Geography professor Karen Bakker is one of 180 scholars, artists, scientists, and writers who won a prestigious Guggenheim fellowship this year.
Established in 1925, the fellowships are awarded to individuals who have demonstrated exceptional capacity for productive scholarship or creative ability. This year’s fellows were chosen from a group of approximately 2,500 applicants in the foundation’s 97th competition.
Dr. Karen Bakker is a Professor of Geography who works at the intersection of environmental and economic geography. She is the Director of the Program on Water Governance at UBC’s Institute for Resources, Environment, and Sustainability. Her newest project examines the interplay between digital transformation and environmental governance.
Trained as both a natural and social scientist, Karen Bakker regularly collaborates with engineers, natural and medical scientists on interdisciplinary analyses of environmental governance and sustainability, focusing on fresh water issues. She has conducted fieldwork in over a dozen countries in Europe, Asia, and Africa and regularly acts as an advisor and consultant for international organizations, governments, and think tanks.
Dr. Bakker is the recipient of many awards, including a SSHRC Impact Award and a Killam Faculty Research Award. She is also a member of the Royal Society of Canada’s College of New Scholars, Artists and Scientists.