Claudia Radel

2026 Cazier Professor Lifetime Achievement Award Nominee

S.J. & Jessie E. Quinney College of Agriculture & Natural Resources | Environment & Society (ENVS)

Dr. Claudia Radel joined the USU faculty in 2005. She served as associate dean for research and academic affairs for Natural Resources (2016-2021) and in 2021 was appointed department head for Environment and Society. In addition to having skills as an administrative leader, Claudia is an expert in gender, environment, and international development. She holds a PhD in geography and has degrees from Clark, Princeton, and Brown Universities. Her research focuses primarily on human migration and environmental change in smallholder farm-forest systems in Mexico and Central America, addressing problems of hunger, poverty, and inequality, but she has also conducted environment and development research in Ethiopia and Bolivia. Claudia’s work has been supported by the National Science Foundation, including by a prestigious NSF Career Award, and she has published over 60 academic journal articles and book chapters. As a teacher of geography and environmental social science, she was honored as her college’s Teacher of the Year and Faculty Undergraduate Advisor of the Year, and she has mentored numerous graduate students over her 20 years. Early in her career, she was part of a multinational faculty team building curriculum for teaching climate change science at universities across Southeast Asia. She continues to supervise graduate students and teach but currently spends most of her time supporting other faculty and their students. Claudia is married with two sons (ages 18 and 25).