About

Marisa Manheim
Assistant Professor
Department of Environment & Sustainability
University at Buffalo

My research investigates how embodied experiences can be mobilized to build consensus and develop creative approaches to solving society’s sustainability challenges. This research lies at the intersection of design, public participation in science and technology, and sustainability transitions management. I have a background in user experience design and ethnographic design research and spent eight years as policy and programming director for Grow Pittsburgh, an urban agriculture nonprofit in Pittsburgh, PA.

As a doctoral student in Sustainability at Arizona State University, I investigated decision-making about recycled wastewater as a drinking water supply in Arizona. My dissertation received a National Science Foundation Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Grant, a Babbitt Center Dissertation Fellowship, and a WateReuse Arizona Scholarship. Now at University at Buffalo, I am working on a project funded by the National Science Foundation Convergence Accelerator exploring urine diversion as a strategy to increase urban housing density, localize fertilizer supplies, and reduce nutrient pollution in waterways.