Dana Fisher Professor Environment, Development & Health
- Degrees
- PhD (University of Wisconsin-Madison, 2001)
MS (University of Wisconsin-Madison, 1999)
AB (Princeton University, 1993) - Bio
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Dana R. Fisher is the Director of the Center for Environment, Community, & Equity and Professor in the School of International Service at American University. She currently serves as a Non Resident Senior Fellow in the Governance Program at the Brookings Institution, and the chair of the Political Sociology Section of the American Sociological Association.
Professor Fisher's research focuses on questions related to democracy, civic engagement, activism, and climate politics. Current projects include studying political elites' responses to climate change, the ways national service corps programs in the US are integrating climate into their work, and on-ramps to activism and engagement around climate and systemic racism. Her research employs a mixed-methods approach that integrates data collected through open-ended semi-structured interviews and participant observation with various forms of survey data.
Professor Fisher has authored over 80 peer-reviewed articles and book chapters and has written seven books. Her most recent book is Saving Ourselves: From Climate Shocks to Climate Action (Columbia University Press 2024). Fisher also serves on the editorial boards of the journals Climate Action, Climate Policy, and Mobilization. She is a Series Editor for the Series on Society and the Environment at Columbia University Press along with Evan Schofer at UC-Irvine.
Professor Fisher has appeared on ABC, CBS, CNN, MSNBC, and PBS Newshour to discuss her work. Her words have appeared in the popular media, including in the Washington Post, The Nation, Slate, TIME Magazine , Politico, Business Insider and the American Prospect. In winter 2021, she was called "One of America's Most Prescient Political Thinkers" in a piece on the Changing Politics of Climate Change for PBS. Her research has been featured in media outlets such as the Washington Post, The New York Times, The Financial Times, Vox, various programs on National Public Radio, the BBC, the CBC, on numerous podcasts, and in a TED Talk in 2024. A list of selected media coverage with links is available under media.
Professor Fisher has presented her work to the US National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine, federal agencies, foundations, presidential campaigns, and other political organizations. She served as a Contributing Author for Working Group 3 of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's Sixth Assessment Review (IPCC AR6) writing about citizen engagement and civic activism.
Fisher received her Ph.D. and Master of Science degrees from the Department of Sociology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Her undergraduate degree is in East Asian Studies and Environmental Studies from Princeton University.
- See Also
- Professor Fisher's Personal Website
- The Center for Environment, Community, & Equity
- Bluesky
- For the Media
- To request an interview for a news story, call AU Communications at 202-885-5950 or submit a request.
Teaching
Spring 2025
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SIS-620 Stds in Global Envirn Politics: Activism and the Environment
AU Experts
Area of Expertise
Climate politics, the Inflation Reduction Act, climate negotiations, climate activism, protest, civic engagement, US elections
Additional Information
Dana R. Fisher is the Director of the Center for Environment, Community, & Equity (CECE) and a Professor in the School of International Service. Her current projects include evaluating the ways that nationally coordinated service corps programs are expanding their climate-related work and the effects of all sorts of activism, engagement, and protest. Prof. Fisher is a prominent author who writes about activism, democracy and climate policy. Her most recent book is Saving Ourselves: from Climate Shocks to Climate Action (Columbia University Press, 2024). Prof. Fisher is a Nonresident Senior Fellow with the Governance Studies program at The Brookings Institution and the chair of the Political Sociology section of the American Sociological Association. She served as a Contributing Author for Working Group 3 of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's Sixth Assessment Review (IPCC AR6) writing about citizen engagement and civic activism. She is a frequent commentator on ABC, CBS, CNN, MSNBC, PBS Newshour, and various programs on NPR, BBC, and CBC, Washington Post, Slate, TIME Magazine, Politico, the Nation, Teen Vogue, and the American Prospect. In 2024, Prof. Fisher delivered a TED talk about being an apocalyptic optimist and what it will really take to get us to the other side of the climate crisis. For more details, see www.danarfisher.com
For the Media
To request an interview for a news story, call AU Communications at 202-885-5950 or submit a request.