Prof. Shannon O'Lear

Shannon O'Lear
  • Chancellor's Club Teaching Professor 2024-2029
  • Professor
  • KU Chancellors Club Teaching Professor 2024-2029
  • Department of Geography and Atmospheric Science
  • Environmental Studies Program
(she/her)

Contact Info

Office Phone:
785-864-2041
Department Phone:
785-864-5143
Fax:
785-864-5378
Malott Hall #3012

Biography —

Shannon O’Lear is a Professor of Geography in the Department of Geography & Atmospheric Science with a joint position in Environmental Studies at the University of Kansas. She is a political geographer with interests in environmental geopolitics, critical geopolitics, the South Caucasus, and science & slow violence. Her books include Environmental Geopolitics and Environmental Politics: Scale & Power, and her edited books include Reframing Climate Change, A Research Agenda for Environmental Geopolitics, and A Research Agenda for Geographies of Slow Violence. She has published work on climate science, geography & Science and Technology Studies (STS), geopolitics in Azerbaijan and Armenia, and genocide. She has served as the Councilor for the Great Plains Rocky Mountain Region of the American Association of Geographers. At the University of Kansas, she has served as Director of the Center for Global & International Studies and as the Director for the Environmental Studies Program. This fall, she was awarded a University of Kansas Chancellor’s Club Teaching Professorship. She holds a BA in Geography and Russian and a Master’s degree in Geography from the University of Colorado, Boulder, and a Ph.D. in Geography from Syracuse University.

Research —

Research interests:

  • Political geography of environmental issues
  • Environmental security and vulnerability
  • Political geography of former Soviet republics
  • Human dimensions of global change
  • South Caucasus region
  • climate science
  • violence
  • environmental geopolitics
  • Azerbaijan
  • Caspian Sea

Teaching —

Teaching interests:

  • human geography
  • political geography
  • geography of genocide
  • environmental policy
  • environmental geopolitics
  • critical geopolitics

