Joni Adamson

Joni Adamson is a Literature professor serving as President's Professor of Environmental Humanities in the Department of English at Arizona State University, where she is also a Distinguished Global Futures Scholar in the Julie Ann Wrigley Global Futures Laboratory. She earned her Ph.D. in English and Comparative Cultural and Literary Studies from the University of Arizona, M.A. in English from Brigham Young University, and B.A. in History from Idaho State University. Adamson's academic career began at the University of Arizona in 1989 as a Graduate Assistant, advancing to Professor of English by 2004. She joined Arizona State University in 2006 as Associate Professor in English and Environmental Humanities, became full Professor in 2013, and was appointed President's Professor in 2019. Additional affiliations include Affiliated Faculty in the School for the Future of Innovation in Society and Women and Gender Studies at ASU.

Her research focuses on environmental humanities, global Indigenous studies, environmental justice, ecocriticism, climate change, and multispecies ethnography. Adamson has authored or co-edited nine books, including American Indian Literature, Environmental Justice, and Ecocriticism: The Middle Place (University of Arizona Press, 2001), Keywords for Environmental Studies (NYU Press, 2016), Ecocriticism and Indigenous Studies: Conversations from Earth to Cosmos (Routledge, 2016), and Humanities for the Environment: Integrating Knowledge, Forging New Constellations of Practice (Routledge, 2017). Her scholarly work has received over 3,980 citations on Google Scholar, with an h-index of 29 and i10-index of 49. She has been honored with the Benjamin N. Duke National Humanities Center Senior Fellowship (2019), PLuS Alliance Fellowship (2017-2022), and served as a Delegate to the United Nations Summit of the Future (2024). Adamson is Founding Director of the Flagship Hub of UNESCO BRIDGES Sustainability Science Coalition and Secretary General of Humanities for the Environment Global Network. She previously served as President of the Association for the Study of Literature and Environment (2011-2013), founded the American Studies Association’s Environment and Culture Caucus (1999-2010), and co-edits the Routledge Environmental Humanities Book Series.

Professional Email: Joni.Adamson@asu.edu