Megan Ybarra

Megan Ybarra is an Associate Professor of Designing Just Futures in the Department of Communication at the University of California, San Diego. Previously, she held a professorship at the University of Washington Geography Department from 2014 to 2024. Her research focuses on abolition geographies, Latinx geographies, and environmental justice, emphasizing radical placemaking and solidarity across difference. She is the author of Green Wars (2017), which critiques conservation NGOs’ criminalization of Indigenous land defenders and advocates for Q’eqchi’ Maya land repatriation in Guatemala.

Ybarra employs ethnographic methods, archival research, and community surveys to analyze power structures and liberation pathways. She serves on editorial boards for Antipode, Environment and Planning D, and The Professional Geographer. Her work bridges academic scholarship with public engagement through podcasts, zines, and bilingual publications.

In teaching, she emphasizes racialization as foundational to spatial practices, challenging students to move from abolition as a concept to actionable community practices. Upcoming courses include Environmental Justice and Race, Nature & Power. Her recent research explores abolition ecologies, immigrant detention abolition, and transnational migrant experiences.