People
E. Christian Wells
Professor and Director: Center for Brownfields Research & Redevelopment
CONTACT
Office: SOC 385
Phone: (813) 974-2337
Email
EDUCATION
- Ph.D., Anthropology, Arizona State University
- M.A., Anthropology, Arizona State University
- B.A., Anthropology, Archaeological Studies, and Latin American Studies, Oberlin College
TEACHING
Cultural Anthropology, Applied Anthropology, Environmental Justice, Research Design & Proposal Writing, Research Methods, Quantitative Methods, Advanced Quantitative Methods
RESEARCH
Dr. Wells is an applied environmental anthropologist with an interdisciplinary background in the social and natural sciences. He works closely with environmental engineers, public health practitioners, and community residents to improve human and environmental health outcomes of re/development efforts in underserved communities. His current research emphasizes environmental pollution, brownfields challenges, land use legacies, water and wastewater management, and science-policy interactions.
Over the past 25 years, Dr. Wells has undertaken research throughout the United States, Central America, and the Caribbean with over $25 million in funding from the National Science Foundation, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, and other organizations. He has published more than 150 scientific articles and essays with colleagues in many fields and his research has been featured by various media outlets including The New York Times and New Scientist.
Dr. Wells is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and Past-President of the Florida Brownfields Association, the state’s largest nonprofit advocacy organization dedicated to brownfields redevelopment. He is the recipient of the 2025
Comitas Award for Public Knowledge and Engagement from the Society for Applied Anthropology and the 2023 Wesley W. Horner Award from the American Society of Civil Engineers.
Recent Articles
- Wells, E. C. and S. Combs. 2026. Harvesting Hope in the University Area Community: Participatory Redevelopment Strategies for Turning Brownfields into Healthfields. Practicing Anthropology 48.
- Henderson, M., A. Vidmar, M. Trotz, D. Cobb-Roberts, and E. C. Wells. 2025. Integrating Community Engagement and Service Learning into Environmental Engineering Curricula. Education Sciences 15(12):1599.
- McAlister, M. M., P. S. Murali, Q. Zhang, E. C. Wells, and S. Mohebbi. 2024. Improving and Quantifying Organizational Resilience for Sustainable Management of Critical Infrastructures: A Multi-level System Dynamics Approach. International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction 115:105079.
- Webb, A. W., E. C. Wells, C. Prouty, R. K. Zarger, and M. A. Trotz. 2024. Ethics and Ambiguity in Wastewater Development in Placenica, Belize. Annals of Anthropological Practice 48(1):130-145.
- Caballero, G. W., E. C. Wells, S. A. Echols, and E. H. Peaslee. 2024. Environmental Justice from the Ground(water) Up: Coping with Contamination in Tallevast, Florida. Local Environment 29(6):722-735.
- Vidmar, A. M., E. C. Wells, M. Zheng, N. Award, S. Combs, and D. Diaz. 2023. “That’s What We Call ‘Aesthetics,’ Not a Public Health Issue:” The Social Construction of Tap Water Mistrust in an Underbounded Community. Human Organization 82(4):342-353.
- Wells, E. C., A. M. Vidmar, W. A. Webb, A. C. Ferguson, M. E. Verbyla, F. de los Reyes III, Q. Zhang, and J. M. Mihelcic. 2022. Meeting the Water and Sanitation Challenges of Underbounded Communities in the U.S. Environmental Science & Technology 56(16):11180-11188.
- Abdel-Mottaleb, N., P. G. Saghand, M. J. Wakhungu, H. Charkhgard, E. C. Wells, and Q. Zhang. 2022. Identifying Critical Isolation Valves in a Water Distribution Network: A Socio-Technical Approach. Water 14(21):3587.
- Wakhungu, M., N. Abdel-Mottaleb, E. C. Wells, and Q. Zhang. 2021. Geospatial Vulnerability Framework for Identifying Water Infrastructure Inequalities. Journal of Environmental Engineering 147(9):04021034.
- Alexander, W. L., E. C. Wells, M. Lincoln, B. Y. Davis, and P. Little. 2021. Environmental Justice Ethnography in the Classroom: Teaching Activism, Inspiring Involvement. Human Organization 80(1):37-48.
- Lehigh, G. R., E. C. Wells, and D. Diaz. 2020. Evidence-informed Strategies for Promoting Equitability in Brownfields Redevelopment. Journal of Environmental Management 261(1):110150.
- Libby, J. A., E. C. Wells, and J. R. Mihelcic. 2020. Moving up the Sanitation Ladder while Considering Function: An Assessment of Indigenous Communities, Pit Latrine Users, and Their Perceptions of Resource-recovery Sanitation Technology in Panama. Environmental Science & Technology 54(23):15405–15413.
