I am a sociologist and demographer with interests in understanding how climate change and dam building impact the health and well-being of marginalized populations. My research uses quantitative and qualitative methods to investigate linkages between climate change and food security, child health, and education; the effects of dam construction on nearby communities; and the relationship between environmental stressors and migration.
Heather Randell is a sociologist and demographer with interests in environmental change, sustainable development, and human health and well-being. She is currently an Assistant Professor of Rural Sociology and Demography at Penn State. Dr. Randell’s research has been published in journals including Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Global Environmental Change, World Development, and Food Policy and has been funded by the National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation. In addition, she served as a contributing author on the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Sixth Assessment Report. Prior to joining Penn State, Dr. Randell completed postdoctoral fellowships at the National Socio-Environmental Synthesis Center (SESYNC) and the Maryland Institute for Applied Environmental Health at the University of Maryland. She holds a PhD in Sociology from Brown University, a Master of Environmental Management from Duke University, and a BS in Biology from Cornell University.