Loka Ashwood’s Curriculum Vitae

Assistant Professor, Department of Sociology, University of Kentucky

Loka.ashwood@uky.edu (email); www.lokaashwood.com (website)

 

 

EDUCATION                                                                                    

 

2015                Ph.D., Sociology, University of Wisconsin-Madison.

 

2009                M.Litt., Geography, National University of Ireland, Galway. First Class Honors.

 

2007                B.S., Journalism and Political Science, Northwestern University.

 

 

ACADEMIC EMPLOYMENT

 

2020                Assistant Professor, Department of Sociology, University of Kentucky.

                        Affiliate, Department of Agricultural Economics and Rural Sociology, Auburn University.

                        Affiliate, Appalachian Center, University of Kentucky.  

 

2015 - 2020     Assistant Professor, Department of Agricultural Economics and Rural Sociology,

Auburn University.

 

 

HONORS, AWARDS, AND FELLOWSHIPS

 

External

 

2021                Rural Sociological Society’s Fred Buttel 2020 Outstanding Scholarly Achievement Award, for For-Profit Democracy (Yale 2018).

 

2019                Finalist, Carnegie Fellowship.

• Selected as junior faculty member to represent Auburn University.
• Then selected as finalist among 300 nominees from universities, think tanks, publishers, and non-profits nationally.

2015                Best Paper Award. Rural Sociology, L. Ashwood, N. Harden, M. Bell, and W.

Bland.

 

2015                University of California-Davis Chancellor Postdoctoral Fellowship. Declined.

 

2015                United States Department of Agriculture. National Institute for Food and

Agriculture Postdoctoral Fellowship Grant. $146,910. Declined.

 

2014                Honorable Mention, Ford Foundation Dissertation Fellowship.

 

2011                Philanthropic Educational Organization Scholar Award, $15,000.

Co-Winner of Society for Agriculture, Human Values, and Society (AHVS)

Graduate Student Paper Competition: Harden, N. and L. Ashwood.

 

2011                Co-Winner of International Symposium on Society and Natural Resources

Doctoral Student Paper Competition: Harden, N. and L. Ashwood.

 

2009                Winner of 2009 European Society for Rural Sociology Fred Buttel Award: Best

graduate student paper.

 

 

Internal

 

2018                Auburn University College of Agriculture Junior Researcher Award, for high merit of scholarship and research performance in first eight years. 

 

2018                Auburn University College of Agriculture Dean’s Grantsmanship Award, for success in obtaining extramural grants.

 

2014                University of Wisconsin-Madison’s College of Letters and Science Early

Teaching Excellence Award.

 

2014                Mellon-Wisconsin Summer Fellowship.

 

2014                Raymond J. Penn Scholarship for Research in Development, Resource Conservation

 

 

PUBLICATIONS

(*denotes graduate student co-author)

 

Books

 

2020                           Bell, M., L. Ashwood, I. Leslie*, L. Hanson Schlachter*. 2020. An Invitation to Environmental Sociology. 6^th Edition. Thousand Oaks, California: Pine Forge Press.

 

Under Contract           Bell, M., L. Ashwood, and J. Orne. Of Blood: The Social Experience of Heritage. University of Chicago Press.

 

Under Contract           Ashwood, L., D. Diamond, A. Franco, A. Imlay and L. Kuehn. Right-to-Farm’s Might and Hype: A State-By-State Guide to Understanding and Reforming America’s Most Controversial Agricultural Laws. The University of North Carolina Press.

 

2018                           Ashwood, L. For-Profit Democracy: Why the Government is Losing the Trust of Rural America. Yale University Press. Agrarian Studies Series.

• Fred Buttel 2020 Outstanding Scholarly Achievement Award.
• Starred review, Publishers Weekly (June 2018).
• Reviewed by Front Porch Republic (March 2019).
• Coverage on C-Span (October 2018), Against the Grain (April 2019).
• Author meets critics panel, Rural Sociological Society (August 2019).
• Review published in The Journal of Southern History (August 2019).
• Review published in Social Anthropology (August 2019).
• Review published in American Journal of Sociology (October 2019).
• Two reviews (one comparative and one singular) published in Rural Sociology (December 2019).

 

2016                            Bell, M. M. and L. Ashwood. An Invitation to Environmental Sociology. 5^th Edition. Thousand Oaks, California: Pine Forge Press.

 

 

Special Issue Editor/Introduction

 

2016                           Journal of Rural Studies, Special Issue “Rural as a Dimension of Environmental Injustice.” Volume 47 A. Co-editor with Kate MacTavish.  

 

2016                           Ashwood, L. and Kate MacTavish. 2016. “Tyranny of the Majority and Rural Environmental Injustice.” Journal of Rural Studies 47(A): 271-277.

 

 

Peer-Reviewed Journal Articles

 

2022                           Ashwood, L., J. Canfield*(co-first author), M. Fairbairn, K. De Master. “What owns the land: the corporate organization of farmland investment.” Journal of Peasant Studies 49(2): 233-262.

• Lead Article.

 

 

2021                           Diamond, D. and L. Ashwood “Defenders of Rural Illinois’ Communities and Environment.” In: Ramos et al. (eds.), Policy Matters. Special Issue on Environmental Defenders. Gland, Switzerland: IUCN. 22(1): 114-116.

 

2021                           Ashwood, L. “‘No matter if you’re a Democrat or a Republican or neither’: pragmatic politics in opposition to industrial animal production.” Journal of Rural Studies 82: 586-594.

 

2021                           Fairbairn, M. J. LaChance, K. De Master, and L. Ashwood. “In vino veritas, in aqua lucrum: Farmland investment, environmental uncertainty, and groundwater access in California’s Cuyama Valley.” Agriculture and Human Values 38: 285-299.

 

2019                            Ashwood, L., D. Diamond, and F. Walker*. “Property Rights and Rural Justice: A Study of U.S. Right-to-Farm Laws.” Journal of Rural Studies 67: 120-129.

