Introduction
Luisa Cortesi (dual Ph.D., Anthropology, Environmental Studies, Yale University, with distinction) is an environmental anthropologist who studies how people know about, and adapt, to water disasters, a process that involves technologies and infrastructure, as well as institutions and social differences. Her work intersects with science and technologies studies, the environmental sciences of water, development studies, the environmental humanities, South Asian studies. She is Assistant Professor at the International Institute of Social Sciences, Erasmus University; Marie S. Curie Junior Fellow, Sustainability Fellow at the Freiburg Institute of Advanced Studies; Affiliate Professor of Environment and Sustainability, Cornell University. She has been Stanford H. Taylor Postdoctoral Fellow in Science and Technology Studies and Anthropology, as well as Atkinson Fellow in Sustainability, at Cornell University, USA (2018-2020). Her work has been awarded the 2019 Field Prize for “poetic and literary” scholarship, the highest honor for graduate dissertations at Yale, the (2017-2018) for “high academic standards” based on a national competition amongst graduate students of any discipline in the U.S.A.; the 2017 Eric Wolf Prize for “advancing the field of political ecology”; the 2017-2018 biennial PRAXIS Applied Anthropology Award for “outstanding achievement in translating anthropological knowledge into action”; and the 2016 Curl Essay Prize by the Royal Anthropological Institute for “the best paper relating to the results or analysis of anthropological work.” Her research has been supported by the Fulbright-IIE, Wenner-Gren Foundation, Social Science Research Council, Josephine de Karman Foundation, American Institute of Indian Studies, MacMillan Centre, Yale Institute for Biospheric Studies, The Tropical Institute, the European Union. Luisa has served as a water expert for the United Nations, and continues to support several NGOs in India and in Sub-Saharan Africa. She has founded and leads the Water Justice and Adaptation LAB, a new platform for collaborative work between scientists and communities on water-related environmental justice.
Expert
Luisa Cortesi (dual Ph.D., Anthropology, Environmental Studies, Yale University, with distinction) is an environmental anthropologist who studies how people know about, and adapt, to water disasters, a process that involves technologies and infrastructure, as well as institutions and social differences. Her work intersects with science and technologies studies, the environmental sciences of water, development studies, the environmental humanities, South Asian studies. She is Assistant Professor at the International Institute of Social Sciences, Erasmus University; Marie S. Curie Junior Fellow at the Freiburg Institute of Advanced Studies; Affiliate Professor of Environment and Sustainability, Cornell University. She has been Stanford H. Taylor Postdoctoral Fellow in Science and Technology Studies and Anthropology, as well as Atkinson Fellow in Sustainability, at Cornell University, USA (2018-2020). Her work has been awarded the 2019 Field Prize for “poetic and literary” scholarship, the highest honor for graduate dissertations at Yale, the (2017-2018) for “high academic standards” based on a national competition amongst graduate students of any discipline in the U.S.A.; the 2017 Eric Wolf Prize for “advancing the field of political ecology”; the 2017-2018 biennial PRAXIS Applied Anthropology Award for “outstanding achievement in translating anthropological knowledge into action”; and the 2016 Curl Essay Prize by the Royal Anthropological Institute for “the best paper relating to the results or analysis of anthropological work.” Her research has been supported by the Fulbright-IIE, Wenner-Gren Foundation, Social Science Research Council, Josephine de Karman Foundation, American Institute of Indian Studies, MacMillan Centre, Yale Institute for Biospheric Studies, The Tropical Institute, the European Union. Luisa has served as a water expert for the United Nations, and continues to support several NGOs in India and in Sub-Saharan Africa. She has founded and leads the Water Justice and Adaptation LAB, a new platform for collaborative work between scientists and communities on water-related environmental justice.
Fields of expertise: Agriculture and rural development, Culture, Environmental policy / climate change, Evidence for policy / knowledge valorization, Health and wellbeing, Inclusive social development / inclusive societies / social inclusion, Infrastructure, Participation, Reduction of inequalities / equity / poverty eradication, Science policy, technology and innovation policy, Social change / social transformations, Social innovation / public sector innovation / policy innovation, Social policy, Strategic planning, Water and sanitation