Melissa McCracken

Melissa McCracken is an assistant professor of international environmental policy. She directs the Shared Waters Lab, co-directs the Center for International Environment and Resource Policy, and is an affiliate of the Center for International Law and Governance at Fletcher. Her research focus is on international water policy and management, cooperation and conflict over shared surface and groundwaters, and conflict transformation surrounding environmental resources.

Water is both a human and physical resource and, therefore, requires collaborative technical and policy solutions. McCracken's current work addresses how transboundary water cooperation is defined and measured, with the goal of operationalizing a method for evaluating effective transboundary water cooperation. She is a collaborator with the Transboundary Freshwater Diplomacy Database at Oregon State University on additional projects to monitor hydropolitical tension and identify factors that contribute to potential conflict or cooperation, including research on international freshwater agreements, river basin organizations, and events over freshwater.