Rate My Professor Arica Crootof

Crootof's research specializations encompass water management, human dimensions of global change, and science communication, blending physical and social sciences. She investigates social perceptions of water quality and contamination in Montana's Upper Clark Fork River Watershed and irrigator decision-making during drought in the Upper Missouri Headwaters, involving undergraduate students in action-oriented studies. Her international work examines hydropower development's effects on river flows and dependent communities in Nepal's mountain basins. As Principal Investigator, she has secured grants including Montana Water Center Faculty Seed Grant (2023–2024, $37,356), NSF EPSCoR CREWS awards (2019–2023), and SARE Western Professional + Producer Grant (2024–present, $73,097). Key publications include Albrecht, Crootof, and Scott (2018), 'The Water-Energy-Food Nexus: A systematic review of methods for nexus assessment' in Environmental Research Letters, which received the 2019 Best Review Article award; Ptak, Crootof et al. (2022), 'Critically evaluating the purported global “boom” in small hydropower development' in Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews; and Crootof et al. (2021), 'Sacrificing the local to support the national: Politics, sustainability, and governance in Nepal’s hydropower paradox' in Energy Research & Social Science. Awards include Outstanding Service in Making A Difference for Water, Trout, and Habitat from Chuck Robbins Trout Unlimited (2025) and multiple American Association of Geographers student research awards (2018). She teaches courses such as Environmental Sustainability, Sustaining Water Resources, Human Dimensions of Global Change, and Environmental Policy.