Science Adviser Profile
Sara Hughes
Biography
Sara Hughes is a senior policy researcher at RAND and adjunct professor of environmental policy and planning at the School for Environmental and Sustainability at the University of Michigan.
Hughes is a scholar of policy agendas, policy analysis, and governance processes, focusing on decisions about water resources and climate change mitigation and adaptation. Her current research focuses on the political and institutional dimensions of equitable access to safe and affordable drinking water in the United States; the role of municipal finances in drinking water management and resilience; and urban flooding, including equitable approaches to building climate resilience. She is currently the principal investigator for the National Science Foundation–funded projects Feeling the Squeeze: How Financial Stress Shapes Decision Making and Risk for Drinking Water Systems in U.S. Cities and Governing Green Stormwater Infrastructure for Just and Adaptive Urban Flood Management.
Hughes’s research has been published in Nature Climate Change, Policy Studies Journal, and Environmental Justice, along with other journals in political science, urban studies, and environmental policy. Her group regularly produces policy briefs and guidance documents for decisionmakers, and her research has been covered by the New York Times, Washington Post, and the Global Water Forum. She has previously served on the political science faculty at the University of Toronto. Hughes received her Ph.D. in environmental science and management from the University of California, Santa Barbara.
Affiliation
- RAND
- School for Environment and Sustainability, University of Michigan
Location
Santa Monica, Calif.
Website
https://www.rand.org/about/people/h/hughes_sara.html