Jessica Wang

Jessica Wang is a Professor at the University of British Columbia with a joint appointment in the Department of Geography and Department of History. She holds a Ph.D. from MIT’s Program in Science, Technology, and Society (1995), followed by postdoctoral fellowships at the National Air and Space Museum and University of Minnesota. Previously, she was a faculty member at UCLA before joining UBC in 2006. Her research focuses on U.S. history, science and medicine, political theory, and colonialism.

Wang’s work examines the intersections of science, state power, and empire. Key projects include studies on tropical agriculture in U.S. insular territories, Cold War science policy, and the role of expertise in global governance. She is a senior research fellow in the Lise Meitner Research Group, collaborating on projects like “Expertise, Scientific Authority, and Governance in the Age of the Anthropocene.”

Her notable publications include Mad Dogs and Other New Yorkers (2019) and American Science in an Age of Anxiety (1999). Awards include Harvard University’s Charles Warren Center fellowships (2012; 2018–19) and grants from the National Science Foundation and Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council. She has advised numerous doctoral and M.A. students, including Denzil Ford and Henry Trim.

Wang’s research has been supported by the Killam Trusts and explores themes such as rabies in urban history, Cold War scientific authority, and the colonial dimensions of U.S. science. She is on study leave from July 2022 to June 2023.