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Meet the Faculty - Jamie Shinn
Dr. Jamie Shinn admits she hadn’t heard of ESF until she spotted the job posting that brought her here — but once she learned about the school, she knew it was a unique place she wanted to be part of. As a human geographer, she looks at water not just as a natural resource, but as something that shapes communities, livelihoods, and culture. Her research focuses especially on flooding — how people prepare, adapt, and recover — and she brings that social science perspective to ESF’s water faculty cluster alongside hydrologists and other scientists.
In the classroom, Dr. Shinn gets students thinking about water in new ways through her Water, Climate, and Society course, where the final project is a real-world policy brief instead of a traditional paper. She loves seeing students connect environmental studies with social and policy questions, preparing them to tackle big challenges with both technical know-how and people-centered thinking. What excites her most about ESF is the passion and purpose students bring — they’re not just curious, they’re determined to make a difference. For her, that makes ESF one of the most inspiring places to teach and learn.