I am a cultural anthropologist specializing in issues of resource access and control in North Africa and the central Appalachian region of the US. My current research and community-engaged work addresses just energy and economic transitions in rural mountain zones, with a focus on agrarian change, rural civic participation and political dynamics, land rights, and natural resource governance. I have conducted ethnographic fieldwork and multi-disciplinary collaborations informed by economics, political ecology, and critical energy studies. My 2021 book, An Elusive Common: Land, Politics, and Agrarian Rurality in a Moroccan Oasis (Cornell University Press), documents land conflict, agrarian change, and the politics of the commons in Morocco’s southeastern periphery. My current project is an engaged research initiative comparing the social and political dynamics of copper mining and utility-scale solar energy in pre-Saharan Morocco. Ongoing collaborative work on energy and economic transition in the Appalachian US also addresses the legacy of extraction for energy communities, supporting grassroots networks rooted in rural communities and their visions for vibrant, egalitarian futures. A key element of my engaged work in Eastern Kentucky is intergenerational collaboration with community members, bringing in storytelling, creative, expression, and other activities dreamed up by the youth and community partners who guide our efforts.

I bring these commitments to engagement, collaboration, and social justice to my teaching, advising, and commitments across the UK community. I have a joint appointment in Sociology and teach courses on the social dynamics of community, sustainability, and more generally, social science analysis using critical participatory action research approaches. I enjoy working with graduate students in our Masters programs (both Community and Leadership Development and Agricultural Education), across the campus, and beyond. Please be in touch to explore our program and exchange ideas.

RESEARCH AND TEACHING EXPERTISE