• PlumX Metrics: Top Social Media Article.
• Opinion-Editorial, Environmental Health Network, “Right-to-Farm laws run counter to rural culture and property rights.”
• Coverage in Huffington Post, Pacific Standard Magazine, Pew Charitable Trusts, and others.

 

2018                Ashwood, L. “Rural Conservatism or Anarchism? The Pro-State, Stateless

                        and Anti-State Positions.” Rural Sociology 83(4): 717-748.

• Lead Article.
• Top 20 downloaded articles, 2017-2018

 

2017                           Ashwood, L. and M.M. Bell. “Affect and Taste: Bourdieu, Traditional Music, and the Performance of Possibilities.” Sociologia Ruralis 57(S1): 622-640.

 

2016                           Ashwood, L. and Steve Wing. “Exposure and Compensation for Nuclear Weapons Workers.” New Solutions 26(1): 55-71.

 

2014                           Ashwood, L., N. Harden, M. M. Bell, and W. Bland. “Linked and Situated: Grounded Knowledge.” Rural Sociology 79(4): 427-452.

• Rural Sociology 2015 Best Paper Award.
• Lead Article.

 

2014                           Ashwood, L., D. Diamond, and K. Thu. “Where’s the Farmer? Limiting Liability in Midwest Industrial Hog Production.” Rural Sociology 79(1): 2-27.

• Lead Article.
• Covered by The Daily Yonder and the Open Markets Institute’s Food & Power.

 

2013                            Harden, N., L. Ashwood, M. M. Bell, and W. Bland. “For the Public Good: Weaving a Multifunctional Landscape in the Cornbelt.” Agriculture and Human Values 30(4): 525-537.

• Early Version Winner of 2009 Agriculture, Human Values, and Society Graduate Student Paper Competition.
• Early Version Winner of 2009 International Symposium on Society and Natural Resources Doctoral Student Paper Competition.

 

Book Chapters

 

2020                           Canfield, J.*, K. Galloway*, and L. Ashwood. “Rural Estrangement: Roadblocks and Roundabouts to Justice.” Cambridge Handbook of Environmental Sociology.

 

2019                           Ashwood, L., (co-first author), K. MacTavish (co-first author), and D. Richardson*. “Legal Enforcement of Spatial and Environmental Injustice: Rural Targeting and Exploitation.” Routledge Companion to Rural Planning. Eds. M. Scott, N. Gallent, and M. Gkartzios.

 

2016                           Ashwood, L. and M.M. Bell. “The Rural-Agriculture Power Play.” Pp. 650-660 in The International Handbook of Rural Studies. Eds., D. Brown and M. Shucksmith. UK: Francis and Taylor.

 

2011                            Ashwood, L. and J. Liu. Student Resource Section and Case Studies for Michael M. Bell’s 2013 textbook edition, An Invitation to Environmental Sociology.

 

2010                            Ashwood, L. “Without Categories and Classifications: ‘Rural’ as a Social Expression.” Pp. 113-124 in From Community to Consumption: New and Classical Themes in Rural Sociological Research. Rural Sociology and Development Series. Eds., A. Bonanno, H. Bakker, R. Jussaume, Y. Kawamura and M. Shucksmith. Bingley. UK: Emerald Publishing.

• Winner, European Society for Rural Sociology, Fred Buttel Award for best graduate student paper, 2009.

 

Book Review

 

2012                           Ashwood, L. “Daniel Imhoff: The CAFO Reader: The Tragedy of Industrial Animal Factories.” Agriculture and Human Values, 29: 427-428.

 

Policy or Community Report

 

2021                           One Rural Collective. University of Kentucky. Fifty State Specific Summaries of Right-to-Farm Laws. Story featuring project here.

 

2018                           Ashwood, L. Cleburne Cancer Concerns, Kenzley Defler*, Christy Hiett, Ming-Kuo Lee. “Questions and Answers: Fruithurst and Muscadine Cancer Concerns.” Forty-three page public document distributed January 20, 2018. (*Note: authorship joint, listed alphabetically).

 

2011                           Ashwood, L., N. Harden, M. Bell, and W. Bland. The Green Action Plan: Real Problems, Real Solutions. Illinois Institute for Rural Affairs and UW-Madison.

 

 

GRANTS

 

External          (Total $920,611)

 

2021                Ashwood, L. (PI), with Mary Hendrickson, Phil Howard, and Andy Pilny. 2021. “Spiders in the Web: A Social Network Analysis of Dependency in U.S. Industrial Agriculture.” Economic Security Project. $34,457.

 

2018                Ashwood, L., PI with Co-PIs S. Carlson and A. Shier. “The Right-to-Farm for Small and Medium-Sized Farmers: A National Legal Analysis.” USDA NIFA. $499,564.

 

2018                Ashwood, L., PI with Co-PI M.K. Lee. “Assessing Socio-Environmental Factors in the Cleburne County, Alabama, Childhood Leukemia Cluster.” Alabama Water Resources Research Institute. State Water Resources Competitive Grants Program. United States Geological Survey. $24,989.

 

2017                Ashwood, L., PI. “Rural Protest that Works: The Tenets of Emancipatory Politics.” Emancipatory Rural Politics Initiative. International Institute of Social Studies in The Hague, Netherlands. $2,500.

 

2017                PI Fairbairn, M. with Co-PIs Ashwood, L., and K. DeMaster. “The

Financialization of U.S. Farmland: The Effects of Changing Landownership on Small and Mid-Sized farms.” USDA NIFA. $149,920.

 

2017                Mentor with PI A. Wilson. “REU Site: Warm-water aquatic ecology.” National Science Foundation. $116,000.

 

2016                PI D. Fields with Co-PIs Ashwood, L., and R. Miao. “Establishing and

Promoting Regional and Farm-Specific Brands for Specialty Crops in Alabama,” Alabama Department of Agriculture and Industry. $25,000.

 

2013                Rural Sociological Society Dissertation Research Grant, $2,500.

 

2010                M. Bell PI, and L. Ashwood, Co-PI: Landscape Agroecology –

Linking Socio-Environmental Action for Multifunctionality. Illinois Institute for Rural Affairs. $65,681.

 

Internal           (Total $342,470)

 

2020                Ashwood, L. Dr. John Zinda’s visiting lecture on environmental authoritarianism. University of Kentucky Confucius Institute Virtual Speakers Series. $1,500.

 

2018                Chae, D. PI with Co-PIs Ashwood, L., M. Brown, D. Cheng, and R. Deshpande. “Rural African American Aging Research.” Auburn University Presidential Awards for Interdisciplinary Research. $255,000.

 

2018                Ashwood, L., PI with Co-PIs A. Furr, C. Hiett, and M.K. Lee. “Achieving Action in Community Based Research: Clean Water for Cleburne Cancer Concerns.” AU Competitive Outreach Scholarship Grant. Office of Faculty Engagement. $25,000.

 

2016                Ashwood, L., PI. Auburn University College of Agriculture. Agricultural Research Enhancement, Exploration and Development Grant. “A Socio-Historical Analysis of Right-to-Farm and Preservation Laws in Alabama and the Nation.” $50,000.

 

2015                Vilas Conference Presentation Award. $600. Declined.

 

2010-2014      Crowe Travel Scholarship: Awarded travel scholarship from Dept. of Community

and Environmental Sociology’s Crowe Scholarship Committee, $2,100.

 

2013-2014      Department of Sociology, UW-Madison Small Research Grant, $100; Travel

Fund, $350.

 

2012                Center for Culture History and the Environment Research Grant, $2,000.

Holtz Center for Science and Technology Studies Research Travel Grant, $1,000.

 

2008                Arts Faculty Travel Bursary: Awarded bursary from NUIG, €700 ($940).

                        Social Science Research Centre Grant: Awarded funds based on

outstanding qualification, and opportunity at NUIG, €700 ($940).

Dean of Arts and Sciences Bursary, €700 ($940).

 

2006                Northwestern University Undergraduate Research Grant: Researched influences

of Common Agricultural Policy in Co. Galway, Ireland, $2,000.

 

 

 

TEACHING

 

Instructor

 

2022                University of Kentucky, Sociology, Public Sociology

2021                University of Kentucky, Sociology, The State of Nature

 

2020                University of Kentucky, Sociology, Environmental Sociology.

 

2020, 2021      University of Kentucky, Sociology, Research Methods.

 

2018-2019      Auburn University, Rural Sociology, Research Methods. Spring. (Co-taught with Drs. Furr and Worosz).

 

2016-2019       Auburn University, Rural Sociology, Community Organization, Spring.

 

2016-2018       Auburn University, Rural Sociology, Political Economy of Development.

 

2017                Auburn University, Rural Sociology, Qualitative Research Methods, Summer.

 

2016                Auburn University, Rural Sociology, American Political Thought and

Neoliberalism, Spring.

 

2015                UW-Madison, Sociology, Classical Sociological Theory, Fall.

 

2013                UW-Madison, Sociology, Classical Sociological Theory, Fall.

 

Teaching Assistant

 

2014                UW-Madison Community and Environmental Sociology, Nature, Faith and Community, Fall.

 

2012                UW-Madison Sociology, Racial and Ethnic Minorities, Fall.

 

2011                UW-Madison Sociology, Race and Ethnic Movements, Fall.

 

2008                NUIG Geography, Methods in Physical Geography, Spring.

 

            NUIG Political Science and Sociology, Methods of Sociology and Political

Science, SPSS Lab Instructor, Spring.

 

Other

 

2008                NUIG Geography, Fieldtrip on Geographies of Rural Development; and fieldtrip

on Environment and Landforms, Spring and Fall.

 

2007                NUIG Geography, Lab Assistant, Galway, Ireland, Biogeography, Fall.

 

 

PRESENTATIONS

(*denotes graduate student co-author)

 

External Invited

 

2021                Ashwood, L. Panelist. “Panel: Debating From the Inside Out: An Author Meets Critic Panel with Jill Harrison.” Rural Sociological Society. June 17. 

 

2021                Ashwood, L. Panelist. “Plenary Panel: Raj Patel, Documentary Film Talk Back – The Ants and the Grasshopper.” Rural Sociological Society. July 30.

 

2021                Ashwood, L., A. Imlay, C. Boutwell, D. Diamond, A. Franco, and L. Kuehn. “The Mid(Burden): Battles over the Right-to-Farm in the Heartland.” Rural Reconciliation Project, University of Nebraska School of Law. April 21.

 

2021                Ashwood, L., A. Imlay, C. Boutwell, D. Diamond, A. Franco, and L. Kuehn. “The Mid(burden): Right-to-Farm’s Right-to-Rob in the Heartland.” American Association of Geographers. Panel on Access to Farmland in the American Midwest and Canadian Prairie. April 11^th.

 

2020                Ashwood, L. Panelist. Lead for America. Tips and Tools for Getting Proximate. August 9.          

 

2019                Ashwood, L. Plenary Speaker. Rural Studies Conference. Pennsylvania State University.

 

2019                Ashwood, L. Freie Universität Berlin. Research Group, Global Change-Local Conflicts (GLOCON). “Structural Transformation of the Countryside.” Invited panelist on rural politics and the impact on social relations. October 24-25. Berlin, Germany.

 

2019                Ashwood, L. University of Georgia. Dirty History Workshop in Agriculture, Environment, and Capitalism. Invited author for critique and reading of paper in progress. September 6. Athens, GA.

 

2019                Ashwood, L. “Debating For-Profit Democracy: An Author Meets Critics Panel with Loka Ashwood.” Rural Sociological Society. August 8. Richmond, WV.

 

2019                Ashwood, L. Panelist, organized by Mildred Warner. “Collaborative Ethnography – Lifting up Local Perspectives.” Rural Sociological Society. August 9. Richmond, WV.

 

2019                Ashwood, L. Featured Speaker. Missouri CAFO Summit. Missouri Rural Crisis Center. January 27. Columbus, MO. 

 

2018                Ashwood, L. “Democracy and Rural America.” Southern Festival of Books. October 12. Nashville, TN.

 

2018                Ashwood, L. “Land, Rights, and Justice: Why the Government is Losing the Trust of Rural America.” Book Talk. Prairie Festival. The Land Institute. August 28. Salina, KS.

 

2018                Ashwood, L. “The Pro-State, Anti-State, and Stateless Interplay: Rural Protest Against Industrial Agriculture.” Invited Paper Panel. Emancipatory Rural Politics II: Resisting, Mobilizing and Creating Alternatives. American Association of Geographers. April 10. New Orleans, LA.

 

2016                Ashwood, L. “Right to-Farm Laws.” Invited panel. Socially Responsible Agricultural Project. September 11. Green Bay, WI.

 

2016                Ashwood, L. Invited panel on “The Justice of Agroecology: Practice and Politics.” International Rural Sociological Association. August 12. Toronto, Canada.

 

2016                Ashwood, L. “The Moral Economy of Democracy and the Decline of the People’s Right to Private Property.” Invited paper session on Redress. Law and Society. June 2. New Orleans, LA.

 

2015                Ashwood, L. Invited paper panel on neoliberalism. “Pulling the Liberalism from the Neo: The Moral Economy of Private Property.” Rural Sociological Society. August 8. Madison, WI.

 

2014                Ashwood, L. Section on Sociology of Law Invited Session. Invited paper session on Law, Ethics, Policy and Manners in the Surveillance Society. “Nuclear Surveillance in a Corporate-State.” American Sociological Association. August 19. San Francisco, CA.

                       

2014                Ashwood, L. Invited paper session on multifunctionality. “Integrating Multifunctional Landscape Design into Agricultural Policy.” Association for Environmental Studies and Sciences. June 12. New York, NY.

 

2013                Ashwood, L. and F. Iutzi. Invited paper talk for Sustainability Brown Baggers Series. “Grounded Knowledge: Using a Participatory Process to Address Environmental Problems in the Spring Lake Watershed.” Western Illinois University. March 5. Macomb, IL.

 

2009                Ashwood, L. Western Illinois University. Invited talk on masters research. Sustainability Brown Baggers Series. February 10. “The Sustainability of the Rural Identity.” Macomb, IL.   

           

Paper Presentations

 

2021                Ashwood, L., Ryan Thompson, J. Canfield, and M. Jamila. “Corporate Tied and Credit Bound: The Powering of Pork Production.” Big Ag & Antitrust Conference. Yale University. January 21^st.

 

2021                Franco, A., D. Diamond, L. Ashwood, C. Boutwell, and L. Kuehn. “Farm Fiction: How U.S. Right-to-Farm Laws Advance Injustices in Rural Areas.” Big Ag & Antitrust Conference. Yale University. January 21^st.

 

2020                Ashwood, L. and J. Canfield. “What Owns the Land: The Corporate Organization of Farmland Investment.” Sociology of Economic Change and Development Brownbag. Department of Sociology. University of Wisconsin-Madison. September 11.

 

2019                Ashwood, L. “The Justice and Institutional Interplay: Bringing the Local into the Theoretical Fold of Communicative Action.” Section on Environmental Sociology, Roundtables. American Sociological Association. Paper. August 11. New York, NY.

 

2019                Boutwell, C.*, L. Ashwood, L. Kuehn, K. Bousquet, and A. Franco. “Protections for Whom? What Right-to-Farm Laws Mean for Rural People.” Rural Sociological Society. August 8. Richmond, West Virginia.

 

2019                Bousquet, K., L. Ashwood, C. Boutwell, L. Kuehn, K. Bousquet, and A. Franco. “Right-to-Farm Laws in Action: Winners and Losers in the Courtroom and Implications For Rural Justice.” Rural Sociological Society. August 9. Richmond, West Virginia.

 

2019                Canfield, J.*, L. Ashwood, K. De Master, M. Fairbairn, and A. Kumar. “Location, Obfuscation, and Financialization: A New Method to Explore Farmland Ownership.” Rural Sociological Society. August 8. Richmond, West Virginia.

 

2019                Bell, M. M., L. Ashwood, Jason Orne. “Country Blood: The Naturalized Experience of Rural Descent.” Rural Sociological Society. August 8. Richmond, West Virginia.

 

2019                De Master, K., J. LaChance*, L. Ashwood, and M. Fairbairn. June 28. “Rewilding, Regenerative Farming, and New Land Investments: Accumulation by Conservation or New Ecological Paradigm?” Agriculture and Human Values Annual Meeting. Anchorage, AK.

 

2019                Canfield, J.*, L. Ashwood, K. De Master, and M. Fairbairn. June 28. “Not Who, But What, Owns the Land: Credit and Corporations as the Conduits of Financialization.” Agriculture and Human Values. Anchorage, AK.

 

2019                Fairbairn, M., J. LaChance*, K. De Master, and L. Ashwood. April 6. “Farmland Investment and Groundwater in California.” American Association of Geographers. Washington, D.C.

 

2019                Canfield, J.*, L. Ashwood, K. De Master, and M. Fairbairn. April 3. “Piercing the Corporate Veil: Exploring Farmland Financialization in McDonough and Fulton Counties, Illinois.” American Association of Geographers. Washington, D.C.

 

2018                Canfield, J.*, L. Ashwood, K. De Master, and M. Fairbairn. “The (Not) So Great Transformation: Corporate Land Grabs and Fictitious Commodities.” Southern Rural Sociological Society. February 4, 2018. Birmingham, AL.

