Zdravka Tzankova
Research Associate Professor of Sociology
Lecturer in Sociology
Associate Professor of the Practice and Director of Undergraduate Studies in Climate and Environmental Studies
Zdravka (Zee) Tzankova is an Associate Professor of the Practice in Climate Studies. She holds a PhD in Environmental Science, Policy, and Management from the University of California at Berekeley. Prof. Tzankova’s work has focused in 3 main areas (1) comparative environmental policy and politics, in particular the politics of scientific advice; (2) private environmental governance, including the governance roles and activities of corporate actors, and the implementation of private environmental governance regimes; (3) sustainability-equity tradeoffs in public and private environmental and climate governance, and strategies for avoiding such tradeoffs through inclusive and equity-centered design of governance interventions.
Professor Tzankova’s work has appeared in interdisciplinary journals such as Environmental Politics, Regulation & Governance, and Energy Research and Social Science, as well as law journals the Harvard Environmental Law Review.
Professor Tzankova is a co-founder of CHEEL -- the Climate, Health, and Energy Equity Lab at Vanderbilt’s Wond’ry. She is a co-founder of the multi-disciplinary, cross-institutional SESYNC-supported working group on redesigning agricultural nutrient governance.
Specializations
Private environmental governance
Corporate sustainability
Environmental policy & regulation
Environmental activism & NGO strategies
Representative publications
Tzankova, Z. 2021. Carbon offsetting can be a tool of environmental justice. Fast Company, March 2, 2021. https://www.fastcompany.com/90600561/carbon-offsetting-can-be-a-tool-of-environmental-justice
Tzankova, Z, and C. Vanags. 2021. US urban and suburban yardscaping: from conventional to regenerative, in The Palgrave Encyclopedia of Urban and Regional Futures, Robert C. Brears, ed.
Tzankova, Z. 2020. Can private governance boost public policy? Insights from public-private governance interactions in the fisheries and electricity sectors. Regulation & Governance https://doi.org/10.1111/rego.12317
Tzankova, Z. 2020. Public policy spillovers from private energy governance: New opportunities for the political acceleration of renewable energy transitions. Energy Research & Social Science, 67 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.erss.2020.101504
Tzankova, Z. 2020. Why companies as diverse as eBay, IKEA and Mars are increasingly supporting US clean energy policies. The Conversation, June 30, 2020, https://tinyurl.com/CorporSupport4USCleanEnergyPol
Tzankova, Z. 2020. Stimulus spending on electricity decarbonization: the role of corporate renewable buyers. Utility Dive, June 11, 2020, https://tinyurl.com/CorpRoleinGreenStimulus
Hernández, D., D. Vallano, E. Zavaleta, J. Pasari, Z. Tzankova, S. Weiss, P. Selmants, C. Morozumi, P. Koch. 2016. Nitrogen Pollution Is Linked to US Listed Species Declines. BioScience, 66(3): 213-222. https://doi.org/10.1093/biosci/biw003
Tzankova, Z., and L. E. Gwin. 2015. Surf-n-Turf, but the sustainable kind? The limits and potential of market-driven regulation in food production. Seattle Journal of Environmental Law, 5(1): 303 - 338. https://tinyurl.com/surf-n-turf-sustainable
Tzankova, Z. 2014. Interactions between public and private resource governance: key insights from the fisheries case. William and Mary Policy Review, 6(1): Fall 2014. https://tinyurl.com/public-private-governance-int
Tzankova, Z., D. Vallano, and E. Zavaleta. 2011. Can the Endangered Species Act address the threat of atmospheric nitrogen deposition? Insights from the case of the Bay checkerspot butterfly. Harvard Environmental Law Review, 35(2): 434-475. https://tinyurl.com/ESA-N-checkerspot