Terry Harpold

Terry Harpold is an Associate Professor of English at the University of Florida, affiliated with the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. He holds a PhD in Comparative Literature and Literary Theory from the University of Pennsylvania. His work bridges environmental humanities, science fiction studies, and posthumanism, focusing on climate justice, interspecies ethics, and the intersection of literature with environmental transformation.

He directs UF’s Imagining Climate Change initiative and serves as Assistant Director for Humanities Research at the Astraeus Space Institute. His editorial roles include membership on the boards of ImageTexT, Journal of Posthumanism, and Postmodern Culture, as well as founding roles in Jules Verne-focused scholarly networks.

Notable awards include the CLAS Teacher of the Year (2008, 2020) and multiple teaching nominations. His research spans Verne scholarship, ecocritical analysis, and speculative fiction, with recent publications in Science Fiction Studies, Verniana, and edited volumes on climate justice pedagogy.

Current projects include Plant Life: Exploring Vegetal Worlds in the Harn Museum Collection (co-edited), Latin America Writes Back (co-edited), and a monograph on unquiet matter in environmental narratives. He also leads initiatives like the Walter James Miller Memorial Award for student scholarship in the fantastic genres.