Margaret Tebbe is a PhD student in the Department of Anthropology at the University of California, Irvine. Her research and teaching focus on the unique knowledge and experiences of children, how that knowledge is shaped by particular socio-ecological contexts (especially California’s Central Valley), and the capacity of children to be active participants in environmental justice movements. She is also interested in the ways that schools can play an active role in environmental governance.

Tebbe’s research also utilizes GIS technologies as an important addition to ethnographic methods in developing understandings of environmental injustice. For example, she developed a Toxic Tour of the San Joaquin Valley developed in parallel on Disaster STS and as a StoryMap. Her portfolio of interactive online maps is available here.

Her Master’s thesis in Sociology used interviews to compare data generated from similar maps to students’ perceptions of environmental risk at their schools. She has also written a policy brief detailing how school facilities are often dangerous and reproduce inequity. This brief was developed into a report published by Alliance for a Better Community, “Protecting Students From Our Changing Climate: Equitable Strategies for Addressing Green Schools in the Los Angeles Unified School District.” 

Tebbe also participates in multiple curriculum and teaching-focused projects. She is a co-PI on a project developing 11th and 12th grade curricula on climate change and environmental justice for the state of California and a member of the Teaching Team for UCI Anthro 25A: Environmental Injustice, a large, general education course that extends from EcoGovLab research. She has organized multiple field campuses across California to support these projects, including trips to the Salton Sea, San Joaquin Valley, and Klamath Mountains/North Coast. She is also a member of a collective of environmental justice educators that aims to build teaching and learning capacity across borders, linking K-12 schools, universities, community-based organizations, and government agencies.

Tebbe has a BA in Sociology from the University of Pennsylvania and a MA in Sociology from the University of California, Irvine.