Crystal A. Felima

Crystal A. Felima is an Assistant Professor of Anthropology and African American & Africana Studies at the University of Kentucky, within the College of Arts & Sciences. Her research focuses on disasters, climate change, and Black ecologies, with a regional emphasis on Haiti, the Caribbean, and West Africa. She employs narrative research and GIS methodologies to explore vulnerability, risk, and socio-political dynamics in ecological crises.

Education:

• PhD in Anthropology, University of Florida
• MA in Africana Studies, Cornell University
• BA in African American Studies, University of South Carolina

Research & Professional Experience: Her NSF-funded project investigates risk and vulnerability in Eastern Kentucky. Previously, she worked at FEMA as an emergency management specialist and GIS analyst. She co-edits Berghahn Books’ Catastrophes in Context series and has held fellowships including the NSEP Boren Fellowship and CLIR Postdoctoral Fellowship.

Awards:

• NSEP Boren Fellowship (Haiti, doctoral research)
• Haiti’s Future Leaders Fellowship
• CLIR Postdoctoral Fellowship in Caribbean Data Curation

Teaching & Affiliations: Teaches courses like Human Rights in Global Perspective and Decolonizing Ecologies. Affiliated with the Commonwealth Institute for Black Studies, Environmental and Sustainability Studies, and Gender and Women’s Studies.