Emmanuel Wanjala earned his Ph.D. in Higher Education, Student Affairs, and International Education Policy at the University of Maryland, College Park, USA, in Fall 2025. He received a Master of Arts in International Education Policy from the same university in May 2021. He previously served as a Fulbright Foreign Language Teaching Assistant for Swahili at the University of Pittsburgh. Emmanuel holds a Bachelor of Education (Arts) with majors in Linguistics and Literature and a minor in International Relations and Diplomacy from the University of Nairobi, Kenya. Professionally, he is a member of the Comparative and International Education Society (CIES) and the American Educational Research Association (AERA). His research interests include international higher education exchanges and the intersections of higher education with youth agency, climate change education, and environmental and climate justice.
2025 Office of Multiethnic Students Education (OMSE) Director's Excellence in Service Award- The award is reserved for a remarkable individual, identified by the OMSE Director, who has made outstanding contributions to academic excellence and to the lives of multiethnic students at the University of Maryland.
2024 University of Maryland College of Education Support Program for Advancing Research and Collaboration (SPARC) $1000 2024 University of Maryland, College Park, College of Education, Greatest Need Fund $1500
2023 University of Maryland, College Park, College of Education, Greatest Need Fund $ 1500
2018 Fulbright Foreign Language Teaching Assistant
Wanjala, E. S. (2025). Promoting Food Security and Biodiversity Restoration: Insights from Kenyan Youth Climate Change Activists. Youth, 5(1), 16. https://doi.org/10.3390/youth5010016
Wanjala, E., & Osumba, E. (2025, March 20). When the School Floods: Navigating the Teaching Landscape in Kenya as a Youth Climate Change Activist (I. Silova, C. Karsgaard, & V. Desimoni, Eds.). Norrag Blog; Geneva Graduate Institute. https://www.norrag.org/when-the-school-floods-navigating-the-teaching-landscape-in-kenya-as-a-youth-climate-change-activist
Wanjala, E., Zheng, J., and Rappeport, A. (2024). Going Against the Grain: Lessons from the University of Maryland, College Park International Graduate Students, Scholars, and Allies. In Rose-Redwood and Rose-Redwood (eds): International Student Activism and the Politics of Higher Education. Lexington Books.
Lin, J., Gomes, V., Haavik, J., Malik, M., Wanjala, E., Scanlon, J., Mok, S.K., and Grigoryeva, A. (2024). Global Climate Change and Education: Disrupting Hierarchies for New Landscapes of Learning by Action. In Williams, H., Huski, H., & Noto, C. (Eds.). (2024). Disrupting Hierarchy in Education: Students and Teachers Collaborating for Social Change. Teachers College Press.
Lin, J., Fiore, A., Sorensen, E., Gomes, V., Haavik, J., Malik, M., Mok, S., Scanlon, J., Wanjala, E., and Grigoryeva, A.(2023). Contemplative, holistic eco-justice pedagogies in higher education: From anthropocentrism to fostering deep love and respect for nature. Teaching in Higher Education, 28 (5), 953-968. DOI: 10.1080/13562517.2023.2197109
2024 College of Education's Support Program for Advancing Research and Collaboration (SPARC), $1000.
Project Management
Strategic Planning and Management for Nonprofit and Public Organizations
Nonprofit and Public Organization Fundraising
Program Evaluation
Budgeting
Higher Education Finance