Andrew Flachs
Curriculum Vitae
Professional Profile
Field experience in South India, Bosnia, and the United States. Research spanning the anthropology of agriculture, ethnobotany, the anthropology of knowledge, and political ecology. Specific foci of interest include: mixed-methods approaches to qualitative social science; conventional/industrial agriculture; fermentation and the microbiome; alternative farming systems including organic agriculture; food studies; indigenous knowledge and ethnobiology; the anthropology of capitalism and household decision-making; natureculutre; the intersections of knowledge, politics, and environment in sustainable development. Training in ethnobotanical field methods, GIS analysis, survey design, qualitative research design, and quantitative data analysis, in addition to ethnographic field methods. Co-Editor of the Journal Ethnobiology Letters.
Highlights
Over two dozen peer-reviewed publications in environmental and social science journals including American Anthropologist, Economic Anthropology, Journal of Peasant Studies, Journal of Agrarian Change, and Nature:Plants
Over $200,000 in funding for projects investigating alternative agriculture, ethnobiology, fermentation, and rural wellbeing
International award recognition for research papers, photography, and Cultivating Knowledge (2019)
Public writing featured in National Geographic Magazine, Sapiens, Salon, The Conversation, and Edge Effects
Academic Affiliation
Université de Montréal
2024
Professeur Invité
Purdue University
2021-
Associate Professor of Anthropology
2017-2021
Assistant Professor of Anthropology
Heidelberg University
Karl Jaspers Centre for Advanced Transcultural Studies
2016-2017
Volkswagen Foundation Exchange Postdoctoral Fellow
University of Missouri - St. Louis
2015
Adjunct Instructor
Washington University in St. Louis
2013-2016
PhD Candidate, Instructor
Education
Doctor of Philosophy, Anthropology
2016
Washington University in St. Louis
Cultural Anthropology
Graduate Certificate in American Culture Studies
Dissertation Title: Cultivating Knowledge: The Production and Adaptation of Knowledge on Organic and GM Cotton Farms in Telangana, India.
Master of Arts, Anthropology
2013
Washington University in St. Louis
Cultural Anthropology
Bachelor of Arts, Anthropology
2010
Oberlin College
Bachelor of Music, Saxophone Performance
2010
Oberlin Conservatory
Research Grants
Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (Co-PI with Joseph Orkin): $55,520
2023-25
Social Science Research Council Just Tech Covid-19 Rapid-Response Grant: $6,997
2021
Purdue University College of Liberal Arts Enhancing Research in the Humanities and Arts: $14,489
2019
Purdue University College of Liberal Arts Exploratory Research in the Social Sciences Grant: $29,911
2019
Purdue University Agricultural Science and Extension for Economic Development (AgSEED) Grant (Co-Investigator with Kristine Marceau, Sean Lane, Brian Kelly, and Barbara Beaulieu): $50,000
2018
Purdue University College of Liberal Arts Global Synergy Grant: $20,500
2018
American Institute of Indian Studies Senior Fellowship: $6,241
2018-19
Volkswagen Foundation Workshop Grant: $11,195
2017
Volkswagen Foundation Research Grant: $8,000
2016-17
Library of Congress Blanton Owen Award: $500
2015
Missouri Botanical Garden Ethnobotanical Research Grant: $2,500
2014
National Geographic Society Young Explorers Grant: $2,000
2013
Jacob K. Javits Fellowship: $114,516
2011-15
Oberlin College Research Fellowship/McNair Fellowship program: $5,000
2008-2010
Oberlin College Doris Baron Environmental Studies Student Research Grant: $2,000
2010
Oberlin College Jerome Davis Award: $500
2009
Awards
Purdue University Anthropology Department Graduate Mentoring Award
2023
Awarded to anthropology professors for graduate student mentorship
Society of Economic Anthropology Kate Browne Creativity in Research Award (Finalist)
2022
Awarded in recognition of unusual creativity in the work and communication of an original research project
Purdue University Teaching Leadership Award
2022
Awarded for development of teaching leadership and excellence
International Convention of Asia Scholars Book Prize (Shortlist)
2021
Awarded in recognition of outstanding English language books in the scholarship of Asia
Global Development Studies Book Award, International Studies Association (Honorable Mention)
2021
Awarded in recognition of outstanding scholarship in the study of global development and justice
Purdue University College of Liberal Arts Outstanding Undergraduate Teacher
2020-21
Awarded in recognition of outstanding undergraduate teaching
Purdue University Teaching for Tomorrow Fellowship
2019-20
Awarded to facilitate long-term contributions to teaching and mentoring
Purdue University ENGAGE grant
2019
Awarded for academic workshop in support of forthcoming book
Purdue University Anthropology Department Excellence in Teaching Award
2019
Awarded to anthropology professors nominated by past and current students
Washington University H. Kathleen Cook Graduate Student Prize
2016
Awarded to a student in recognition of excellence in scholarship, service, and teaching
Washington University Dissertation Fellowship
2016
Competitive dissertation completion fellowship
American Anthropological Association Robert M. Netting Award
2015
Graduate student or recent PhD paper prize in the anthropology of agriculture
Political Ecology Society Eric Wolf Prize
2015
Graduate student or recent PhD paper prize in political ecology
Washington University Richard J. Walter Scholarship
2015
Awarded to PhD candidates in recognition of work in Asia
Washington University Writing Center and Libraries Graduate Fellowship
2015-2016
Competitive award to build skills in writing pedagogy and analytic software
Society of Ethnobiology Barbara Lawrence Award
2014
Graduate student or recent PhD paper prize in ethnobiology
Washington University Lynne Cooper Harvey Fellowship
2011-16
Competitive five year fellowship in American Culture studies
Oberlin College Comfort Starr Prize in Anthropology
2011
Awarded to an outstanding graduate of the anthropology department
National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship, Honorable Mention
2011, 2013
Oberlin College Highest Honors Anthropology
2010
Society for the Anthropology of Food and Nutrition Christine Wilson Award, Runner-Up
2010
Undergraduate student paper prize in food studies
National Association for the Practice of Anthropology Student Achievement Award, First Place
2009
Student or recent PhD paper prize in cultural anthropology
Monographs
Flachs, Andrew. 2019. Cultivating Knowledge: Biotechnology, Sustainability, and the Human Cost of Cotton Capitalism in India. Tucson: University of Arizona Press. <link>
Peer-Reviewed Journal Articles and Chapters
Flachs, Andrew, Ankita Raturi, Megan Low, Valerie Miller, Juliet Norton, Celeste Redmond, and Haley Thomas. 2024. “Digital tools for local farmers: Thinking with spreadsheets in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.” Culture, Agriculture, Food, and Environment. https://doi.org/10.1111/cuag.12316.
Flachs, Andrew, Cristiana Bastos, Deborah Heath, and Sita Venkateswar. 2024. “Introduction to Special Collection: Plant-Anthropo-Genesis: The Co-Production of Plant–People Lifeworlds.” Journal of Ethnobiology, 44(1):3-10. https://doi.org/10.1177/02780771241228068.
Flachs, Andrew. 2023. “Cotton Monocultures and Reorganizing Socioecological Life in Telangana, India.” Journal of Ethnobiology, 44(1):34-45. https://doi.org/10.1177/02780771231221645.
Keck, Markus and Andrew Flachs. 2022. “From Necrocene to Naíocene—promising pathways toward sustainable agri-food systems” Sustainability Science. 17(1):2177–2185. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11625-022-01255-3.
Flachs, Andrew. 2022. “Degrowing alternative agriculture: institutions and aspirations as sustainability metrics for small farmers in Bosnia and India.” 17(1):2301-2314. Sustainability Science. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11625-022-01160-9.
Nair, Nayantara. Alishia Elliott, Sarah Arnold, Andrew Flachs, Barbara Beaulieu & Kristine Marceau. 2022. “Adolescent substance use: Findings from a state-wide pilot parent education program.” BMC Public Health, 22(1):557. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-022-12899-2
Richardville, Kyle, Dan Egel, Andrew Flachs, Amit Jaiswal, Dan Perkins, Aaron Thompson, and Lori Hoagland. 2022. “Leaf mold compost reduces waste, improves soil and microbial properties, and increases tomato productivity.” Urban Agriculture & Regional Food Systems, 7:e20022.
Flachs, Andrew. 2021. “Charisma and agrarian crisis: Authority and legitimacy at multiple scales for rural development.” Journal of Rural Studies, 88(1):97-107.
