Brief Bio and CV
Overview
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Biography




Dr. Farhana Sultana is a Professor in the Department of Geography and the Environment at the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs of Syracuse University, where she is also the Research Director for Environmental Collaboration and Conflicts at the Program for the Advancement of Research on Conflicts and Collaboration (PARCC).
Dr. Sultana is an internationally recognized and award-winning interdisciplinary scholar, speaker, and author whose work spans fields of political ecology, water governance, climate change, post‐colonial development, social and environmental justice, decolonizing knowledge, and transnational feminisms. Her research and scholar-activism draw from her experiences of having lived and worked on three continents as well as from her backgrounds in the natural sciences, social sciences, and policy experience.
Prior to joining Syracuse, she taught at King’s College London and worked at United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). Author of several dozen publications, her recent books are “The Right to Water: Politics, Governance and Social Struggles” (2012), “Eating, Drinking: Surviving” (2016) and “Water Politics: Governance, Justice, and the Right to Water” (2020). Dr. Sultana graduated Cum Laude from Princeton University (in Geosciences and Environmental Studies) and obtained her Masters and PhD (in Geography) from the University of Minnesota, where she was a John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation Fellow.
She was awarded the Glenda Laws Award from the American Association of Geographers for “outstanding contributions to geographic research on social issues” in 2019.
Positions
Professor (2022-present), Associate Professor (2012-2022), Assistant Professor (2008-2012), Department of Geography and the Environment, Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, Syracuse University
Research Director for Environmental Collaboration and Conflicts, Program for the Advancement of Research on Conflicts and Collaboration (PARCC), Maxwell School (2016-present)
Faculty Affiliate: Women’s and Gender Studies Department, Program for the Advancement of Research on Conflicts and Collaboration (PARCC), Center for Environmental Policy and Administration (CEPA), South Asia Center, Moynihan Institute of Global Affairs, Tolley Humanities Faculty, International Relations Program, Democratizing Knowledge Collective, Asian/Asian-American Studies
Assistant Professor (US) / Lecturer (UK), Department of Geography, King’s College London (2006-2008)
Visiting Fellow, School of Environment and Development, University of Manchester (2005-2006)
Teaching Assistant, Department of Geography, University of Minnesota (2001-2004)
Programme Officer, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) (1998-2001)
Affiliations
Visiting Faculty Fellow, International Center for Climate Change and Development, Independent University of Bangladesh (2017-present)
Senior Personnel, Building a Community of Practice for Household Water Insecurity (HWISE), NSF Grant (2018-2021)
Scientific Panel Member, United Nations International Year of Global Understanding, International Geographical Union (2011-2017)
Member, Management Steering Committee, WaTeRS Network, SSHRC Grant (2014-2016)
Member, National Screening Committee, US Fulbright Fellowship Program, US Department of State (2013-2014)
Chair (2013-2015), Vice Chair (2001-2013), Director (2009-2011), Development Geographies Specialty Group, Association of American Geographers
Member, International Research and Scholarly Exchange Committee, Association of American Geographers (2013-2015)
Founding Committee Member, Participatory Geographies Research Group, Institute of British Geographers (2005-present)
Co-Founder and Co-Moderator, Water Forum (International E-discussion Group) (2006-present)
Fellow, International Water Management Institute (IWMI) (2002-2006)
Fellow, John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, University of Minnesota (1996-1998; 2001-2007)
Education
Ph.D. Department of Geography University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA. 2007.
M.A. Department of Geography University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA. 1998.
A.B. (Cum Laude), Department of Geosciences (Honors) and Certificate Program in Environmental Studies (Honors), Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, USA. 1996.
Honors
Glenda Laws Award, American Association of Geographers, 2019
Co-signatory with Pope Francis in “Rome Declaration on the Human Right to Water”, February 2017
Founding Signatory of the Geneva Actions on Human Water Security, July 2017
Faculty Convocation Speaker, College of Arts and Sciences, Syracuse University, May 2012
Nominee, Enhancing Diversity Award, American Association of Geographers (2018)
Research
Interests
Nature-society relationships; Social justice; Critical development studies; Feminist theories; Water Governance; Climate Change; Natural Hazards; Human Rights; Citizenship; South Asia; Research Methods.