EDRAite of the Month - Jeremy Wells, Ph.D.

January 14, 2026

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EDRAite of the Month - Jeremy Wells, Ph.D.

Jeremy Wells, Ph.D. Assistant Professor of Historic Preservation June 2016

Wells In the nearly 10 years that I’ve been involved in EDRA, I’ve found no other organization that has been as welcoming and supportive of my efforts to combine applied social science approaches with built heritage conservation. Like many EDRAites, my research bridges numerous disciplines which makes finding a home a difficult task because I am not strictly an architect, an historic preservationist (in the traditional sense), landscape architect, planner, or social scientist—I am, to some extent, a part of all of these disciplines, and more. As a self-described band of “misfits”, EDRA is one of the few places where transdisciplinarity is normal and we often introduce ourselves through our object of research or practice rather than through a discipline. I believe that the key to human flourishing lies in intersecting applied social science approaches with the design and conservation of the human environment. In order to further the work of EDRA and its Historic Environment Knowledge Network, I created the heritagestudies.org web site to introduce the concept of environment-behavior research to conservation researchers and practitioners; many people in the fields of critical heritage studies and historic preservation have been introduced to EDRA through this site and subsequently participated in intensives that I’ve organized at EDRA. I’m proud to be a part of EDRA’s work and its long tradition of human-centered design and look forward to serving on the board of directors in the fall where I hope to focus on building partnerships with other organizations who share EDRA’s mission.