Selected Publications —

O'Lear, S. (2025). Environmental Geopolitics. Encyclopedia of Geopolitics (forthcoming in 2025). Edward Elgar Publishing.
Solem, M., Foote, K., O'Lear, S., Eaves, L., Lee, J. (2024). Thriving in an Academic Career: An International and Interdisciplinary Guide for Early Career Faculty. Routledge. [9781032379944].
O'Lear, S. (2024). Cultivating a collegial workplace. Thriving in an Academic Career: An International and Interdisciplinary Guide for Early Career Faculty. Routledge.
, , O'Lear, S., Foote, K. (2024). - Slowing down and saving our humanity. Thriving in an Academic Career. Routledge. [9781032379944].
O'Lear, S., Pickett, N. (2024). Chornobyl Body Politics: Making Environmental Violence Visible. Exploring Environmental Violence Perspectives, Experience, Expression, and Engagement. (pp. 25-49). Cambridge University Press. [ 9781009417150].
O'Lear, S. (2024). The slow violence of climate security. Geoforum - Volume 155. https://doi.org/10.1016/J.GEOFORUM.2024.104078.
O'Lear, S. (2023). Geographies of Environmental Peace and Conflict. Making Geographies of Peace and Conflict. Routledge. [9781032385952].
O'Lear, S., Masse, F., Dickinson, H., Duffy, R. (2022). Disaster Making in the Capitalocene. Global Environmental Politics - Issue 3 | Volume 22. https://doi.org/10.1162/GLEP_A_00655.
O'Lear, S., Hane, M., Neal, A., Stallings, L., Wadood, S., Park, J. (2021). Environmental Geopolitics of Climate Engineering Proposals in the IPCC 5th Assessment Report. Frontiers in Climate - Volume 3. https://doi.org/10.3389/FCLIM.2021.718553.
O'Lear, S. (2021). A Research Agenda for Geographies of Slow Violence: Making Social and Environmental Injustice Visible. Edward Elgar Pub. [9781788978026].
O'Lear, S. (2021). Environmental Change and Human Security Research Directions for the National Science Foundation. National Science Foundation.
Pickett, N., Henkin, S., O'Lear, S. (2020). Science, Technology, and Society Approaches to Fieldwork in Geography. The Professional Geographer - Issue 2 | Volume 72. https://doi.org/10.1080/00330124.2019.1639204.
O'Lear, S. (2020). A Research Agenda for Environmental Geopolitics: . Edward Elgar Pub. [9781788971232].
Reiz, N., O'Lear, S., Tuininga, D. (2018). Exploring a critical legal cartography: Law, practice, and complexities. Geography Compass - Issue 5 | Volume 12. https://doi.org/10.1111/GEC3.12368.
O'Lear, S. (2018). Environmental Geopolitics: . Rowman & Littlefield Pub Inc. [9781442265806].
O'Lear, S., Furlong, K., Akhter, M., Forest, B., Sneddon, C. (2018). Concrete Revolution: Large Dams, Cold War Geopolitics, and the US Bureau of Reclamation. The AAG Review of Books - Issue 1 | Volume 6. https://doi.org/10.1080/2325548X.2018.1402286.
O'Lear, S. (2018). Environmental Politics. The Companion to Environmental Studies, edited by Noel Castree, Mike Hulme, and James D. Proctor. (pp. 321-324). Routeledge. [978-1-138-19219-5, 978-1-138-19220-1, 978-1-315-].
O'Lear, S., Heilke, T., Omelicheva, M., Hanley, E. (2016). This isn’t your usual obstacle course: Critical pedagogy with Special Operations Forces. Geoforum - Volume 75. https://doi.org/10.1016/J.GEOFORUM.2016.06.023.
Reiz, N., O'Lear, S. (2016). Spaces of Violence and (In)justice in Haiti: A Critical Legal Geography Perspective on Rape, UN Peacekeeping, and the United Nations Status of Forces Agreement. Territory, Politics, Governance - Issue 4 | Volume 4. https://doi.org/10.1080/21622671.2015.1114963.
O'Lear, S. (2016). Unconventional Classroom: Critical Work with Special Operations Forces Officers. Annals of the Association of American Geographers - Issue 3 | Volume 106. https://doi.org/10.1080/24694452.2016.1145512.
O'Lear, S. (2016). Climate science and slow violence: A view from political geography and STS on mobilizing technoscientific ontologies of climate change. Political Geography - Volume 52. https://doi.org/10.1016/J.POLGEO.2015.01.004.
Trimbach, D., O'Lear, S. (2015). Russians in Estonia: Is Narva the next Crimea?. Eurasian Geography and Economics - Issue 5 | Volume 56. https://doi.org/10.1080/15387216.2015.1110040.
O'Lear, S. (2015). Geopolitics and climate science: the case of the missing embodied carbon. Reframing Climate Change. (pp. 100-115). Routledge. [9781138794368].
O'Lear, S., Pickett, N., Biersack, J., Trimbach, D. (2014). Book review: The Revenge of Geography: What the Map Tells Us About Coming Conflicts and the Battle Against Fate. Progress in Human Geography - Issue 4 | Volume 38. https://doi.org/10.1177/0309132513498549.
