Dr. Wendy Jepson is a University Professor in the Department of Geography at Texas A&M University where she has been on faculty since receiving her Ph.D. in Geography from UCLA in 2003.  Her research addresses contemporary debates in political ecology, human-environment interactions, and environmental governance.

Dr. Jepson has several projects that intersect with the research theme of water security: (1) household water insecurity in the US and Latin America (Brazil and Mexico) and with emerging interest in Ghana, Mali, and Ethiopia; (2) sustainability and urban water security.  In the past year, Dr. Jepson has started to work with the Borlaug Institute for International Agriculture and the Feed The Future Innovation Lab for Small-Scale Agriculture with their work in West Africa. Details can be found on her Research profile. She was the 2018 recipient of the College of Geosciences Dean’s Excellence Award for Research, and was recently named as University Professor.

Dr. Jepson also leads the NSF-funded Household Water Insecurity Experiences – Research Coordination Network (HWISE-RCN), an international community of scholars and practitioners dedicated to advance research and work in the interdisciplinary field of water insecurity.

Dr. Jepson was a recent Fulbright Scholar (2016-2017) and a recipient of several National Science Foundation grants that focus on water security. Dr. Jepson is the Lead PI on the Texas A&M University Presidential Excellence Grant for “Pathways to Sustainable Urban Water Security: Desalination and Water Reuse,” for $1.5 million. She also has generated over $2.5 million in grants and awards as lead PI from NSF, private sources, and internal awards to support her research agenda.  

Dr. Jepson has published over 40 journal articles and book chapters, edited one book, and serves on editorial boards, including Water Security and The Annals of the Association of American Geographers.  She is book series editor for Water and Society, a new initiative by Johns Hopkins University Press and Associate Editor for WIRES Water. Dr. Jepson also was the 2015 recipient of the AAG Enhancing Diversity Award for her service to diversity and active engagement to achieve equality and inclusion in the discipline.

Prospective students interested in water governance, water security, environmental justice, water-energy nexus or political ecology of water to contact me about graduate studies at Texas A&M University.  For more information on my research interest and projects, please consult my papers and research projects.  You are also welcome to check out specific opportunities in the Water Security and Governance Lab.

Her previous research documented and explained the complex economic and political processes that caused agricultural expansion and land-cover change in the Brazilian Cerrado, the world’s most biodiverse tropical savanna.  She also conducted a study, funded by NextEra Energy, on the rise of new energy systems and local communities in West Texas. Her current long-term project examines water security, sustainability, and water resources in urban contexts.