- Meehan, K., W. Jepson, L. Harris, A. Wutich, M. Beresford, A. Fencl, J. London, G. Pierce, L. Radonic, E. C. Wells, N. Wilson, E. Adams, R. Arsenault, A. Brewis, V. Harrington, Y. Lambrinidou, D. McGregor, R. Patrick, B. Pauli, A. Pearson, S. Shah, D. Splichalova, C. Workman, and S. Young. 2020. Exposing the Myths of Household Water Insecurity in the Global North: A Critical Review. WIREs Water 7(6):e1486.
- Mohebbi, S., Q. Zhang, E. C. Wells, T. Zhao, H. Nguyen, M. Li, N. Abdel-Mottaleb, S. Uddin, Q. Lu, M. J. Wakhungu, Z. Wu, Y. Zhang, A. Tuladhar, and X. Ou. 2020. Cyber-Physical-Social Interdependencies and Organizational Resilience: A Review of Water, Transportation, and Cyber Infrastructure Systems and Processes. Sustainable Cities and Society 62:102327.
- Wells, E. C., W. A. Webb, C. M. Prouty, R. K. Zarger, M. A. Trotz, L. M. Whiteford, and J. R. Mihelcic. 2019. Wastewater Technopolitics on the Southern Coast of Belize. Economic Anthropology 6(2):277-290.
- Prouty, C., E. S. Koenig, E. C. Wells, R. K. Zarger, and Q. Zhang. 2017. Rapid Assessment Framework for Modeling Stakeholder Involvement in Infrastructure Development. Sustainable Cities and Society 29:130-138.
- Mihelcic, J. R., C. C. Naughton, M. E. Verbyla, Q. Zhang, R. W. Schweitzer, S. M. Oakley, E. C. Wells, and L. M. Whiteford. 2017. The Grandest Challenge of All: The Role of Environmental Engineering to Achieve Sustainability in the World's Developing Regions. Environmental Engineering Science 34(1):16-41.
- Wells, E. C., R. K. Zarger, L. M. Whiteford, J. R. Mihelcic, E. S. Koenig, and M. R. Cairns. 2016. The Impacts of Tourism Development on Perceptions and Practices of Sustainable Wastewater Management on the Placencia Peninsula, Belize. Journal of Cleaner Production 111:430-441.
Recent Grants
- Combs, S., and E. C. Wells. 2025-2028. “Brownfields to Healthfields: Catalyzing Transformational Change in the University Area Community.”Environmental and Climate Justice Community Change Grants program, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency; $14,944,031.
- Jones, D., and E. C. Wells. 2023-2027. “Brownfields Job Training Program for East Tampa.” Brownfields Job Training Program, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency; $500,000.
- Ergas, S., E. C. Wells, J. Mihelcic, M. Arias, Q. Zhang, M. Nachabe, and M. Lusk. 2023-2026. “Zombie to Living Community Ponds by Novel Bio-infiltration.” Gulf of Mexico Program, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency; $1,499,759.
- Bolden, D., K. Owusu-Daaku, and E. C. Wells. 2023-2025. “Using Transformative Scenario Planning to Address Structural Racism in Health in North Port St. Joe, Florida.” Interdisciplinary Research Leaders, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation; $125,000.
- Trotz, M. A., E. C. Wells, K. A. Alfredo, R. Sears, and M. E. Carrasquillo. 2022-2026. “Collaborative Research: Challenging Anti-Black-Racism in Civil and Environmental Engineering Curriculum.” Improving Undergraduate STEM Education (IUSE), National Science Foundation; $2,000,000.
- Wells, E. C., L. Ward, and W. Washington. 2022-2026. “Community-wide Brownfield Assessment for Tallevast, Manatee County, Florida.” Community-wide Brownfield Assessment Grant Program (CBAG), U.S. Environmental Protection Agency; $500,000.
- Jones, D., and E. C. Wells. 2020-2022. “Environmental Workforce Development and Job Training Program for East Tampa.” Environmental Workforce Development and Job Training (EWDJT) Program, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency; $200,000.
- Wells, E. C. 2017-2019. "Brownfields Area-Wide Planning Project for the University Area Community, Hillsborough County, Florida." Brownfields Area-Wide Planning Grant Program (BAWPG), U.S. Environmental Protection Agency; $200,000.
- Zhang, Q., E. C. Wells, S. Mohebbi, X. Ou, and Q. Lu. 2016-2018. "Integrative Decision Making Framework to Enhance the Resiliency of Interdependent Critical Infrastructures." Critical Resilient Interdependent Infrastructure Systems and Processes (CRIISP), National Science Foundation; $1,963,542.
- Mihelcic, J. R., E. C. Wells, M. Trotz, and C. McKayle. 2013-2017. "Context Sensitive Implementation of Synergistic Water-Energy Systems." Partnerships for International Research and Education (PIRE), National Science Foundation; $3,920,644.
Graduate Students
Andrew Monast, Abby Vidmar, Emily Walsh