Dr. Wendy Jepson

Dr. Wendy Jepson is a University Professor in the Department of Geography at Texas A&M University since earning her Ph.D. (UCLA Geography, 2003). She is an internationally recognized scholar known for leading and impactful research on the causes and consequences of water insecurity. Dr. Jepson is a Fellow of the American Association of Geographers (AAG) and the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), a Fulbright Scholar, and AAAS Leshner Fellow. Jepson leads several research projects and institutional initiatives on water insecurity, supported by grants and awards from the National Science Foundation, private sources, and internal awards. She led the NSF-funded Household Water Insecurity Experiences Research Coordination Network (HWISE-RCN, 2018-2024), an international community of scholars and practitioners dedicated to advance research and work in the interdisciplinary field of water insecurity. She is currently leading a collaboration to develop a water insecurity metric for the United States and advance research on water trust, water affordability, and water capabilities in high-income countries. Her international research portfolio has generated over $9 million in funding, including a $4.6M project funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation to launch a national center of excellence in humanities-based and community-engaged research on environmental justice at Texas A&M University.