About Me

I am currently a Postdoctoral Fellow with the David H. Smith Conservation Research Fellowship. I have a joint position as an Honorary Associate Scientist with the Keller Science Action Center at the Field Museum in Chicago, IL. I recently received my Ph.D. in the Ecological Sciences and Engineering Interdisciplinary Program at Purdue University. 

My research focuses on flooding and water quality impairment resulting from stormwater and wastewater management. As an interdisciplinary scholar, I strive to think beyond disciplinary silos. I view rivers as socio-ecological systems, and I'm broadly interested in how urban development, social norms and rules, and structural racism shape our waterways and the communities who use, depend on, and are impacted by water management. 

My ultimate goal as an academic is to teach and train marginalized students to think beyond disciplinary silos and engage in culturally relevant conversation on global and local socio-environmental change. Further, I strive to envision STEM fields as critical to knowledge production on socio-environmental justice and solving complex environmental issues. 

Accolades

Smith Fellow, 2022-2024
Graduate Women in Science (GWIS) Fellow, 2020
The Ford Foundation Dissertation Fellow, 2020-2021
George Washington Carver Fellow, Purdue University, 2015-2020
Kennedy Graves Activism and Engagement in Research Award, University of California Santa Barbara, 2015
UCSB Chancellor’s Sustainability Fellow, University of California Santa Barbara, 2014

Collaborative Interests

Contact Information

The problems I pursue are vast, therefore I am always looking to collaborate with scholars of diverse backgrounds. Contact me if you are interested in working with me.

Rachel Scarlett
Keller Science Action Center, The Field Museum
1400 S Lake Shore Dr.
Chicago, IL, 60605
Email: rscarlett@fieldmuseum.org
Twitter: @waterANDpeople
Google Scholar: see my page