Amber Wutich

Amber Wutich is an American anthropologist who is Regents & President's Professor and the Director of the Center for Global Health at Arizona State. Her research considers the impact of water scarcity on human wellbeing. In 2023, she was elected a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and named a MacArthur Fellow.

Early life and education Wutich was raised in Miramar, Florida. She has said that she was inspired to work on social justice and water scarcity following Hurricane Andrew. After earning her doctorate, Wutich joined Nancy Grimm at Arizona State University, where she spent one year as a postdoctoral researcher before joining the faculty.

Research and career Wutich's early work considered Cochabamba, where water shortages occurred because of migration from a nearby mining community. In 2000, the government tried to privatise its water resources, which drove up prices and resulted in protests.

Wutich co-developed an interdisciplinary, international network focused on water insecurity that has been formalized as the Water InSecurity Experiences (WISE) Community of Practice. The WISE collaboration created standardized techniques to collect and analyze data, which involved developing meaningful assessment methods across culturally distinct regions. She calls her research "justice oriented". which has collected local knowledge about water insecurity in over twenty countries.

Awards and honors

2010 Elected Fellow of the Society for Applied Anthropology 2020 Faculty Women's Association Outstanding Faculty Mentor Award 2020 Carol R. Ember Book Prize 2022 Human Biology Association Book Award 2023 Elected Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science 2023 MacArthur Fellows Program 2026 Elected to the National Academy of Sciences

Selected publications