 

2018                Stonecypher, K., M. Lee, L. Ashwood, A. Furr, C. Hiett, N. Dimonva, P. Majokweni, D. Montiel, C. Sutton. “Assessing Socio-Environmental Factors for a Childhood Leukemia Cluster in Cleburne County, Alabama.” American Geophysical Union. December 10. Washington, D.C.

 

2018                Canfield, J.*, L. Ashwood, K. De Master, Madeleine Fairbairn, and Anand Kumar. “Land Financialization in McDonough and Fulton Counties, Illinois.” Rural Sociological Association. July 28. Portland, OR.

 

2018                Lachance, J.*, V. Butsic, K. De Master, M. Fairbairn, and L. Ashwood.. “Farmland of the Middle: Questions of Ownership and Access.” Agriculture, Food and Human Values Society. June 15. Madison, WI.

 

2018                De Master, K., L. Ashwood, and M. Fairbairn. “New Inquiries into the Agriculture of the Middle: Contemporary Land Questions.” Agriculture, Food and Human Values Society. June 15. Madison, WI.

 

2018                Bell, M., L. Ashwood, and V. Stull*. “Justice and the Rural Question.” Agriculture, Food and Human Values Society. June 15. Madison, WI.

 

2018                Canfield, J.*, K. Demaster, L. Ashwood, and M. Fairbairn. “Buying the Farm: Farmland Financialization in McDonough County, Illinois.” American Association of Geographers. April 13. New Orleans, LA.

 

2016                Ashwood, L. “The Rural Agricultural Power-Play.” In Session “Emerging Ruralities in Deagrarized Worlds.” International Rural Sociological Association. September 12. Montreal, Canada.

 

2016                Ashwood, L. “The Rural Rebel.” In Session “Rural Radicals: Exploring Radical Community Organising in Rural Areas.” International Rural Sociological Association. August 11. Montreal, Canada.

 

2016                Ashwood, L. “The Moral Economy of Property.” Mini-Conference Moral Economies of Sovereignty. Society for the Advancement of Socio-Economics. June 25. Berkeley, CA.

 

2014                Ashwood, L. “A Tocquevillian Framework for Environmental Injustice.” Rural Sociological Society. August 2. New Orleans, LA. 

 

2013                Ashwood, L. “Injustice in the Georgia Countryside: The Moral Economy of Land Loss.” North Carolina Environmental Justice Network. October 18. Whitackers, NC.

 

2013                Ashwood, L. “For Love of the Land: The Moral Economy of Land Loss.” Rural Sociological Society. August 9. New York, NY. 

 

2013                Ashwood, L. “Land for the Taking.” Section on Environment and Technology Roundtable: Critical Perspectives. American Sociological Association. August 13. New York, NY.

 

2013                Ashwood, L., D. Diamond, and K. Thu. “Where’s the Producer? Limiting Liability in Midwest Industrial Hog Production.” Rural Sociological Society. August 7. New York, NY.

 

2012                Ashwood, L., N. Harden, M. Bell and W. Bland. “Linked and Situated: Grounded Knowledge.” Paper presented at Rural Sociological Society. July 27. Chicago, IL

 

2011                Harden, N., and L. Ashwood. “For the Public Good: Weaving a Multifunctional Landscape in the Corn Belt.” International Symposium on Society and Natural

Resources. June 3. Madison, WI.

 

2011                Harden, N., L. Ashwood, M.M. Bell, and W. Bland. “Landscape Agroecology: A Multifunctional Approach to Nonpoint Source Pollution.” International Association of Landscape Ecology. April 4. Seattle, WA.

                       

2010                Ashwood, L. “Landscape Agroecology: Socio-Environmental Action for Multifunctionality.” Rural Sociological Society. Aug. 14. Atlanta, GA.

 

2010                Bell, M. and Ashwood, L. “Beyond Class: Traditional Music and the Social Relations of Taste.” Rural Sociological Society. Aug. 13. Atlanta, GA.

 

2008                Ashwood, L. “Immigration and Emigration: The Difference of the Rural Locality.” International Rural Sociology Association. XII Congress. July 11. Seoul, Korea.

 

2008                Ashwood, L. “The Social Expression of the Rural: A Case Study of Four Irish Social Representative Groups.” American Association of Geographers. April 15-19. Boston, MA.

 

Other

 

2019                De Master, K., J. LaChance*, M. Fairbairn, L. Ashwood. Department of Environmental Science, Policy, and Management Faculty Seminar Series talk. University of California. “Revisiting the ‘Land Question’: Emerging U.S. Farmland Transitions for Small and Mid-sized Farms.” April 11. Berkeley, CA. 

 

2018                Ashwood, L. Discover Auburn Lecture Series. Book Talk. August 20. “For-Profit Democracy: Why the Government is Losing the Trust of Rural America.” Auburn, AL. 

 

2017                Ashwood, L. Santa Cruz Environmental Studies Seminar Series. Book Talk. “For-Profit Democracy: The Rise of Environmental Injustices, and the Decline of Governmental Authority in Rural America.” November 6. Santa Cruz, CA.

 

2017                Galloway, K.* and L. Ashwood. Alabama Farm Expo. “Property and Farm Rights

in Alabama and the Nation: How Right-to-Farm Laws Impact property and Agriculture.” August 5.

 

2017                Ashwood, L. and K. Galloway*. Auburn University Faculty Research

Symposium. “Property and Farm Rights in Alabama and the Nation: How Right-to-Farm Laws Impact Property and Agriculture. September 22.

 

2014                Ashwood, L. Unitarian Universalist Church. “Cracks in the Nuclear

State: Rebellion and Resistance in the Georgia Countryside.” Invited talk on book project. April 27. Macomb, IL.

 

2012                Ashwood, L. Holtz Center for Science and Technology. Invited research talk for award recipients. “Land for the Taking: Oppression and Resistance in the Georgia Countryside.” December 13. Madison, WI.

