Sameer Shah

Sameer Shah

  • Assistant Professor
  • John C. Garcia Professor
  • Visit Sameer's website

    • Sameer Shah

    • Assistant Professor
    • John C. Garcia Professor

    Research areas

    Dr. Sameer Shah (he/him) is a John C. Garcia Professor and Assistant Professor of Climate Adaptation in the School of Environmental & Forest Sciences (SEFS) at the University of Washington. He is also an Affiliate with the UW Center for Studies in Demography in Ecology, Center for Environmental Politics, and Clean Energy Institute. Dr. Shah holds expertise in the human dimensions of climate change vulnerability and adaptation. He aims to understand how systemic marginalization, and climate-related change and disasters interact to create and amplify uneven water, food, and energy insecurities for communities on the frontlines of climate change. In particular, his research develops theoretical, conceptual, and empirical analyses of the equity, justice, and sustainability outcomes of climate adaptation and disaster response at multiple scales. Dr. Shah’s most current research is focused on the causal drivers and impacts associated with “climate maladaptation.” Through research in South/Southeast Asia, the contiguous U.S., and Puerto Rico, he and his collaborators seek to advance interventions that reduce the disproportionately larger climate risks experienced by marginalized groups, and to shape long-term policy strategies that transform the underlying systems that heighten these impacts. At SEFS, Dr. Shah directs the WATERS Research Collaborative (Water, Adaptation & Transformation: Equity, Resilience and Sustainability). He is also a co-founder of the SOLVER (Social Vulnerability and Resilience) Research Laboratory.

    Autumn 2026 Admissions: Dr. Shah does not have any available openings for undergraduate students in his lab for the 2025–2026 academic year.

    Education

    Ph.D., Resource Management and Environmental Studies, The University of British Columbia

    Courses

    Current sponsored projects

    • Can machine learning applications identify agricultural climate “solutions” that may have unintended negative consequences?

    • How are groundwater patterns changing over time in the American West—an “epicenter” of the U.S. water crisis?

    • Is access to basic drinking water and sanitation improving in countries like India?

    • What is the scale of displacement and patterns of migration observable after recent wildfires in California?

    Selected publications

    Shah, S.H. (2026) Four water insecurity concerns about datacenters driving the AI revolution. PLOS Water, 5(1): e0000500. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pwat.000050

    Roque, A.D., Painter, M.A., Prudencio, W., Shah, S.H., Quintana, E., Tormos-Aponte, F., de Leon Colon, K., Cuevas Quintana, F. (2025). Navigating cascading food-energy-water insecurities: A case of community leadership in Puerto Rico. Environmental Science and Policy, 171: 104188. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envsci.2025.104188

    Shah, S.H., Haverkamp, J., Balderas-Guzmán, C., Mills-Novoa, M., Carmack, M (2025). Beyond unintentionality: Considering climate maladaptation as cyclical. Climatic Change, 178:77. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10584-025-03922-7

    Wilson, N.J., Shah, S.H., Montoya, T., Grasham, C., Korzenevica-Proud, M., Octavianti, T., Vonk, J., Sultana, F. (2024). Climate–water crises: critically engaging relational, spatial, and temporal dimensions. Ecology and Society, 29(4):13. https://doi.org/10.5751/ES-15469-290413

    Shah, S. H., Harris, L. M., Joy, K. J., Birkenholtz, T., & Ajibade, I. (2024). Re-conceptualizing climate maladaptation: Complementing social-ecological interactions with relational socionatures. Global Environmental Change, 88: 102910. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2024.102910

    Méndez, M., Shah, S.H., Golembeski, C., Bedsworth, L., Cha, M., Goldsmith, L., Holmes, T., Maldonado, J., Méndez-Barrientos, L.E., Middleton, B.R., Mills-Novoa, M. (2025). Centering environmental justice in United States (U.S.) National Climate Assessments (NCAs): A historical and contemporary analysis. Climatic Change, 178(90): 1-21. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10584-025-03924-5

    Ajibade, I., Shah, S.H. (2024). Can floating homes make coastal communities resilient to climate risks? Nature, 632(8026): 733-736. https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-024-02679-w

    Painter, M.A., Shah, S.H., Damestoit, G.C., Khalid, F., Prudencio, W., Chisty, M.A., Tormos-Aponte, F., Wilhelmi, O. (2024). A systematic scoping review of the Social Vulnerability Index as applied to natural hazards. Natural Hazards, 120: 7265-7356. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11069-023-06378-z

    Shah, S.H., Harris, L.M., Menghwani, V., Stoler, J., Brewis, A., Miller, J.D., Workman, C.L., Adams, E.A., Pearson, A.L., Hagaman, A., Wutich, A., Young, S.L., HWISE-RCN. (2023). Variations in house- hold water affordability and water insecurity: An intersectional perspective from 18 low- and middle-income countries. Environment and Planning F: Philosophy, Theory, Models, Methods and Practice, 2(3): 369–398. https://doi.org/10.1177/26349825231156900

    Méndez-Barrientos, L.E., Fencl, A., Workman, C.L., Shah, S.H. (2022). Race, citizenship, and be- longing in the pursuit of water and climate justice in California. Environment and Planning E: Nature and Space, 6(3): 1614-1635. https://doi.org/10.1177/25148486221133282

    Shah, S.H., Harris, L.M. (2021). Beyond local case studies in political-ecology: Spatializing agricultural water infrastructure in Maharashtra using a critical, multi-methods, and multi-scalar approach. Annals of the American Association of Geographers, 112(4): 988-1007. https://doi.org/10.1080/24694452.2021.1941746

    Shah, S.H. (2021). How is water security conceptualized and practiced for rural livelihoods in the global South? A systematic scoping review. Water Policy, 23(5): 1129-1152. http://doi.org/10.2166/wp.2021.054

    Shah, S.H., Harris, L.M., Johnson, M.S., Wittman, H. (2021). A “drought-free” Maharashtra? Politicizing water conservation for rain-dependent agriculture. Water Alternatives, 14(2): 573-596.

    Shah, S.H., Rodina, L. (2018). Water ethics, justice, and equity in social-ecological systems conservation: Lessons from the Queensland Wild Rivers Act. Water Policy, 20(5): 933-952. https://doi.org/10.2166/wp.2018.016

    Jepson, W., Budds, J., Eichelberger, L., Harris, L., Norman, E., O’Reilly, K., Pearson, A., Shah, S.H., Shinn, J., Staddon, C., Stoler, J., Wutich, A., Young, S. (2017). Advancing human capabilities for water security: A relational approach. Water Security, 1: 46-52. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wasec.2017.07.001

    Shah, S.H., Angeles, L.C., Harris, L.M. (2017). Worlding the intangibility of resilience: The case of rice farmers and water-related risk in the Philippines. World Development, 98: 400-412. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.worlddev.2017.05.004