Hanlon is a policy scientist who specializes in American environmental and water policy. His research focuses primarily on intergovernmental cooperation to manage watersheds for human use and ecological integrity. Past work has explored how the structure of water policy rules constrains and enables cooperation. Upcoming research includes questions about political advocacy and policy outcomes surrounding bottled water production on public lands, as well as developing a casebook of contemporary environmental policy dilemmas in the American West.
Hanlon teaches a variety of courses in American politics, public administration, policymaking, and environmental policy. He earned a Ph.D. in public administration and policy from the University of Arizona in 2015, and spent the previous four years as an assistant professor at Northern Arizona University. Hanlon holds a master’s degree in nonprofit management and leadership from the University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, and a bachelor’s degree in biological aspects of conservation from the University of Wisconsin, Madison.
Hanlon loves bringing students into the laboratory of politics and is excited to join the community of scholars and students at Whittier.