 

2011                Harden, N. and L. Ashwood. Rock River Educational Forum. “Bringing

Together Farmers, Landowners, Communities, Government, and Scientists

to Develop Creative Strategies to Reduce Runoff Pollution in Two Small Watersheds in Wisconsin and Illinois.” April 14.

 

2009                Ashwood, L. SociETAS Seminar. University of Wisconsin, Madison.

“Social Expression of the Rural: A Narrative of Rural Meaning.” Oct. 19. Madison WI. 

 

2008                Ashwood, L. “Changing Rural Identities: A Case Study of Four Irish Social Representative Groups.” Geography Seminar Series. National University of Ireland Galway. Jan. 24. Galway, Ireland.

 

 

STUDENT TRAINING

 

Current, PhD Chair

 

Aimee Imlay, Sociology, University of Kentucky.

 

Completed, Primary or Co-Advisor:

 

Crystal Boutwell, Masters, Auburn University, completed. “Right-to-Farm Laws: Dispossession of Community in Rural America.” (Graduated 2020).

• Honorable Mention, Sociology of Agriculture and Food Research and Interest Group.

John Canfield, Masters, Auburn University, completed.  “The Corporation and the DNA of Farmland Financialization.” (Graduated 2019).

• Won Auburn University Graduate Council Master’s Thesis Award.

Karl Galloway, Masters, Auburn University, completed. “Policing Poultry: State and Market Interplay and its Ramifications in the Rural South.” (Graduated 2018).

Dalton Richardson, Masters, Auburn University, completed. “God Bless the Farmer: Community Perceptions of Legal Challenges to Hog Farming Operations in North Carolina.” (Graduated 2018).

• Won Rural Sociological Society’s Master’s Thesis Award.

Fiona Walker, Masters, Auburn University, completed. “Right-to-Farm Laws: A Thematic Analysis.” (Graduated 2017).

 

Completed, Committee Member, Masters:

 

Connor Cain, Masters, Geoscience, Auburn University.

Taylor Franklin, Natural Resources, Auburn University

Abhimanyi Gopaul, Masters, Rural Sociology, Auburn University.

John Gunn, Masters, Rural Sociology, Auburn University.

Lindy Olive, Masters, Rural Sociology, Auburn University.

James Patterson, Masters, Rural Sociology, Auburn University.

Pilela Majokweni, Masters, Rural Sociology, Auburn University.

Mary Schelley, Rural Sociology, Auburn University.

Amanda Stitt, Rural Sociology, Auburn University.

 

Current, PhD Committee

 

Alessandra Del Brocco, Sociology, University of Kentucky

John Gunn, Adult Education, Auburn University

KC Vick, Sociology, University of Kentucky

 

Undergraduate Research Fellowship Advisor

 

Kenzley Defler: Fruithurst, Alabama, Cancer Cluster Study, Auburn University.

 

University Reader

 

Arnold Brodbeck, Forestry, Auburn University.

Alex Chan, Human Development and Family Studies, Auburn University.

 

External Reader

 

Isaac Hughes, Honors Project, Department of Environmental Studies, Knox College

 

 

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

 

Professional Service

 

Committees and Representation

 

2019-2021       Council Member, Rural Sociological Society Land Grant Representative.

(Elected).

 

2019-2022       Publications Committee, Chair and Co-Chair.

 

2013-2018       Diversity Committee, Rural Sociological Society. Chair, 2017-2018.

 

2013-2016      Chair and Co-Chair, Rural Studies Group, Rural Sociological Society.

 

2013-2015      Student Council Representative, Rural Sociological Society. (Elected).

 

2015                Program Committee, Rural Sociological Society.

 

2013-2014      Social Committee, Department of Community and Environmental Sociology, University of Wisconsin-Madison.

 

2012                Agriculture, Food, and Human Values Society Student Paper Prize Judge.

 

2009-2011       UW-Madison Sociology Department Mentorship Committee Member.

 

2010-2011      Graduate Student Representative, Dept. of Community and Environmental

Sociology.

 

2011                Poster Judge. International Symposium on Society and Natural Resources. June 2.

 

Professional Meeting Organizing and Workshops

 

2022                Co-Organizer for “Understanding Competition and Market Power in Agricultural Markets: Cultivating New Voices and Comparative Scholarship.” University of Missouri, March 16th to 18^th.

                       

2021                Panelist. Lead for America. Invited as Facilitator Expert for Mock Community Visioning. February 6.

 

2019                Organizer, with K. De Master, A. Desmarais, and M. Fairbairn. “Rights of Ownership, Rights of Access: Land, Power, and Property.” Two paper sessions and one panel. Rural Sociological Society. August 8-10. Richmond, West Virginia.

 

2019                Moderator. “Rights of Ownership, Rights of Access: Land, Power, and Property.” Panel. Rural Sociological Society. August 9. Richmond, West Virginia.

 

2019                Moderator. “City of the Good: An Author Meets Critics Panel with Michael Bell.” Rural Sociological Society. August 9. Richmond, West Virginia.

 

2019                Organizer, with L. Pruitt. “Rural Lawline as Rural Lifeline.” Rural Sociological Society. Three paper sessions, August 9-August 10. Richmond, West Virginia.

 

2019                Moderator. “Rural Lawline as Rural Lifeline: Case-Studies in Legal Rights and Access for Those Most in Need.” Rural Sociological Society. August 10. Richmond, Virginia.

 

2017                Organizer. “Countering Utilitarianism and Environmental Injustice.” Diversity Mini-Conference. Rural Sociological Society. Columbus, Ohio. July 29^th.

 

2015                Session Chair. “Value Chains III.” Paper Session. Rural Sociological Society.

August 9. Madison, Wisconsin.

           

2015                Organizer with Jacki Hartley. Panel. “Voices in the Rural Local Food System.” Rural Sociological Society. August 7. Madison, Wisconsin.

 

2014                Moderator and Organizer. Panel. “Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Rural Environmental Injustice: Linking Communities and Scholars.” Rural Sociological Society. August 2. New Orleans, Louisiana.

 

2014                Organizer. Panel. “Citizens and Environmental Action: Community Resilience in

the South.” Rural Sociological Society. August 1. New Orleans, Louisiana.

 

2014                Organizer. Rural Sociological Society. August 2. Workshop. “Theater of the

Oppressed.”

 

2013                Session Chair, Discussant. Rural Sociological Society. August 8. “Masculinity,

Farmer Identity and Land Ownership.” Rural Sociological Society. August 8. New York, NY.

 

2012                Session Chair. L. “Grounding Innovation.” Rural Sociological Society. July 27. Chicago, IL

 

2012-2014       Culture, History and Environment (CHE) working group.  

 

2010                Roundtable Session Chair. American Sociological Association. August 14^th. Environment and Technology Section.

 

Editor and Reviewer

 

2020-Spring    Associate Editor, Rural Sociology

2022

 

Journal:           Agriculture and Human Values, American Journal of Public Health, American Journal of Sociology, Environmental Justice, Journal of Peasant Studies, Journal of Rural Studies, Social Currents, Rural Sociology, International Journal of Contemporary Sociology, Social Forces, Social Sciences, Sociologia Ruralis, Water Policy.  

 

Academic       Princeton University.

Press:

 

Grant reviewer for three USDA NIFA programs.  

 

Other:              LiKEN Heirs Property Report; Green Lands Blue Waters White Paper.

 

Other Professional Work

 

2010-2011      Research Assistant. Dept. of Community and Environmental Sociology. Madison,

WI: Funded through Landscape Agroecology grant.

 

Summer          Research Associate. Value Added Sustainable Development Center. Researched

2009                implications of biofuel for rural communities.

 

2008-2009      Community Outreach Specialist. Illinois Institute for Rural Affairs: Full-time

specialist for program designed to help revitalize rural Illinois communities.

 

Current and former Academic Memberships: Agriculture, Food, and Human Values Society; American Association of Geographers; American Sociological Association; Association for Environmental Studies and Sciences; International Association for Society and Natural Resources; Law and Society; Native American and Indigenous Studies Association; Rural Sociological Society; Society for the Advancement of Socio-Economics.

 

 

University Service

 

2018-2021       Auburn University Salaries and Wages Committee.

 

2016-20201    Member, Center for Health Ecology and Equity Research, Auburn University.

 

2018                Faculty Research Symposium. Auburn University. September 22.

 

 

College Service

 

2021                Cooperative for the Humanities and Social Sciences Committee, College of Arts and Sciences, University of Kentucky

 

2018-2021      Auburn University College of Agriculture York Lecture Committee.

 

2018-2021      Agricultural Communications Committee. Also served on search committee for features writer.

 

2016-2021      Diversity Committee

 

2018                Alabama Farm Expo. Montgomery, Alabama. August 5.

 

Department Service

 

2020-2021      Undergraduate Committee, Department of Sociology, University of Kentucky

 

2021-2022      Graduate Committee, Department of Sociology, University of Kentucky

 

2020-current   Member, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee, Department of Sociology, University of Kentucky; Chair (2021-222)

 

2016-2019      Served or serving on 4 faculty search committees for 5 searches in College of Agriculture, Auburn University; One faculty search committee in College of Forestry and Wildlife Sciences, Auburn University.

 

2016-2018      Secretary, Department of Agricultural Economics and Rural Sociology.

 

2015-2019      Department of Agricultural Economics and Rural Sociology Assessment Committee, Undergraduate Curriculum Committee.

 

2015-2018      Department of Agricultural Economics and Rural Sociology, Undergraduate Curriculum Committee.

 

2015-2018      Department of Agricultural Economics and Rural Sociology Assessment Committee, Undergraduate Curriculum Committee

 

Community Service

 

2017                Helped Cleburne Cancer Concerns (the group formed from CBR research) elicit over $5,000 for their Go Fund Me campaign. Helped complete two other grant applications, which totaled $8,000.

 

2017                Spoke to groups in west central Illinois about their concerns relating to the siting of large-scale hog facilities and Right-to-Farm laws in November and August.

 

2014-2015      Secretary, Illinois Stewardship Alliance.

 

2013-2015      Board of Directors, Illinois Stewardship Alliance.

 

2012-2015      Founding Board Member, Board of Directors, Rural Residents for Responsible Agriculture.

 

2014                President, Rural Residents for Responsible Agriculture.

 

 

 

MEDIA COVERAGE OF RESEARCH

 

Rural Assembly Everywhere.

 

Hiltzik, Michael. 2022. “Pork producers are in full squeal over California’s farm animal rules. You should tune them out.” February 23, 2022. https://www.latimes.com/business/story/2022-02-23/pork-producers-are-in-full-squeal-over-californias-farm-animal-rules-tune-them-out.

 

Whitcomb, Theo. “What is California’s ‘War on Breakfast’ really about?” High Country News. February 17, 2022. https://www.hcn.org/articles/south-agriculture-what-is-californias-war-on-breakfast-really-about.

 

Grey, Jamie, Emily Featherston, Cory Johnson and Lee Zurik. “Secret Acres: Foreign-owned agricultural land inaccurately tracked by government.” Investigate Midwest. January 26, 2022: https://investigatemidwest.org/2022/01/26/secret-acres-foreign-owned-agricultural-land-inaccurately-tracked-by-government/.

 

Week, Olivia. “Q&A: Why is the Government Losing Rural America’s Trust?” The Daily Yonder. January 14, 2022: https://dailyyonder.com/qa-why-is-the-government-losing-rural-americas-trust/2022/01/14/.

 

Philpott Tom. “Bell and Melinda Gates’ Empire of Dirt: Wealthy investors are snapping up large tracts of farmland—and sowing discontent.” Mother Jones. May 25, 2021: https://www.motherjones.com/food/2021/05/bill-melinda-gates-farmland-wealth-cascade-young-farmers-priced-out/.

