Wendy Jepson
- Courses6
- Reviews30
- School: Texas A&M University
- Campus: College Station
- Department: Geography
- Email address: Join to see
- Phone: Join to see
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Location:
College Station, TX - Dates at Texas A&M University: December 2014 - April 2019
- Office Hours: Join to see
Political Leanings:
| Liberal | Conservative |
Biography
Texas A&M University College Station - Geography
Geographer, Professor, Texas A&M University, AAAS Leshner Fellow 2018-2019
Research
Wendy
Jepson
College Station, Texas
My primary expertise is environmental governance and water security. Water security — defined as affordable, adequate, and reliable water for a healthy life– anchors my research portfolio. My empirical focus is “household water insecurity” as I try to understand the intersection of institutions and water systems as experienced in the everyday social life of water.
I completed an NSF-funded project (2009-2014) that examines household water security among low-income communities on the US-Mexico border (colonias). I examined the complex waterscape through a critical lens, paying particular attention to the production of environmental subjectivity through various mechanisms, whether they are legal, technical, and/or political. And I remained engaged in water governance challenges in Texas and the Southwest.
But my work has migrated south — back to Brazil as a US Fulbright Scholar (2016-2017). I have started exciting new NSF-funded project (2016-2019) that builds on my previous household water security study but in a new region: urban Ceará, Brazil. The emergence of regulated and unregulated water technologies, practices, and institutions that configure coexistence begs the question of its efficacy for human development and water security.
My research has been funded by the National Science Foundation, Organization of American States, and NextEra-FPL Energy along with other research units within Texas A&M University, including the Vice President for Research Office, Glasscock Center for the Humanities and the Mexican-American Latino Research Center.
My international experience includes the UK, Brazil, Mexico, and India.
Experience
Texas A&M University
Research Scientist
Wendy worked at Texas A&M University as a Research Scientist
Texas A&M University
University Professor
Wendy worked at Texas A&M University as a University Professor
Texas A&M University
Professor
Wendy worked at Texas A&M University as a Professor
Texas A&M University
Associate Professor
Wendy worked at Texas A&M University as a Associate Professor
Texas A&M University
Assistant Professor
Full-time faculty position, includes research, teaching undergraduate students, advising and mentoring graduate students.
Universidade Federal do Ceará
Visiting Professor
As a Visiting Professor, I co-advise doctoral students, work with other professors on collaborative projects, and occasionally teach short courses for graduate students.
Education
University of California, Los Angeles
Ph.D.
Geography
University of Wisconsin-Madison
B.A. Honors
Geography, History
Syracuse University - Maxwell School
M.A.
Geography
Publications
Mediating water governance: point-of-use water filtration devices for low-income communities along the US-Mexico border
Geo: Geography and Environment
Small-scale decentralised facilities and household-level water purification technologies (HWTs) have become unconventional modes of delivering potable water. This paper examines how HWTs transformed from a temporary solution to unsanitary drinking water conditions in the global South to a legitimised technological fix for communities that experience chronic household water insecurity in the United States. We examine the discursive and material processes through which HWTs are applied in periurban and rural subdivisions on the Texas–Mexico border, called colonias. HWTs, through the intervention of social entrepreneurs, experts, and the state, mediate water governance by rearticulating the individual solution and foreclosing a collective or political process to improve community water systems for colonia residents.
Mediating water governance: point-of-use water filtration devices for low-income communities along the US-Mexico border
Geo: Geography and Environment
Small-scale decentralised facilities and household-level water purification technologies (HWTs) have become unconventional modes of delivering potable water. This paper examines how HWTs transformed from a temporary solution to unsanitary drinking water conditions in the global South to a legitimised technological fix for communities that experience chronic household water insecurity in the United States. We examine the discursive and material processes through which HWTs are applied in periurban and rural subdivisions on the Texas–Mexico border, called colonias. HWTs, through the intervention of social entrepreneurs, experts, and the state, mediate water governance by rearticulating the individual solution and foreclosing a collective or political process to improve community water systems for colonia residents.
