• 2006-2011 Ph.D., Department of Anthropology, The University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill
• 2003-2005 M.A., Department of Anthropology, The University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill
• 1992-1996 B.A., Religious Studies, Guilford College, Greensboro, North Carolina (USA)

• 2025.06- Director, Center for Humanities Innovation and Social Engagement (CHISE), College of Humanities and Social Sciences, Taipei Medical University
• 2025.06- Research Center for Humanities and Social Engagement, College of Humanities and Social Sciences, Taipei Medical University
• 2024.10- Board Member, Peace Development Fund (USA)
• 2023.09- Director of the Co-Lab for Environmental Health Equity & Renewal (CEHER) in Taiwan
• 2023.08- Associate Professor, Graduate Institute of Humanities in Medicine, College of Humanities and Social Sciences, Taipei Medical University
• 2023- Research Scholar; Research Institute for Environment, Energy, and Economics, at Appalachian State University (USA)
• 2021- Affiliate Faculty; Center for International Indigenous Affairs, National Dong Hwa University
• 2020- Co-Director of the Environmental Justice CoLab in North Carolina
• 2019-2023 Associate Professor, Department of Anthropology, Appalachian State University
• 2021-2022 Visiting Associate Professor, Center for International Indigenous Affairs, College of Indigenous Studies, National Dong Hwa University  
• 2019-2020 Visiting Faculty Fellow, Society for the Humanities, Cornell University  
• 2012-2018 Assistant Professor, Department of Anthropology,Appalachian State University
• 2011-2012 Adjunct Assistant Professor, Department of Anthropology, Appalachian State University

   

• Environmental anthropology
• Political ecology
• Environmental health humanities
• Native American/Indigenous Studies; Extractivism and energy studies
• Environmental and climate justice; science/technology/society
• Affect theory and embodiment
• Gender and feminist theory
• Ethnographic and collaborative methodologies
• Research areas：Navajo (Diné) Nation (USA); eastern North Carolina (USA); Hualien, Taiwan.

• https://dana-powell.com/
• Google Scholar Profile
• https://iipp.tw/

Academic service

- Elected Academic Boards

• 2025 Council Member, Society for Social Studies of Science (4S), a member society of the American Council of Learned Societies. Chair, Edge Award (2026).
• 2018-2020 Senior Board Member, Anthropology & Environment Section of the American Anthropological Association; Chair, Junior Scholar Award (2019); Chair, Roy Rappaport Student Prize (2020).
• 2009-2011 Graduate Student Board Member, Anthropology & the Environment Section of the American Anthropological Association

-Guest Journal Editing

• 2024-2025 Guest Editor, with Thomas DePree, “Transitions: The Promises and Pitfalls of‘Clean’ Energy as Climate Mitigation,” for Environment & Society: Advances in Research. (Issue forthcoming in Winter 2024-2025).

Fellowships, Grants, and Research Awards

-External Awards

• In Review Dana E. Powell, Principal Investigator. Co-PI’s: Awi Mona and Jolan Hsieh.“Diverse Embodiments of Procedural Injustice in Indigenous Natural Resource Governance: A Comparative Environmental Anthropology.” In Review with National Science and Technology Council, Taiwan (NSTC), Individual Research Award (submitted December 2025).
• 2025 Dana E. Powell, Sub-Award Director. “Toward a More Inclusive Political Ecology: Indigenous Challenges to Taiwan's Mountaineering Movement,” in “Toward Taiwan's Hiking-and-Trailology: How Citizen Participation, Mountain Sustainability, and Emerging Technologies Shape Contemporary Sport Culture.” National Science and Technology Council (NSTC) Taiwan, Integrative Research Project, Sports Humanities Program. PI Ming-Sho Ho, National Taiwan University, Dept. of Sociology. [NTD $7 million for full Integrative Project / 2-year project]
• 2024 Dana E. Powell, Principal Investigator. “Ecologies of Energy: An Empirical Approach to Sustainability in Bunun Nation (Taiwan).” National Science and Technology Council, Taiwan (NSTC), Individual Research Award. [NTD $1.7 million / 2-year project]
• 2023 Dana E. Powell, Co-Chair; with Clint Carroll, Co-Chair. “Toward Indigenous Political Relationalities/Sovereign Ecologies: Critical Indigenous Studies Perspectives on Political-Ecological Dilemmas.” Advanced Research Seminar, School for Advanced Research, Santa Fe, NM. March 2-8, 2024.
• 2022 Dana E. Powell, Principal Investigator; with Rebecca Witter, Co-PI. “Mapping Environmental Meaning-Making Amidst Energy Threats in the NC Coastal Plains.” The Wenner-Gren Foundation for Anthropological Research Engaged Research Grant, Gr. ERG-21 [US $19,937].
• 2021 Dana E. Powell, Co-PI; with Jolan Hsieh, PI. “Indigenous Environmental Justice and Sustainability.” Taiwan Ministry of Science and Technology, Instructional Research Award, 2021-2022. [One-year teaching appointment and research fellowship].
• 2020 Dana E. Powell, Principal Investigator; with Rebecca-Eli Long, Graduate Student. National Science Foundation, Supplemental Research Experience for Graduate Student Award. Awarded to Student Rebecca-Eli Long, Purdue Univ. [US $6,000]
• 2019-2020 Dana E. Powell, Fellow. Cornell University, Society for the Humanities, Fellowship in Energy Humanities. [US $50,000]
• 2019 Dana E. Powell, Co-PI; with Andrew Curley, Co-Investigator. “Collaborative Research on Risk, Energy Development, and Environmental Sustainability in the Navajo Nation.” National Science Foundation Workshop Award [US $20,000]
• 2019 American Council of Learned Societies Project Development Award [US $5,000]
• 2009 Society for Applied Anthropology, Edward Spicer Award [US $500]
• 2004-2007 National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship [US $92,000]
• 2007 National Science Foundation Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Grant [$20,000]
• 2007 Wenner-Gren Foundation for Anthropological Research, Individual Dissertation Fieldwork Grant [$30,000]
• 2007 Whatcom Museum Foundation, Jacobs Research Fund Award [$3,000]
• 2007 Anthropology & Environment Section of the American Anthropological Association, Small Grant Award [$1,000]

-Internal University Awards (Taipei Medical University)

• In Review Dana E. Powell with Wan-lin Chen (Maya Yumin), M.D. “From the ICU to the Forest: Diverse Embodiments of Critical Care, Environmental Justice, and Sustainability.” In review with Taipei Medical University Hospital. (submitted
  January 2026).
• 2023-2025 “Extraction and Wellbeing in Riparian Worlds: Bunun Analytics of Hydropower and Riverine Epistemics in Zhouxi Township, Taiwan.” Funded by Taipei Medical University. [NTD $1,000,000 / 2-year grant].