Abigail York
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Phone: 480-727-6889
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School of Human Evolution and Social Change BUILDING 274 TEMPE, AZ 85287
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Mail code: 2402Campus: Tempe
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Dr. Abigail York is a Professor of Governance and Public Policy and Director of Research at Arizona State University's School of Human Evolution and Social Change. She earned her PhD in Public Policy from Indiana University and has spent over two decades advancing research on the governance of social-ecological systems at local and global scales. With over $52 m in funding from agencies such as the National Science Foundation, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and the United States Department of Agriculture (with approximately over $3.3 m in personal recognition), she has built large transdisciplinary teams focusing on collective action and polycentric governance of environmental challenges. In 75 peer-reviewed publications, York has explored climate change governance, urbanization and sustainability of cities, community forestry management in the USA and Nepal, fracking in Appalachia, agriculture and Western water issues in the USA, and, most recently, adaptation to sea ice change in the Arctic. Her team's Arctic research takes a co-generation of knowledge approach centering the knowledge and research priorities of local and Indigenous communities in Russia and Alaska to understand and adapt to rapid environmental change and shifting geopolitical contexts.
In 2024, York took on leadership of Global Environmental Change as co-editor-in-chief, a leading international journal advancing knowledge about human and policy dimensions with an impact factor of 8.6. York is also a Chapter Author for the Social Systems Chapter for the Sixth National Climate Assessment of the United States.
York's work also focuses on training the next generation of environmental scholars by co-directing ASU's Earth System Science for the Anthropocene (ESSA) graduate initiative, which has trained more than 200 scholars in transdisciplinary approaches to tackle complex environmental challenges with a focus on co-production of knowledge with local communities, rightsholders, and stakeholders.
Graduate students seeking to join York's research group or to learn more about the ESSA network should contact her to set up a time to discuss opportunities. York is committed to developing students' ability to conduct and understand empirical social science in their everyday lives as global citizens and for their future diverse career paths. She is deeply committed to increasing access to hands-on research opportunities for all undergraduate students, especially ASU's Online Students. ASU undergraduate students are encouraged to apply to be a part of York's research team through SHESC's Research Apprentice Program.
York is a founding member of A Network for Graduate Leadership in the Environment and Sustainability , served as the Director of Graduate Studies in SHESC (2021-2024), directed the Environmental Social Science PhD program (2014-2018), was the Associate Director with the Center for Biodiversity Outcomes (2014-2018), served as on the Executive Committee in the School of Human Evolution and Social Change (2019-2020), is on Executive Committee of the Central Arizona Phoenix-Long-term Ecological Research Site (2016-), and represented over 125 external affiliates as the External Representative on the Workshop Advisory Committee for the internationally recognized Ostrom Workshop at Indiana University (2019-2022).
- Ph.D. Public Policy, Indiana University
- B.A. Economics, Knox College