Biersack, J., O'Lear, S. (2014). The geopolitics of Russia's annexation of Crimea: narratives, identity, silences, and energy. Eurasian Geography and Economics - Issue 3 | Volume 55. https://doi.org/10.1080/15387216.2014.985241.
O'Lear, S., Briggs, C., Denning, G. (2013). Environmental Security, Military Planning, and Civilian Research: The Case of Water. Environment - Issue 5 | Volume 55. https://doi.org/10.1080/00139157.2013.824327.
O'Lear, S. (2013). The Ashgate Research Companion to Border Studies. Doris Wastl-Walter, ed. Burlington, VT: Ashgate, 2011. 705 pp., figs, maps, tables, names index, places index. $157.50 cloth (ISBN 9780754674061). The AAG Review of Books - Issue 2 | Volume 1. https://doi.org/10.1080/2325548X.2013.827029.
O'Lear, S., Tuten, A. (2013). Environment and Conflict: Security, Climate Change, and Commodity Resources. The Whitehead Journal of Diplomacy and International Relations - Issue 1 | Volume 14.
O'Lear, S. (2013). Environment. The Ashgate Research Companion to Critical Geopolitics. (pp. 305-322). Ashgate Pub Co. [9781409423805].
O'Lear, S. (2012). Response to my critics. Dialogues in Human Geography - Issue 3 | Volume 2. https://doi.org/10.1177/2043820612461613.
O'Lear, S. (2012). Review of the book The Return of Private Property: Rural Life after Agrarian Reform in the Republic of Azerbaijan by Lale Yalçin-Heckmann. Anthropos - Volume 107.
O'Lear, S. (2011). Borders in the South Caucasus. Defense and Security Analysis - Issue 3 | Volume 27. https://doi.org/10.1080/14751798.2011.604486.
O'Lear, S., Diehl, P. (2011). The Scope of Resource Conflict: A Model of Scale. Whitehead Journal of Diplomacy and International Relations - Issue 1 | Volume 12.
O'Lear, S. (2010). Environmental Politics: Scale and Power. Cambridge Univ Pr. [9780521765763].
O'Lear, S., Egbert, S., . (2009). Geography of Genocide. Space & Polity - Issue 1 | Volume 13.
O'Lear, S. (2008). Azerbaijan. Nations and Nationalism. (pp. 97-118). Abc-Clio Inc. [9781851099078].
O'Lear, S., Whiting, R. (2008). Which Comes First, The Nation or The State? An analysis of the Nagorno-Karabakh Conflict in the Caucasus. National Identities - Issue 2 | Volume 10.
O'Lear, S., O?Lear, S., O'Lear, S. (2007). Azerbaijan's resource wealth: political legitimacy and public opinion. Geographical Journal - Issue 3 | Volume 173. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1475-4959.2007.00242.x.
O'Lear, S., Diehl, P. (2007). Not Drawn to Scale: Research on Resource and Environmental Conflict. Geopolitics - Issue 1 | Volume 12. https://doi.org/10.1080/14650040601031263.
O'Lear, S., O?Lear, S., O'Lear, S., Gray, A. (2006). Asking the right questions: environmental conflict in the case of Azerbaijan. Area - Issue 4 | Volume 38. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1475-4762.2006.00704.x.
Diehl, P., Allee, T., Frasier, D., O'Lear, S. (2006). Introduction. Conflict Management and Peace Science - Issue 4 | Volume 23.
O'Lear, S., Diehl, P., Frazier, D., Allee, T. (2005). Dimensions of territorial conflict and resolution: tangible and intangible values of territory. GeoJournal - Issue 4 | Volume 64. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10708-005-5801-5.
O'Lear, S. (2005). Resource concerns for territorial conflict. GeoJournal - Issue 4 | Volume 64. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10708-005-5808-y.
O'Lear, S. (2005). Book Review: Resources, conflict, and approaches to peace. GeoJournal - Issue 4 | Volume 64. https://doi.org/10.1007/S10708-005-5813-1.
O'Lear, S. (2005). Resources and Conflict in the Caspian Sea. The Geopolitics of Resource Wars. (pp. 161-186). Routledge. [9780714656045].
O'Lear, S., Warf, B. (2004). Energy, Territory and Conflict: Research in the Caucasus. B. Warf (Eds.). WorldMinds: 100 Geographic Solutions to Saving Planet Earth. (pp. 31-35). Kluwer Academic Publishers.
O'Lear, S. Geoethics of Climate Security. Climate Change and International Relations (forthcoming). Edward Elgar Publishing.
O'Lear, S., Chalecki, E., Ogonda, J. Environmental terrorism. The Glossary of Environmental Peacebuilding Terms (forthcoming). Environmental Peacebuilding Association.
Ogonda, J., Chalecki, E., O'Lear, S. Ecoterrorism. The Glossary of Environmental Peacebuilding Terms. Environmental Peacebuilding Association.

