Biography

Heather Randell is an assistant professor in the global policy area at the Humphrey School of Public Affairs, and a faculty affiliate of the Minnesota Population Center. 

Randell is a sociologist and demographer with interests in understanding how climate change and dam building impact the health and well-being of marginalized populations. Her research uses quantitative and qualitative methods to investigate linkages between climate change and food security, child health, and education; examine the social consequences of dam construction; and explore the relationship between environmental stressors and migration. This work is international in scope, with a particular focus on Brazil and East Africa. 

Randell’s research has been published in journals including Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Environmental Research Letters, World Development, and Social Science & Medicine.

Prior to joining the Humphrey School, Randell was an assistant professor of Rural Sociology and Demography at Penn State, and completed postdoctoral fellowships at the National Socio-Environmental Synthesis Center (SESYNC) and the Maryland Institute for Applied Environmental Health at the University of Maryland. 

Education

PhD in Sociology (Brown University, 2016)

Master of Environmental Management (Duke University, 2008)

BS in Biology (Cornell University, 2005)