Assistant Professor, Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences (NRES) Institute for Sustainability, Energy, and Environment (ISEE)

Research Focus: Global Environmental Politics, Environmental Justice, Environmental Security and Peacebuilding, Biodiversity Conservation

Biography:  McKenzie F. Johnson is an Assistant Professor at the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign since 2018. During her undergraduate studies, she was interested in fisheries governance. She completed her Master of Arts in Conservation Biology at Columbia University and upon her graduation in 2007, she traveled to Afghanistan to work on a peace park project between Afghanistan, Tajikistan, China, and Pakistan spearheaded by the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS). She headed to Duke University for its Environmental Policy PhD Program. During her PhD studies, she received a Fulbright scholarship and studied in West Africa where she focused on extractives, seeking to understand the ways that social justice and security are linked to minerals and other resources.

Mission Statement: My research and teaching focuses on global environmental politics, environmental justice, and human security. I am particularly interested in understanding whether and how global environmental governance initiatives create local opportunities to enhance social justice and environmental sustainability. My research program is global in scope: I have conducted interdisciplinary fieldwork in South Asia, Africa, and South America. However, my next major project will focus on the intersection of environmental justice and energy policy in the United States, with a specific focus on the ability of Environmental Impact Assessments to provide just outcomes for communities impacted by pipeline development.

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