Anita Milman
Professor
Office: 210 Holdsworth Hall
Phone: 413-545-3749
Research Website: Water Governance
Primary Research Interests
I research environmental governance, with a focus on water resources in the context of global change. I am particularly interested in how adaptation to climate change in the water sector is influenced by a) institutional structures 2) the socio-political-cultural lenses used in interpreting information and c) the need to make decisions and act under uncertainty. My research is itself a form of boundary work, and I am especially interested in connecting those who produce knowledge with stakeholders, policy makers, and government agencies.
Key concepts I study include: environmental governance; climate change adaptation; transboundary water; flood-mitigation; coupled-human environmental systems; collaborative governance; decision-making under uncertainty; environmental policy integration; integrated water resources management.
Current Projects
- Science-policy interface in transboundary rivers
- Groundwater governance
- Adaptation to extreme flood events in New England
- Capacity building for small water supply systems
- Water supply decisions and institutional change
- New technologies for water quality monitoring
Teaching
- EnvirSci 213 Environmental Policy (fall semester)
- EnvirSci 213H Honors Colloquium Environmental Policy (fall semester)
- EnvirSci 597b Potable Water for Small & Disadvantaged Communities (fall semester)
- NRC590TP Adapting to Climate Change (spring semester)
- ECO692B Qualitative Data Analysis (spring semester)
- ECO690E Environmental Conflict & Collaborative Policy (spring semester)
Selected Publications
Milman, A., Gerlak, A. K., Albrecht, T., Colosimo, M., Conca, K., Kittikhoun, A., . . . Ziegler, J. (2020). Addressing Knowledge Gaps for Transboundary Environmental Governance. Global Environmental Change, 64, 102162. doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2020.102162
Milman, A., and MacDonald, A. “Focus on Interactions between Science-Policy in Groundwater Systems.” Environmental Research Letters 15, no. 9 (2020/08/25 2020): 090201.
Milman, A, and Gerlak, A. K. “International River Basin Organizations, Science, and Hydrodiplomacy.” Environmental Science & Policy 107 (2020): 137-49.
Sherman, L., Cantor, A., Milman, A. and Kiparsky, M. “Examining the Complex Relationship between Innovation and Regulation through a Survey of Wastewater Utility Managers.” Journal of Environmental Management 260 (2020/04/15/ 2020): 110025.
Dennis, E M, Blomquist, W., Milman, A. and Moran. T. “Path Dependence, Evolution of a Mandate and the Road to Statewide Sustainable Groundwater Management.” Society & Natural Resources (2020): 1-13.
Milman, A., and K. “Concurrent Governance Processes of California’s Sustainable Groundwater Management Act.” Society & Natural Resources (2020): 1-12.
Milman, A., Gallindo, L., Conrad, E., & Blomquist, B. (2018) “Politics, Choice, and the Establishment of Local Groundwater Governance: Experience to Date with California’s Sustainable Groundwater Management Act.” Water Alternatives,11(2): 458-480. Online View
Kiparsky, M., Milman, A., Owen, D., Fischer, A.T. (2017) “The Importance of Institutional Design for Distributed Local-Level Governance of Groundwater: The Case of California’s Sustainable Groundwater Management Act.” Water, DOI:10.3390/w9100755
Gianotti, A.G., *Warner, B., & Milman, A.(2017) “Flood Concerns and Impacts on Rural Landowners: An Empirical Study of the Deerfield Watershed” Environmental Science and Policy,https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envsci.2017.10.007
Milman, A. & Jagannathan, K. (2017) “Conceptualization and Implementation of Eco-systems Based Adaptation.” Climatic Change. Online View
Consoer, M. & Milman, A. (2017) “Opportunities, Constraints and Choices for Flood Mitigation in Rural Areas: Perspectives of Municipalities in Massachusetts” Journal of Flood Risk Management. DOI 10.1111/jfr3.12302
Paul, M. & Milman, A. (2017) “A Question of ‘Fit’: Local Perspectives on Top-down Flood Mitigation Policies in Vermont” Journal of Environmental Planning and Management. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09640568.2017.1283298
Milman, A., Warner, B., Chapman, D. & Short, A. (2017) “Identifying and Quantifying Landowner Perspectives on Integrated Flood Risk Management” Journal of Flood Risk Management. DOI 10.1111/jfr3.12291
Consoer, M. & Milman, A. (2016) “Social Capital and the Process of Community and Formal Disaster Efforts Coming Together to Create a Stronger Flood Recovery.” Natural Hazards, 86(1): 155-174.
Milman, A. & Polsky, C. (2016) “Policy Frameworks Influencing Outdoor Watering Restrictions” Journal of the American Waterworks Association, 52(3): 605-619.
Milman, A. & Warner, B. (2016) “The Interfaces of Public and Private Adaptation: Lessons from Flooding in the Deerfield River Watershed” Global Environmental Change, (36):46-55.
Goodale, W. & Milman, A. (2014) “Cumulative Adverse Effects of Offshore Wind Energy Development on Wildlife” Journal of Environmental Planning & Management. DOI 10.1080/09640568.2014.973483
Milman, A., & Arsano, Y. (2014) “Climate Adaptation and Development: Contradictions for Human Security in Gambella, Ethiopia.” Global Environmental Change, 29(2014):349-359.
Milman, A., Bunclark, L., Conway, D., & Adger., W.N. (2013) “Assessing Institutional Capacity to Adapt to Climate Change in Transboundary River Basins.” Climatic Change, 121(4): 755-770.
Kiparsky, M., Milman, A. & Vicuna, S. (2012) “Climate and Water: Knowledge of Impacts to Action on Adaptation.” Annual Review of Environment and Resources, (37):163-194.
Milman, A. & Ray, I. (2011) “Interpreting the Unknown: Management of Transboundary Groundwater Under Hydrological Uncertainty.” Water International, 36(5): 631-645.
Milman, A. & Scott, C. (2009) “Beneath the Surface: Intra-national Institutions and Management of the United States – Mexico Transboundary Santa Cruz Aquifer,” Environment and Planning C: Government and Policy, 28(3): 528-551.
Milman, A. & Short, A. (2008) “Incorporating Resilience into Sustainability Indicators: An Example for the Urban Water Sector.” Global Environmental Change, 18(4): 758-767.
Kolb de Wilde, C., Milman, A., Flores, Y., Salmeron, J. & Ray, I., (2008) “An Integrated Method for Evaluating Community-Based Safe Water Programmes and an Application in Rural Mexico.” Health Policy Planning, 23(6): 452-64.
Kallis, G., Kiparksy, M., Milman, A. & Ray, I. (2006). “Glossing Over the Complexity of Water.” Science, 314(5804): 1387c-1388. (Letter)
Milman, A. (2006) “Geographic Pollution Mapping of Power Plant Emissions to Inform Ex-ante Environmental Justice Analyses.” Journal of Environmental Planning and Management, (49)4: 587-604.
Jacobson, A., Milman, A. & Kammen, DM. (2005) “Letting the (energy) Gini Out of the Bottle: Lorentz Curves of Cumulative Electricity Consumption and Gini Coefficients as Metrics of Energy Distribution and Equity” Energy Policy, (33)14: 1825-1832.