Dr. Becky Mansfield, Associate Professor of Geography at the Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USA. Becky s research is broadly at the intersection of nature-society relations, economic and political geography, and science studies. She is interested in merging theoretical perspectives from these areas to better conceptualize human health, with a focus on health and environment. Becky served on the board of HMGSG during 2009-2011.
Becky Mansfield received her BA in Environmental Studies from the University of California-Santa Cruz, her MA in Environmental Studies from the University of Oregon, and her PhD in Geography from the University of Oregon. Falling under the broad umbrella of political ecology, her research brings together political economic and poststructuralist perspectives on the co-production of nature to understand how the natural environment is perceived, used, and regulated. Her work has focused on globalization and neoliberalization of fisheries, which she treats as both a natural resource and a food. This dual focus facilitates research that connects ecological, social, and human health concerns.
Over the past several years Becky has been developing an interest in the socio-natural dimensions of human health and disease. Drawing on nature-society approaches, she is interested in treating health as at the intersection of the biosocial body and the socio-ecological environment. Her particular interests are in women s health and environmental health. She has published several articles about using nature-society perspectives to conceptualize childbirth. She is starting to publish articles from an ongoing research project on contaminated seafood as a human health issue. This project combines political economic perspectives on the production and regulation of contaminated seafood, biopolitical perspectives on risk and security, science studies perspectives on environmental health knowledges, and feminist perspectives on reproductive politics and environmental regulation.
Becky may be contacted at mansfield.32@osu.edu See also her website at http://www.geography.osu.edu/faculty/bmansfield/
Updated: April 2009
Health and Medical Geography 