Professor Nicole Van Lier joins LMU Bellarmine College of Liberal Arts as an Urban and Environmental Studies Assistant Professor. Professor Van Lier was drawn to LMU’s community-focused culture and looks forward to getting more involved on campus. She noted that LMU’s Urban and Environmental Studies Department is unique in its focus on both ‘the urban’ and ‘the environment’, which is the intersection of much of her research. “At many universities, these are entirely separate programs. I enjoy working with colleagues and students who are thinking about these spheres in relation to one another,” said Van Lier.
Originally from Toronto, Canada, Van Lier earned her PhD in Human Geography from the University of Toronto, where her research focused on a racialized water affordability crisis in Detroit. “I’m trained as a human geographer. Many people hear ‘geography’ and think of maps or mountains, but really, we study why things happen where they do.” She credits this perspective to geographer Ruth Wilson Gilmore, a leading activist in the California prison system and pioneer of abolition geography.
Van Lier’s current research explores environmental management regimes that shape water-based economies. Her interests surround how states manage and regulate nature in ways that produce or challenge social hierarchies. Her current project dives into the ways Indigenous fishing economies are reshaping Michigan’s fisheries management practices.
As a professor, Van Lier’s primary goal is “to help students develop the analytical skills to critically engage with communities, histories, and spaces they operate within.” She grounds her teaching philosophy in equity-based, student-centered approaches, welcoming the unique perspectives each new group of students brings to the classroom. She aims to create a supportive, engaging learning environment where all students can thrive.
This semester, Van Lier is teaching “EVST 3010: Environmental Policy” and “EVST 3998: Political Ecology”. She hopes that her courses equip students to better understand nature’s impact on social, political, and economic relations. Van Lier’s courses will also give students opportunities to explore how environmentalism can be a way to create more equitable and livable societies.
Outside of her research and teaching, Van Lier loves reading and visiting secondhand bookstores. She loves being in nature, especially hiking, and enjoys going to comedy shows. She also notes she is “unapologetically team cat”.