Silvia Secchi’s faculty profile at the University of Iowa

“Broadly speaking, I am interested in the nexus between humans and the environment, the tools and methodologies we use to understand it, the policies we adopt to change it, and the pedagogy of teaching it.

Specifically, most of my work focuses on the Mississippi River Basin – I have done research on land based energy production, water quality, adaptation to climate change, floodplain management, invasive species and farmers’ attitudes in the watershed. I believe in place-based education. Studying multiple aspects of the complex relationship between humans and the Great River has given me a very rich lens through which to learn, research and teach a system approach to address environmental problems.

I am trained as a natural resource economist, and I identify as an economist, a geographer and a transdisciplinary scholar. My research typically involves many collaborators from other disciplines, and it integrates economic, geographical, and environmental models.”