Dawn Biehler

Dawn Biehler is an Associate Professor in the Department of Geography & Environmental Systems at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC). She earned her Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 2007. Her research focuses on urban and feminist political ecology, environmental justice, and the historical and contemporary relationships between humans and non-human animals in urban spaces. Biehler is the author of Pests in the City: Flies, Bedbugs, Cockroaches, and Rats (2013) and Animating Central Park: A Multispecies History (2024). She also leads projects on urban mosquito ecology, citizen science, and environmental health disparities in Baltimore and Washington, D.C., emphasizing participatory approaches to address ecological and social inequities.

Her work integrates historical analysis with contemporary community engagement, such as her research on mosquito management in low-income urban neighborhoods and her exploration of how marginalized communities navigate environmental hazards. Biehler teaches courses on environmental justice, health geographies, and gendered spatial practices. She actively advises graduate and undergraduate students in qualitative and mixed-methods research, fostering scholarship on topics like housing justice, urban green spaces, and multispecies histories.

In 2025, Biehler will present a talk on Animating Central Park at Red Emma’s in Baltimore, discussing how the park’s history reflects struggles over power, identity, and multispecies coexistence. Her research underscores the interconnectedness of ecological and social justice issues in urban environments.