Antoinette WinklerPrins

Antoinette WinklerPrins has served since 2019 as deputy division director of the Behavioral and Cognitive Sciences Division of the Social, Behavioral and Economic Sciences Directorate (SBE) of the National Science Foundation. In 2022 and 2023, she served as acting deputy assistant director of SBE. She previously served as a program director for the Geography and Spatial Sciences Program (now called Human-Environment and Geographical Sciences) and various cross-directorate programs such as the Dynamics of Socio-Environmental Systems (DISES).  

Dr. WinklerPrins graduated from the University of Michigan with a B.A. in Geography and a Master's in Urban Planning. She earned a Ph.D. in Geography with a minor in Soil Science from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and completed a postdoc in Soil Science at the University of Twente in the Netherlands. Prior to coming to NSF, she served on the faculty of Michigan State University in the Department of Geography, Environment and Spatial Sciences, while also serving as core faculty for the Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies, Gender in Global Context, the Center for Advanced Study of International Development, and the Environmental Science and Policy Program. More recently she served as the director for Environmental Programs in the Advanced Academic Programs unit of the Krieger School of Arts and Sciences of Johns Hopkins University, where she retains an adjunct appointment in the Environmental Sciences and Policy Program.  

Dr. WinklerPrins remains an active scholar focusing on the interaction of humans and the environment. Specifically, she has looked at how the traditional ways that people have intentionally shaped their environment in both urban and rural settings can provide lessons for sustainable land use during this era of global change. She has published numerous peer-reviewed journal articles and chapters, and she has edited or co-edited several books, including "Global Urban Agriculture," "Geographical Fieldwork in the 21st Century," and "Forest, Field, and Fallow: Selections by William M. Denevan." She has presented findings from her research activities at a variety of regional, national and international meetings. Her work has been supported by a variety of sources, including NSF, the Association of University Women, the American Philosophical Society and the National Geographical Society. 

In addition to research, Dr. WinklerPrins is passionate about teaching and mentoring. She was a Lilly teaching fellow at Michigan State University, where she received a Teacher-Scholar Award and continues to have a reputation for excellence and innovation, especially in online teaching and learning. She has long contributed to the Geography Faculty Development Alliance, a mentoring program for junior faculty.