Andrea K. Gerlak is Director of the Udall Center, and professor in the School of Geography, Development and Environment at the University of Arizona.

Her research focuses on institutions for governing water resources. She examines cooperation and conflict around water, including questions of equity and access, institutional change, learning and adaptation. She is an author or co-author of more than 100 publications. 

Dr. Gerlak’s most recent books include Learning for Environmental Governance Insights for a More Adaptive Future, published by Cambridge University Press in 2024 with Tanya Heikkila and The Conversation on Water, published by Johns Hopkins University Press in 2023.

She is a senior research fellow with the Earth System Governance Project, an international social science research alliance exploring political solutions and novel, effective governance mechanisms to address global environmental challenges. Dr. Gerlak also served as a Lead Author on the Earth Systems Governance Science and Implementation Plan, which sets out the agenda for the next decade of earth system governance research.

Dr. Gerlak has more two decades of experience leading interdisciplinary environmental studies programs and university-community environmental partnerships. She has been a faculty member at Guilford College and Columbia University. For nearly a decade, she served as the director of academic development with the International Studies Association where she facilitated academic development across ISA’s academic sections, including developing programs to foster junior scholar engagement and cross-disciplinarity in international studies. She has consulted on water governance and climate resilience efforts for UNESCO and the WMO. 

Presently, she serves on the City of Tucson’s Water Advisory Committee. She most recently served on the Water Infrastructure Finance Authority of Arizona’s Water Conservation Grant Committee. And Dr. Gerlak recently served as a co-editor for the  Journal of Environmental Policy and Planning, an international journal published by Taylor and Francis providing a forum for the critical analysis of environmental policy and planning.