Kate Shields has a PhD in geography, an MPH in epidemiology and international health, an MA in Middle Eastern and North African studies and a BA in public policy. Prior to completing her PhD, she was a staff researcher at the Water Institute at UNC working in water, sanitation and hygiene (WaSH). With education and experience in many disciplines, she feels at home teaching in the interdisciplinary Environmental Studies and Sciences Program at ¹û¶³ÊÓƵ.
The overarching theme for Kate’s scholarship is . Her research and public scholarship are in three main areas:
- Environmental transformation and international development in the Aral Sea region of Uzbekistan
- Mapping environmental justice and injustice in Memphis
- Environmental consequences of Removal of Native Americans from the Mid-South
Kate teaches the introductory environmental studies course, introductory Geographic Information Science (GIS), and senior seminar, as well as electives including feminist environmentalism, environmental justice, the environmental consequences of Removal, and environmental remote sensing.
For more information about Kate’s teaching, research, and public scholarship, please see her .
The final project in ENVS 250 - Beyond Catastrophe: Feminist Approaches to Environmental Transformation in Spring 2024 showcased the students' creative research in environmental justice.
Selected Publications
2022 Shields, K.F.*, Barrington, D.J.*, Meo, S., Sridharan, S., Saunders, S.G., Bartram, J. & Souter, R.T. . Water Alternatives 5(2): 215-264.
2021 Shields, K.F., Moffa, M., Behnke, N.L., Kelly, E., Klug, T., Lee, K., Cronk, R., & Bartram, J. . Journal of Water Sanitation and Hygiene for Development, 11(6), 937-947. DOI: 10.2166/washdev.2021.089
2020 Chan, T., MacDonald, M.C., Kearton, A., Elliot, M., Shields, K.F., Powell, B., Bartram, J.K. & Hadwen, W.L. Climate adaptation for rural water and sanitation systems in the Solomon Islands: A community scale systems model for decision support. Science of the Total Environment, 714, 1-13. DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.136681
2020 Anthonj, C., Wren, T., Fleming, L., Shields, K.F., Tikoisuva, W.M., Kelly, E., Thakkar, M.B., Cronk, R., Overmars, M., & Bartram, J. Geographical inequalities in drinking water in the Solomon Islands. Science of the Total Environment, 712, 1-14. DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.135241
2019 Fleming, L., Anthonj, C., Thakkar, M.B., Tikoisuva, W.M., Manga, M., Howard, G., Shields, K.F., Kelly, E., Overmars, M., & Bartram, J. Urban and rural sanitation and hygiene in the Solomon Islands: How resilient are these to extreme weather events? Science of the Total Environment, 683, 331-340. DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.05.253
2018 Kelly, E., Shields, K.F., Cronk, R., Lee, K., Behnke, N., Klug, T. & Bartram, J. Seasonality, water use and community management of water systems in rural settings: qualitative evidence from Ghana, Kenya, and Zambia. Science of the Total Environment, 628-629, 715-721. DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2018.02.045
2018 Klug, T., Cronk, R., Shields, K.F. & Bartram, J. A categorization of water system breakdowns: evidence from Liberia, Nigeria, Tanzania, and Uganda. Science of the Total Environment, 619-620, 1126-1132. DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2017.11.183
Education
MPH – University of Michigan
MA – University of Michigan
BA – University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill
