Jessica Dempsey

Jessica Dempsey is a Professor in the Department of Geography at the University of British Columbia, affiliated with the Faculty of Arts and Biodiversity Research Centre. Her work intersects environmental politics, political ecology, and feminist political economy, focusing on biodiversity loss, capitalist logics, and conservation finance.

• PhD, University of British Columbia (2011)
• MA, University of British Columbia
• BSc, University of Victoria

Research explores how neoliberal environmentalism, resource extraction, and international financial systems perpetuate biodiversity loss. Key themes include debt justice, gendered mining impacts, and temporal policy fixes. Supervision emphasizes community-building through regular lab meetings and interdisciplinary critique.

Recent publications analyze conservation finance, extinction drivers, and policy contradictions in Antipode, Nature Ecology & Evolution, and Conservation Letters. She received the 2025 Dean of Arts Mentorship Award for her student-centered feedback style and collaborative approach.