Selected Presentations —

Critical Geopolitics of Wildlife Conservation - Annual Meeting of the American Association of Geographers. Location: Washington, DC. (4-03-2017).
Family, Life, and Work: Strike a Balance - Annual Meeting of the American Association of Geographers. Location: Virtual event. (4-10-2021).
Building Inclusive Communities and Diverse Departments, Supporting Women in Geography 8th Annual Panel - Annual Meeting of the American Association of Geographers. Location: Virtual event. (4-08-2021).
JEDI is Listening: Justice, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion in Geography, A Listening Session - Annual Meeting of the American Association of Geographers. Location: Virtual event. (4-08-2021).
Environmental Geopolitics at the Centre for Climate Justice. Location: Glasgow Caldonian University. (10-07-2019).
Environmental Geopolitics at BIOSEC Research Group - Politics Department at the University of Sheffield, UK. Location: Sheffield, UK. (10-02-2019).
2019 AAG Leadership Symposium I and II Promoting Diversity in Geography: Strategies to Improve Inclusion, Broaden Participation, and Assess Progress - Annual Meeting of the American Association of Geographers. Location: Washington, DC. (4-02-2019).
Critical Approaches to Wildlife Conservation - Annual Meeting of the American Association of Geographers. Location: Washington, DC. (4-02-2019).
Environmental Geopolitics: An inquiry into geographical knowledge in conservation - WildCRU Conservation Geopolitics Forum. Location: Worcester College, University of Oxford, Oxford UK. (3-19-2019).
Environmental Geopolitics in the Anthropocene: Emerging Research Directions - The American Association of Geographers Annual Meeting. Location: New Orleans, LA. (4-10-2018).
Climate Change and American National Security: Assessing the Risks and Weighing the Options - International Studies Association Annual Meeting. Location: San Francisco, CA. (4-04-2018).
US Wild Card, Carbon Emissions, and COP 21: Disrupting Policy and Practice on Climate Security - International Studies Association Annual Meeting. Location: San Francisco, CA. (4-05-2018).
30th Annual James E. Seaver Lecture: Environmental Geopolitics. Location: Hall Center for the Humanities, University of Kansas. (3-29-2018).
Climate Science and Slow Violence: Technoscientific narratives - American Association of Geographers Annual Meeting. Location: Boston, MA. (4-05-2017).
Geography, Power, Knowledge, and the Possibility of ‘Otherwise’ - Environmental Geopolitics in the Anthropocene. Location: University of North Carolina and Greensboro, Greensboro, NC. (3-24-2017).
A Competition for Resources - Human Geography Futures Seminar. Location: Johns Hopkins University/Applies Physics Laboratory. (9-13-2016).
Consultant for the U.S. Department of State on the impact of the environment on the Caspian Sea, December 2024. (12-01-2024).
Environmental Geopolitics, Slow Violence, and Decolonization/Recolonization in the South Caucasus - Department of Sociology and Human Geography. Location: Oslo, Norway. (11-19-2024).
Atmospheric violence of solar geoengineering: How slow violence is embedded in a technological fix - Philipps University Marburg, workshop on Atmospheric Violence. Location: Marburg, Germany. (11-22-2024).
Environmental Geopolitics: Decoding political claims about the environment - Department of Geography, Virginia Tech University. Location: Blacksburg, VA. (4-26-2024).
Cultivating a collegial department workplace, presentation in a session, "Thriving in an Academic Career 1: Strategies for early career success" - Annual Meeting of the American Association of Geographers. Location: Honolulu, HI (virtual presentation). (4-17-2024).
Spatial Modes and Contingencies of Russian (Re)Colonization - the Center for Russian, East European & Eurasian Studies, University of Kansas. Location: Lawrence, Kansas. (3-06-2024).
Geographic Perspectives on Water, Human Security & Geoethics - “The Humanitarian Challenge – Water, Human Security, and Climate Migration” at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory Climate Security Workshop: Global Water Challenge. Location: Oak Ridge, TN. (9-20-2023).
Reconsidering Resource Conflict: Scarcity, Slow Violence, and Selby’s ‘Eco-determinist crisis rhetoric’ - Presentation in the session, “Making Geographies of Peace and Conflict” at the Annual Meeting of the American Association of Geographers. Location: Denver, CO. (3-23-2023).
Interactions with Sousveillance: Geopolitics of Seeing ‘From Below’ and Contesting Surveillance Society - Annual Meeting of the American Association of Geographers. Location: Denver, CO. (3-24-2023).
The Slow Violence of Climate Security - At Climate Security: Toward a critical conceptualization (International Workshop); 28-30 September 2022, University of Hamburg, Germany. Location: Hamburg, Germany. (9-30-2022).

Awards & Honors —

Research-Intensive Course Mini-Grant. Center for Undergradate Research at the University of Kansas. Received: 12-31-2020.
Nominated by students for the University of Kansas College of Liberal Arts and Sciences Byron A. Alexander/John C. Wright Graduate Mentor Award. Received: 4-30-2020.
Keeler Intra-University Professorship for one semester of research leave. Received: 12-31-2016.
Nominated by students for the University of Kansas College of Liberal Arts and Sciences Byron A. Alexander/John C. Wright Graduate Mentor Award. Received: 4-30-2016.
University of Kansas Chancellors Club Teaching Professorship 2024-2029. University of Kansas. Received: 9-16-2024.
Gene A. Budig Teaching Professorship Award for the 2023-2024 academic year. University of Kansas. Received: 8-01-2023.