Meghan Albritton

IGC FELLOW    |   Global Change Center

Ph.D. Student  •  Geography

Advisor : Dr. Korine Kolivras

Research Interests: Human and environmental health impacts of extractivism, health geography, global health, participatory mapping

mjalbritton@vt.edu 

Meghan got her BA in Spanish and BS in Environmental Science with a minor in Anthropology from Berry College in 2019 where she researched paleoclimate reconstruction. After teaching for a year in Spain and spending a year in AmeriCorps in Oregon, Meghan came to Virginia Tech and graduated with an MS in Geography and an MPH with a concentration in infectious diseases in 2023. During her master's she spent eight weeks in India working on a water purification project and another six weeks in Guatemala conducting the fieldwork for her thesis. She used interviews and participatory mapping in the Ch’orti’ communities of Olopa, Guatemala to understand the human and environmental health impacts of an antimony mine operating on indigenous land.

Meghan is now a PhD student in the Geography Department as part of the Geospatial and Environmental Analysis program. She will continue her work in Guatemala using participatory mapping to understand the syndemic health impacts of extractivism, and will be doing a comparative study in Appalachia.

As part of the IGC, Meghan is excited to interact with and learn from people with diverse backgrounds, perspectives, and knowledge while gaining skills that will aid in her continuing interdisciplinary research.