Expertise

Aresa: environmental governance, complexity science, confronting environmental challenges

Abigail Sullivan is an interdisciplinary environmental social scientist who integrates theory and methods from environmental governance, complexity science, and ecology to understand environmental governance under environmental change. She studies different aspects of governance to uncover how individuals of varying perspectives and priorities can unite to achieve progress in addressing climate change and related issues. She asks how collective action can be most effective in confronting environmental challenges and addressing harmful social norms.

I study how people come together to solve human-environment challenges under conditions of change, uncertainty, and scarcity.

I've investigated topics such as the complexities of emerging issues in community forestry in Nepal, climate change adaptation in the Colorado River Basin, and aquatic invasive species in midwestern U.S. lakes.

The core themes of my research group concern: 

  • The drivers and structure of collective action under challenging environmental conditions (e.g., drought,  invasive species) 
  • The design of multi-level collaborative water governance 
  • The role of norms and perceptions in societal transitions
  • Integrating co-production and justice in transdisciplinary institutional research 

Research:

  • Social-ecological dimensions of climate change and aquatic invasive species in the midwestern US 
  • Collaborative governance of the Colorado River Basin
  • Transformational solutions to climate change: support for degrowth?
  • Collective action design in Cooperative Invasive Species Management Areas (CISMAs)
Affiliations

Assistant Professor, Department of Earth and Environment, College of Arts and Sciences, Boston University
2021

Fellow, Environmental Resilience Institute, Office of the Vice President for Research, Academic and Research Units, Indiana University Bloomington

Past Affiliations

PhD Student, School of Human Evolution and Social Change, Social Sciences Division, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, Arizona State University Tempe Campus, Arizona State University (past)

Degrees
PhD, Arizona State University, Environmental Social Science, 2016
MS, University of Maine, Ecology and Environmental Science, 2013
BS, Unity College, Environmental Science, 2011