About

My first snow in the Upper Peninsula, November 2017

I am an environmental sociologist and assistant professor of environmental and energy justice in the Department of Social Sciences at Michigan Technological University.

I am the 7th generation of my family to have been born in Iowa, where I grew up in a rural area during the 1980s Farm Crisis. Witnessing the community impacts of national and international agricultural policy upon my hometown inspired my engagement in community and environmental questions through writing and activism, and eventually led me to rural and environmental sociology.

My research studies extraction, landscape transformation, agrifood-energy systems, and environmental challenges as questions of justice. I am a feminist scholar committed to praxis, which means I view my scholarship and teaching as opportunities to dismantle hierarchy, create community, and engage in social change. In this work, I regularly partner with community groups, local and state agencies, and non-profits in addressing environmental challenges or problems.

I’m interested in connecting with research collaborators, students, and community groups about research opportunities in both the Midwest Cornbelt and the Upper Peninsula.

I am a member of the the following professional organizations: Rural Sociological Society, Sociologists for Women in Society, Rural Women Studies Association. In addition, I am a member of the Iowa Farmers Union and Practical Farmers of Iowa. I also serve as a board member on the Women, Food and Agriculture Network and on the steering team of the Western UP Food Systems Council.

We are all downstream. View of the Mississippi from Effigy Mounds National Monument.