Meghan is MENV Teaching Faculty and a community-engaged scholar with a passion for water management. Within MENV, Meghan teaches 5018: Scientific Basis for Environmental Change, which is core curriculum for all incoming students. Additionally, Meghan teaches two electives: Communicating for Sustainability and Impact, and GIS for Sustainability Professionals.
Meghan recently completed her doctoral degree at the University of Denver, where her research studied community water literacy as a tool for sustainable water management. She focused her research on the case studies of Aurora, Colorado and Cape Town, South Africa, as two cities that have experienced extreme drought within the last two decades. Given the interdisciplinary nature of water, Meghan uses a broad mixture of quantitative and qualitative methods, including GIS, surveys, interviews, focus groups, and photovoice.
Meghan is a CU Alumna, having completed her bachelor’s degree in Environmental Studies from the University of Colorado Boulder. She also received a master’s degree in Integrated Water Management from the University of Queensland in Brisbane, Australia. Her professional experience spans the entire spectrum of water management, including collecting abandoned mine discharge across the Rocky Mountains; monitoring the health of the Charles River in Boston; operating a recycled wastewater treatment plant in Denver; and providing water conservation education and outreach in Aurora.
Meghan strongly believes in centering water management around community voices and experiences. She served for three years as a Community Engaged Fellow for the Center of Community Engagement to Advance Scholarship and Learning (CCESL), where she researched photovoice in the context of neighborhood planning and local government processes. She strives to partner with local municipalities and organizations to maximize genuine community engagement within water management.