Krister Andersson

Krister Andersson is the Notre Dame Professor of Sustainable Development at the Keough School of Global Affairs, University of Notre Dame, and an affiliate of the Pulte Institute for Global Development. A political scientist with expertise in environmental governance, his work examines local institutional arrangements affecting natural resource management in the Global South.

• Education: PhD in Public Policy (Indiana University), MA in International Relations (Schiller International University), BA in Speech Communication (Point Loma Nazarene University)

His field-based research, funded by the National Science Foundation and other agencies, explores themes like decentralization, corruption prevention, and collective action. Recent studies focus on equity perceptions in conservation payments and groundwater governance adaptation.

Key trends across his publications include:

• Decentralization's impact on environmental outcomes
• Institutional design in public service delivery
• Comparative analysis across Latin America, Africa, and Asia
• Climate adaptation through incremental policy change
• Polycentric approaches to resource management

Scientific Awards

• Giorgio Ruffolo Research Fellowship, Harvard University (2007)

Previously a forestry officer at the UN Food and Agriculture Organization in Rome, Quito, and Santiago, Andersson has held faculty positions at the University of Colorado Boulder. He joined Notre Dame while maintaining affiliations with the Kellogg Institute for International Studies.