Last Call For Applying to the Visiting Faculty Program 2023-2024

I’m an Associate Professor of Environmental Studies at New York University and have been based there since 2015. My research focuses on the science and governance of nutrient pollution, which is driven largely by the overuse of fertilizer and manure in agriculture and exacerbates almost every major environmental and human health problem humanity faces. Before my current position, I studied Chemistry and Law at the University of Bristol in the United Kingdom, got my PhD in Science, Technology and Environmental Policy at Princeton University in the United States, and did a postdoc at The Earth Institute at Columbia University. 

The European Union is a leader on environmental policy, even if it is still one of the global hotspots for nutrient pollution - I wanted to examine how a more creative governance approach might be more effective in addressing it in the context of the European Green Deal. I have always had strong professional and personal ties to France, having worked for the United Nations Environment Programme and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) in Paris and collaborated frequently with IDDRI, the sustainable developed thinktank linked with Sciences Po. After getting tenure at NYU, I applied to be a Fellow at the Paris Institute of Advanced Study, where I led a project with the Sciences Po Law Clinic on the “algues vertes” problem in Brittany which became the basis for my Visiting Faculty Global Programme application in 2022-2023.

I have had some of the most rewarding pedagogical experiences of my life teaching in the Law School and working with the Law Clinic. The Sciences Po students are extremely smart, independent and unafraid of questioning their teachers. In addition to teaching an Environmental Governance course to 20-25 students, I had the pleasure of working with three exceptional students over the course of a full academic year as part of the Law Clinic, which produced an independent report on the “algues vertes” problem in Brittany that garned significant policy and media attention. Students’ grounding in law and a more mature, structured way of thinking were some of the key differences with my university of origin. At the Law School, Julie Babin-D’Amonville (the Executive Director) and Sébastien Pimont (the Dean), were extremely supportive and welcoming and made me feel like a valued member of the Sciences Po community.

Apply with a clear project in mind that can leverage existing expertise and networks at Sciences Po. It helps to have an existing relationship with one or more faculty members or centers, even if it’s just an introductory Zoom meeting. That way you can hit the ground running when you arrive, because 16 weeks passes very quickly! Grab coffee with as many faculty as you can and explore the broader research community in Paris as it is very rich and diverse.