Jennifer Ladino

Jennifer Ladino is a Professor of English and Director of the MA-English program at the University of Idaho’s Department of English, housed within the College of Letters, Arts and Social Sciences. She co-directs the Confluence Lab, an interdisciplinary research initiative focused on environmental issues in rural communities, and serves as core faculty in the Environmental Science Office. Her academic journey includes a Ph.D. in English from the University of Washington (2006), followed by a Fulbright Lecturing position at the University of Bergen, Norway (2009-10) and prior teaching at Creighton University.

Her research bridges environmental humanities, affect theory, and public memory studies, with a focus on American literature since the late 19th century. Key projects like Memorials Matter (2019) and Affective Ecocriticism (2018) explore how environmental spaces shape human emotions and collective memory. She has published widely in journals such as Environmental Humanities and ISLE, with recent work examining climate justice narratives and war memorial experiences.

Ladino’s teaching spans American literature, climate change fiction, rural literature, and affect theory. She has secured major grants, including a Mellon Foundation grant for the Pacific Northwest Just Futures Institute and a National Science Foundation grant for fire communication projects. Her honors include the University of Idaho’s President’s Mid-Career Award (2018-2020) and a National Endowment for the Humanities Summer Stipend (2016).

Her interdisciplinary approach is evident in the Confluence Lab’s collaborations, which address environmental challenges in rural regions through community-engaged research. She also contributes to outreach initiatives like the Semester in the Wild Program and public discussions on climate fiction.