Sabina Shaikh
My work at the University involves developing pedagogy and research experiences for undergraduate environmental studies. My own research focuses on the relationship of humans to environmental change, related to health, livelihoods and migration. Our collaborative research on water sustainability in the Mekong Basin of Cambodia has been funded by the National Science Foundation and recently by through the Center for International Social Science Research, Social Science Research Center and the Neubauer Collegium at the University of Chicago.
Selected WORKS
Leitzel, J. and S. Shaikh. “Economics and Animals,” forthcoming chapter in the Research Handbook of Animal Law and Animal Rights, Elgar Publishing, 2025.
News and Talks
April 2024. A Participatory Urban Future: Active Based Learning Approaches to Sustainable Cities. (with E. Talen and N. Olney). Selected Paper. American Association of Geographers Annual Meeting.
December 2023. Social Science Considerations for Climate Action in Global Cities. Invited talk. American Geophysical Sciences Annual Meeting.
November 8, 2023. Should I give up meat? My car? Climate change expert says we need a cultural shift. The Rundown, WBEZ.
November 5, 2023. How Cities like Chicago Impact our Planet’s Health, Chicago Humanities Festival
February 2023: Interlocutor, The Profits of Distrust, by Manuel Teodoro, CEGU and Seminary Co-op Bookstore
October 2022: Moderator, Contemporary Environmental Crises: Perspectives from the Social Sciences and Humanities, CEGU
June 2022; Interview, Cook County Desirable Destination Amid Climate Change, Chicago Tonight, WTTW
April 2022: Speaker, “Migration as Adaptation to Environmental Change”, DePaul Migration Collaborative Inaugural Immigration Summit: Strategies for a Migrant Planet
April 2022: Moderator, The Fire This Time: City Mayors Grapple with Climate Change Costs to Their Communities, Institute for Politics, UChicago
March 2022: Interlocutor, Troubling the Water: A Dying Lake and Vanishing World in Cambodia, by Abby Seiff, Seminary Coop
October 2021: Interview, The Future of Cities in a Post-COVID-19 World, Chicago Tonight, WTTW
July 2021: Interview, How Climate Change Impacts U.S. and Global Migration. Chicago Tonight, WTTW
May 2021: News, UChicago scholar inspires students to engage with our environment, UChicago News
April 2021: The pandemic forced us to create habits that benefit the Earth and ourselves. Here’s which behaviors to keep. CNN
December 2021: From his home, Attenborough shows viewers a perfect planet. Chicago Tribune.
Projects
Becoming Urban: Understanding the Urban Transformation of Migrants to Phnom Penh, Neubauer Collegium, University of Chicago, University of Chicago 2020-2023
Becoming Urban: Understanding the Urban Transformation of Migrants to Phnom Penh, Center for International Social Science Research, University of Chicago. 2020-2021.
Economic, Social and Environmental Drivers of Rural to Urban Migration in the Lower Mekong River Basin of Cambodia. Social Science Research Center, University of Chicago 2018-2020
Courses
Cities, Nature and the Planet (Autumn 2024, Study Abroad in Paris)
Economics and Environmental Policy (Autumn 2023)
Urban Design with Nature, co-taught with Emily Talen (Autumn 2023)
Environmental and Urban Studies BA Thesis Colloquium (Autumn 2022)
Water: Economics, Policy and Society
Urban Spaces and Unnatural Disasters: Humans-Nature Connections in Cities