Faculty

Bhawani Venkataraman is Vice President for Climate and Environmental Justice and Associate Professor of Chemistry at The New School. 

Her scholarship lies at the intersection of chemical and environmental education, science communication, and environmental policy. Her chemical and environmental education scholarship centers on how chemistry can serve as a lens through which students can engage with pressing environmental challenges, and she has published research articles in peer-reviewed journals. In her science communication and policy work, she has published articles that connect the molecular-scale properties of water to challenges in delivering safe drinking water. 

Her book, The Paradox of Water: Science and Policy of Safe Drinking Water (University of California Press, 2023), treats the invisibility of the molecular scale of water and water infrastructure as parallel pedagogical and civic problems. Her current work examines ways of addressing the dispersal of synthetic chemicals from wastewater discharge. 

Her teaching connects chemical principles to environmental issues, including access to safe drinking water, air quality, and climate change, helping students connect across scales, from the molecular to the social and policy dimensions, and apply a systems-thinking approach to recognize interconnections among environmental issues. 

In 2019, she received The New School’s Distinguished Teaching Award. She serves on the steering committee of the National Collaborative for Research on Food-Energy-Water Nexus Education and is a member of the American Chemical Society Green Chemistry Institute’s Module Development project. 

Ph.D. in Chemistry, Columbia University, New York, NY, August 1989 M. Phil, Columbia University, New York, NY, August 1988 Master of Arts, Columbia University, New York, NY, May 1985 Bachelor of Science, St. Xavier's College, Mumbai, India, May 1984

Book: The Paradox of Water: Science and Policy of Safe Drinking Water. University of California Press (publication date January 2023).      

"Water is a molecular marvel. Its seemingly simple formula – H2O –dictates the properties that make water essential for life and easily contaminated. Herein lies the paradox of water—we cannot live without it, but it is easily rendered “unsafe.” The Paradox of Water explores the intersection of the scientific, social, and policy implications around access to safe drinking water. Drinking water is the smallest fraction of water used by a nation, yet, access to safe drinking water supports educational opportunities, helps overcome gender inequities, lowers familial stress, and enables more socially and economically productive uses of time."

Articles

1) Implementing interdisciplinary sustainability education with the food-energy-water (FEW) nexus. Romulo, C., B. Venkataraman, S. Caplow, S. Ajgaonkar, C.R. Allen, A. Anandhi, S.W. Anderson, C.B. Azzarello, K. Brundiers, E. Blavascunas, J. Dauer, D.L. Druckenbrod, E. Fairchild, L.R. Horne, K. Lee, M. Mwale, J.A. Mischler, E.E. Pappo, N.S. Patel, N.D. Sintov, C.S. Ramsdell, and S. Vincent. Humanit Soc Sci Commun 11, 928 (2024), Springer Nature Publications. https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-024-03332-7

2) The Paradox of Water and the Flint Crisis, B. Venkataraman, Environment: Science and Policy for Sustainable Development, 60: 4-17 (2018)

3) Emphasizing the Significance of Electrostatic Interactions in Chemical Bonding, B. Venkataraman, Journal of Chemical Education (2017) DOI: 10.1021/acs.jchemed.6b00409

4) Visualizing Dispersion Interactions, E. Gottschalk, B. Venkataraman, Journal of Chemical Education, 91, 666-672 (2014)

5) Access to Safe Water: A Paradox in Developed Nations, B. Venkataraman, Environment: Science and Policy for Sustainable Development, 55, 24-34 (2013)

5) An Evaluation of the Chemical Origin of Life as a Context for Teaching Undergraduate Chemistry, B. Venkataraman, Chemical Education Research and Practice, 12, 379-387 (2011)

6) Earth’s Thin Blue Line, B. Venkataraman, Air, Ed. John Knechtel, Alphabet City, MIT Press, October 2010

7) The Price of Clean Water, B. Venkataraman, Water, Ed. John Knechtel, Alphabet City, MIT Press, October 2009

8) Education for Sustainable Development, B. Venkataraman, Environment, March/April 2009, p. 8-10

9) Visualization and interactivity in the teaching of chemistry to science and non-science students, B. Venkataraman, Chemical Education Research and Practice, 10, 62-69 (2009)

10) Why Environmental Education, B. Venkataraman, Environment, September/October 2008, p. 8-10

Interviews & Media presentations

The Flint Water Crisis. Interview in Troubling Waters: Understanding Global Water Security. Center for Strategic & International Studies report, February 8, 2024

A. McGowan. Profiles in Sustainability: Bhawani Venkataraman. Environment: Science and Policy of Sustainable Development, 66 (2024):32-42

Water, water everywhere and not enough drops to drink. The Round Table: A Next Generation Politics Podcast. December 2021.