Social perspectives on wind-power development in west Texas
Annals of the Association of American Geographers
101(4): 839-51 [doi: 10.1080/00045608.2011.568871]
Mediating water governance: point-of-use water filtration devices for low-income communities along the US-Mexico border
Geo: Geography and Environment
Small-scale decentralised facilities and household-level water purification technologies (HWTs) have become unconventional modes of delivering potable water. This paper examines how HWTs transformed from a temporary solution to unsanitary drinking water conditions in the global South to a legitimised technological fix for communities that experience chronic household water insecurity in the United States. We examine the discursive and material processes through which HWTs are applied in periurban and rural subdivisions on the Texas–Mexico border, called colonias. HWTs, through the intervention of social entrepreneurs, experts, and the state, mediate water governance by rearticulating the individual solution and foreclosing a collective or political process to improve community water systems for colonia residents.
Social perspectives on wind-power development in west Texas
Annals of the Association of American Geographers
101(4): 839-51 [doi: 10.1080/00045608.2011.568871]
Household water insecurity in the Global North: A study of rural and peri-urban settlements on the Texas-Mexico border
The Professional Geographer
This article examines household-level characteristics that predict water insecurity in low-income rural and periurban communities on the Texas–Mexico border. We employ two logistic regression models (binary and ordered) to identify household characteristics that are more likely to result in water insecurity. Our analyses yielded unexpected findings: Whereas socioeconomic factors are weak predictors, immigration status of household members is a significant variable that contributes to household water insecurity. Policymakers need to pay more attention to marginalized communities as “universal” water access still leaves populations without adequate, reliable, and affordable water in the Global North.
Positions
Robert S. Strauss Center for International Security and Law
Next Generation Project Texas, Fellow
The Next Generation Project Texas brings new voices and fresh ideas to the problems facing states, the nation and the world. This ambitious, nonpartisan project identifies and engages the best and brightest talent from around the state; incorporating leaders from disciplines that have been historically underrepresented in global policy discussions. Through open dialogue and debate, each Fellow has the opportunity to influence critical policy areas. In a time of unprecedented party polarization and global unrest, the voices of Texas leaders are needed now more than ever.
Robert S. Strauss Center for International Security and Law
Next Generation Project Texas, Fellow
The Next Generation Project Texas brings new voices and fresh ideas to the problems facing states, the nation and the world. This ambitious, nonpartisan project identifies and engages the best and brightest talent from around the state; incorporating leaders from disciplines that have been historically underrepresented in global policy discussions. Through open dialogue and debate, each Fellow has the opportunity to influence critical policy areas. In a time of unprecedented party polarization and global unrest, the voices of Texas leaders are needed now more than ever.
Robert S. Strauss Center for International Security and Law
Next Generation Project Texas, Fellow
The Next Generation Project Texas brings new voices and fresh ideas to the problems facing states, the nation and the world. This ambitious, nonpartisan project identifies and engages the best and brightest talent from around the state; incorporating leaders from disciplines that have been historically underrepresented in global policy discussions. Through open dialogue and debate, each Fellow has the opportunity to influence critical policy areas. In a time of unprecedented party polarization and global unrest, the voices of Texas leaders are needed now more than ever.
Robert S. Strauss Center for International Security and Law
Next Generation Project Texas, Fellow
The Next Generation Project Texas brings new voices and fresh ideas to the problems facing states, the nation and the world. This ambitious, nonpartisan project identifies and engages the best and brightest talent from around the state; incorporating leaders from disciplines that have been historically underrepresented in global policy discussions. Through open dialogue and debate, each Fellow has the opportunity to influence critical policy areas. In a time of unprecedented party polarization and global unrest, the voices of Texas leaders are needed now more than ever.
Robert S. Strauss Center for International Security and Law
Next Generation Project Texas, Fellow
The Next Generation Project Texas brings new voices and fresh ideas to the problems facing states, the nation and the world. This ambitious, nonpartisan project identifies and engages the best and brightest talent from around the state; incorporating leaders from disciplines that have been historically underrepresented in global policy discussions. Through open dialogue and debate, each Fellow has the opportunity to influence critical policy areas. In a time of unprecedented party polarization and global unrest, the voices of Texas leaders are needed now more than ever.
Robert S. Strauss Center for International Security and Law
Next Generation Project Texas, Fellow
The Next Generation Project Texas brings new voices and fresh ideas to the problems facing states, the nation and the world. This ambitious, nonpartisan project identifies and engages the best and brightest talent from around the state; incorporating leaders from disciplines that have been historically underrepresented in global policy discussions. Through open dialogue and debate, each Fellow has the opportunity to influence critical policy areas. In a time of unprecedented party polarization and global unrest, the voices of Texas leaders are needed now more than ever.