 

Stateline. “Lawsuits Against Pig Farms Are So Successful That These States Want to Stop Them: At Least Nine States Have Enacted or Considered a “Right to Farm” this year.” Huffington Post. May 22, 2019: https://www.huffpost.com/entry/pig-lawsuit-right-to farm_b_5ce59c8fe4b0fecd75b229e6?guccounter=1.

 

Simpson, April. “Neighbors Suing Over Pig fumes Spur ‘Right-to-Farm’ Push.” Pew Charitable Trusts. May 22, 2018: https://www.pewtrusts.org/en/research-and-analysis/blogs/stateline/2019/05/22/neighbors-suing-over-pig-fumes-spur-right-to-farm-push.

 

Moon, Emily. “Missouri Outlaws Rural Residents’ Last Line of Protection Against CAFOs.” Pacific Standard Magazine. May 17, 2019: https://psmag.com/news/missouri-outlaws-rural-residents-last-line-of-protection-against-cafos.

 

Moon, Emily. “More States Are Restricting Who Can Sue Agriculture Operations.” Pacific Standard Magazine. April 15, 2019: https://psmag.com/news/more-states-are-restricting-who-can-sue-agriculture-operations.

 

Opinion-Editorial, Environmental Health Network, “Right-to-Farm laws run counter to rural culture and property rights.”

 

Kelloway, Claire. “How a New Corporate Model in Hog Farming Puts Rural Communities at Risk.” Food & Power. Open Markets Institute. March 15, 2019: http://www.foodandpower.net/2019/03/15/how-a-new-corporate-model-in-hog-farming-puts-rural-communities-at-risk/

 

 “Growing Number of Cleburne County, Alabama, Cancer Cases Raising Concerns.” ABC 33/40 Birmingham, February 18, 2019: https://abc3340.com/news/abc-3340-news-iteam/growing-number-of-cleburne-county-ala-cancer-cases-raising-concerns

 

“Researchers disagree on cancer links in rural Alabama town.” Fox5. Atlanta. January 16, 2019. https://www.fox5atlanta.com/news/i-team/researchers-disagree-on-cancer-links-in-rural-alabama-town.

 

“Alabama Congressman Wants Federal Dollars to Resolve East Alabama Well Water Problem.” ABC 3340 Birmingham, September 20, 2018: https://abc3340.com/news/local/alabama-congressman-wants-federal-dollars-to-resolve-north-alabama-well-water-problem

 

“ADEM brought into Fruithurst Cancer Investigation.” WAIT CBS Birmingham, February 27

2018: http://www.wiat.com/news/local/adem-brought-into-fruithurst-cancerinvestigation/

996120604?utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook_CBS_42

 

“ADEM to Check Fruithurst Rubber Plant After Cancer Concerns”: The Anniston Star, February 26 2018: https://www.annistonstar.com/news/cleburne/adem-to-check-fruithurst-rubber-plant-after-cancerconcerns/article_538c759a-1764-11e8-81bf-a33cf30d6348.html

 

“Answers for Fruithurst.” The Anniston Star, February 20 2018: https://www.annistonstar.com/opinion/editorials/answers-for-fruithurst/article_126e28aa-182d-11e8-8c6c-273dc8a44a4d.html

 

“Cancer-Causing Radon Found in East Alabama Town’s Well Water, Researcher Says”: AL.com, January 31 2018: http://www.al.com/news/index.ssf/2018/01/fruithurst_groundwater_contami.html

 

“Scientists: Water Contaminants Possibly Linked to Spike in City’s Cancer Cases”: ABC 3340 Birmingham, January 30 2018: http://abc3340.com/news/local/whats-in-your-water-cleburne-residents-concerned

 

“Fruithurst Residents Get Answers to Water Tests”: WAIT CBS Birmingham, January 30, 2018: http://www.wiat.com/news/local/fruithurst-residents-get-answers-to-water-tests/946436019

 

“Research Finds Connections Between Cancer Victims in Fruithurst”: WAIT CBS Birmingham, January 7, 2018: http://www.wiat.com/news/local/research-finds-connections-between-cancer-victims-infruithurst/903791351

 

“Auburn University Investigating Fruithurst Cancer Cases Where 6 Kids Diagnosed in 14 months”: WAIT CBS Birmingham, March 7, 2017:http://www.wiat.com/news/auburn-university-investigating-fruithurst-cancer-cases-where-6-kids-diagnosed-in-14-months/868117053

 

“Looking for Answers Behind Growing Number of Cancer Cases”: WAIT CBS Birmingham, February 14, 2017:http://www.wiat.com/news/cbs-42-investigates/looking-for-answers-behind-growing-number-ofcancer-cases-in-fruithurst/868041712

 

“Professor shares views of ‘factory farming’.” Canton Daily Ledger. October 16, 2017. http://www.cantondailyledger.com/news/20171016/professor-shares-views-of-factory-farming

 

 

JOURNALISM AWARDS AND DISTINCTIONS

 

2007                Guest columnist, Newspaper Guild, “Newspapers’ Woes Begin in J-School.”

 

2006                First place recipient of Society of Professional Journalists Five-State Area General

News Writing Award for “While farming potatoes, they take on pollution”

in Florida Union-Times.

 

Reporter of the Month, Florida Times-Union. Two articles used by the Associated

Press.

 

Selected as senior class speaker for Freshman induction into Northwestern

University Medill School of Journalism.

 

                        Second Place co-recipient of Illinois Press Association In-Depth Series Award for

methamphetamine series in the Macomb Eagle.

 

2004                Third place, Society of Professional Journalists Television In-Depth Reporting

Award for series on cattle market manipulation on U.S. Farm Report.

 

2003                First Place Co-Recipient of Illinois College Press Association Award for state of

mind series in the Daily Northwestern.