: a competitive award providing three years of full funding, with stipend.

 

 

Teaching Experience                                                                                                

Primary Instructor

2021   Urban Forestry & Urban Greening. Landscape Architecture and Planning Section, University of Copenhagen. Block 2 (2021–22).

2021   Nature & the City (ENVST 450.005). Environmental Studies, New York University. Spring 2021 semester (remote).

 

Student Mentorship

2022 Undergraduate Honors Thesis, Environmental Sciences, Barnard College. “Why is this park different from all other parks? A study of NYC pocket parks.” Tehila Cherry.

2021 Undergraduate Honors Thesis, Environmental Sciences, Barnard College.

“Wellbeing, Greenspace Accessibility, and Park Visitation Rates in NYC during the Covid-19 Pandemic.” Clio Tai.

2020   Undergraduate Honors Thesis, Environmental Sciences, Barnard College. “Perceptions of Nature during the Covid-19 Pandemic.” Olivia Visnic.

2020   Master’s student Collaborative Research Grant, Earth Institute, Columbia University. “The Psychology of Winter Park Use and Climate Change Perceptions.” Dan Poniachik.

2019   Undergraduate Honors Thesis, Sustainable Development, Columbia University. “Comparing New York City Park User Perceptions with Urban Sustainability Planning Discourse.” Carla Singson.

 

 

Service to Profession                                                                                       

2017–18   Contributing Editor, Anthropology News, Culture & Agriculture section, American Anthropological Association.

2015–17   Student Representative, Culture & Agriculture section, American

     Anthropological Association.

 

 

Invited Talks                                                                                          

2020   “Examining how access to greenspace impacts subjective wellbeing during the Covid-19 pandemic.” Mellon Forum on the Urban Environment, Princeton University. September 23, 2020.

2020   “Making trees infrastructure: stewardship, neoliberal governance, and contested ecologies in New York City.” Science of the Living City Series, NYC Urban Field Station. March 11, 2020.

2020   “How Nature Impacts Well-being in Urban Green Spaces.” Centre for Urban Environments, University of Toronto-Mississauga. February 26, 2020.

2018   “Making habitat for people, plants, and pollinators: Urban vegetable gardening as a practice of care for communities and ecosystems.” Department of Anthropology, University of North Carolina-Greensboro. February 6, 2018.

 

 

Community Service                                                                                             

2019–2020    New York, NY, New York City Urban Forestry Taskforce, Research and Assessment Committee.