Professor Katie Meehan
Professor of Environmental Justice
Research interests
- Environment
Contact details
Biography
Katie Meehan is a political ecologist and environmental geographer with interests in water governance, social reproduction, environmental justice, and climate change adaptation. She is co-Director of King’s Water Centre and co-author of the recent book Water: A Critical Introduction (Wiley-Blackwell, 2023). She recently served as an editor of the Annals of the American Association of Geographers from 2020 to 2023.
Katie joined King’s in 2019 after nine years at the University of Oregon (USA) as an Assistant/Associate Professor. Katie completed her PhD at the University of Arizona, earned a MSc (with Distinction) from University of Oxford, and a BA (Honors) from the University of Oregon.
Her PhD dissertation focused on informal water use and unpaid labor in Tijuana (Mexico), supported by grants and fellowships from the US National Science Foundation, Fulbright-Hays, NOAA, and the Social Science Research Council.
Prior to academic life, Katie served as a US Peace Corps Volunteer in Belize (2000-02) and Guatemala (2002-03), working with two local non-profit organizations on watershed management and rural community development.
Research
- Social reproduction and feminist political economy
- Environmental justice
- Household water insecurity
- Cities and infrastructural inequality
- State-society relations and carceral geographies
Katie is the Principal Investigator of the Plumbing Poverty project, a major research study that examines inequalities in household water access and service shutoffs in cities in the global North. Informed by theories of social reproduction and racial capitalism, and drawing on a mix of statistical and qualitative data, Meehan’s team investigates how water poverty is produced in relation to the changing political economy of social infrastructure, urban water management, and housing justice across Europe and the USA. This project was selected by the European Research Council (Consolidator Grant) and funded by the UKRI Horizon Europe Guarantee from 2023-2028.
More recently, Katie is developing a new collaborative study on extreme heat and household water insecurity under climate change in Europe, the world’s fastest warming continent. With new collaborators from European and UK universities, this work expands on Katie’s longstanding involvement with the Household Water Insecurity Experiences (HWISE) research network.
Teaching
Postgraduate
7SSGN104 Water Sustainability, Society and Governance
PhD Supervision
Katie welcomes inquiries from prospective PhD students who share her research interests above. When contacting Katie as a prospective supervisor, please include a current CV, a concise description of your potential thesis topic, and brief explanation of why you would like to study at King’s.
Further details
Research
Urban Futures research group
Examining urban futures through a conceptual, analytical and methodological lens that questions what cities are and how they work.
Contested Development research group
Exploring environmental, political and social questions in relation to contested and uneven processes of development.
King's Water Centre
Researching water, environment and development. Our centre spans the humanities, social, and physical sciences to explore the challenges of water governance from global to local scales.
King's Climate Research Hub
Studying climate change through the relationship between science, policy and culture, particularly in the developing world.
Political Ecology, Biodiversity & Ecosystem Services
The Political Ecology, Biodiversity & Ecosystem Services (PEBES) group provides a collaborative focus for work on the social (re)production of nature, environmental conservation and resource management.
King's Climate Research Hub
Studying climate change through the relationship between science, policy and culture, particularly in the developing world.
News
More people living without running water in US cities since the global financial crisis
More American cities – even those seen as affluent – are home to people living without running water as people are being ‘squeezed’ by unaffordable housing...
New book argues for a critical, social understanding of water to solve global challenges
The book by academics from the King’s Water Centre explores how social practices and geometries of power shape the flow of water.
Project on household water insecurity receives €2 million in funding
A research project analysing insecure water access in Europe and the United States has been awarded €2 million by the European Research Council (ERC).
Progressive water policy needs to be intrinsically linked to human rights and sustainability
King’s Water Centre has launched four policy papers that explore how we can ensure we have a just and sustainable water future.
Fast-growing cities in the US also have increasing numbers of residents without access to piped water, finds new report
A new in-depth report finds an increase in households without piped running water – what the authors call ‘plumbing poverty’ – in some of America’s wealthiest...
Events
King's Water Centre launch
Join us in celebrating cutting-edge, interdisciplinary water research at King's.
Please note: this event has passed.
Research
Urban Futures research group
Examining urban futures through a conceptual, analytical and methodological lens that questions what cities are and how they work.
Contested Development research group
Exploring environmental, political and social questions in relation to contested and uneven processes of development.
King's Water Centre
Researching water, environment and development. Our centre spans the humanities, social, and physical sciences to explore the challenges of water governance from global to local scales.
King's Climate Research Hub
Studying climate change through the relationship between science, policy and culture, particularly in the developing world.
Political Ecology, Biodiversity & Ecosystem Services
The Political Ecology, Biodiversity & Ecosystem Services (PEBES) group provides a collaborative focus for work on the social (re)production of nature, environmental conservation and resource management.
King's Climate Research Hub
Studying climate change through the relationship between science, policy and culture, particularly in the developing world.
News
More people living without running water in US cities since the global financial crisis
More American cities – even those seen as affluent – are home to people living without running water as people are being ‘squeezed’ by unaffordable housing...
New book argues for a critical, social understanding of water to solve global challenges
The book by academics from the King’s Water Centre explores how social practices and geometries of power shape the flow of water.
Project on household water insecurity receives €2 million in funding
A research project analysing insecure water access in Europe and the United States has been awarded €2 million by the European Research Council (ERC).
Progressive water policy needs to be intrinsically linked to human rights and sustainability
King’s Water Centre has launched four policy papers that explore how we can ensure we have a just and sustainable water future.
Fast-growing cities in the US also have increasing numbers of residents without access to piped water, finds new report
A new in-depth report finds an increase in households without piped running water – what the authors call ‘plumbing poverty’ – in some of America’s wealthiest...
Events
King's Water Centre launch
Join us in celebrating cutting-edge, interdisciplinary water research at King's.
Please note: this event has passed.