Mueller, Natalie and Andrew Flachs. 2021. “Domestication, crop breeding, and genetic modification are fundamentally different processes: implications for seed sovereignty and agrobiodiversity.” Agriculture and Human Values. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10460-021-10265-3.
Flachs, Andrew, and Joseph Orkin. 2021. “On pickles: biological and sociocultural links between fermented foods and the human gut microbiome.” Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine 17(39).
Flachs, Andrew. 2021. “The political ecology of genetically modified and organic cotton in India as agents of agrarian transformation.” In The Political Ecology of Industrial Crops. Abubakari Ahmed and Alexandros Gasparatos, eds. Pp 153-172. New York: Routledge.
Flachs, Andrew. 2020. “Political Ecology and the Industrial Food System.” Physiology & Behavior, 220: 112872.
Barbillon, Pierre, Loïc Schwaller, Stéphane Robin, Andrew Flachs, and Glenn Davis Stone. 2020. “Epidemiologic network inference.” Statistics and Computing, 30(1):61-75.
Flachs, Andrew and Sreenu Panuganti. 2020. “Organic aspirations and in South India.” Economic Anthropology, 7(1):38-50.
Flachs, Andrew. 2019 “The Factish in the Field: An Anthropological Inquiry of Genetically Modified Seeds and Yields as Beings.” Science and Technology Studies, 32(3):26-43.
Flachs, Andrew and Glenn Davis Stone. 2019. “Farmer Knowledge Across the Commodification Spectrum in Telangana, India.” Journal of Agrarian Change, 19(4):614-634.
Flachs, Andrew and Joseph Orkin. 2019. “Fermentation and the Ethnobiology of Microbial Entanglement.” Ethnobiology Letters, 10(1):35-39.
Flachs, Andrew. 2019. “Planting and Performing: Anxiety, Aspiration, and “Scripts” in Telangana Cotton Farming.” American Anthropologist, 121(1):48-61.
Flachs, Andrew and Matthew Abel. 2019. “An Emerging Geography of the Agrarian Question: Spatial Analysis as a tool for Identifying the New American Agrarianism.” Rural Sociology, 84(2):191-225.
Flachs, Andrew and Paul Richards. 2018. “Playing development roles: the political ecology of performance in agricultural development.” Journal of Political Ecology, 25(1):638-646.
Flachs, Andrew. 2018. “Development roles: contingency and performance in alternative agriculture in Telangana, India.” Journal of Political Ecology, 25(1):716-731.
Flachs, Andrew. 2018. “Listing at Multiple Stages: Using Key Informants and Walking Probes to Generate Efficient and Accurate Lists During Larger Surveys.” Field Methods, 30(3):175-190.
Flachs, Andrew. 2017. “ Show Farmers: Transformative Sentiment and Performance in Organic Agricultural Development in South India.” Culture, Agriculture, Food, and Environment, 39(1):25-34.
Stone, Glenn Davis and Andrew Flachs. 2017. “The Ox Fall Down: Path Breaking and Technology Treadmills in Indian Cotton Agriculture.” The Journal of Peasant Studies, 45(7):1272-1296
Flachs, Andrew, Glenn Davis Stone, and Christopher Shaffer. 2017. “Mapping Knowledge: GIS as a Tool for Spatial Modeling of Patterns of Warangal Cotton Seed Popularity and Farmer Decision-Making.” Human Ecology, 45(2):143-159.
Flachs, Andrew. 2016. “The Economic Botany of Organic Cotton Farms in Telangana, India.” Journal of Ethnobiology, 36(3):683-713.
Flachs, Andrew. 2016. “Redefining Success: The Political Ecology of Genetically Modified and Organic Cotton as Solutions to Agrarian Crisis.” Journal of Political Ecology, 23(1):49-70.
Stone, Glenn Davis and Andrew Flachs. 2015. “Seeking Sustainability for Smallholders: Bt Cotton in India.” In Africa's future...can biosciences contribute?, David Bennett and Patrick Mitton, eds. Pp. 119-128. Cambridge, Banson/B4FA.
Flachs, Andrew. 2015 “Persistent Agrobiodiversity on Genetically Modified Cotton Farms in Telangana, India.” Journal of Ethnobiology, 35(2):406-426.
Stone, Glenn Davis and Andrew Flachs. 2014 “The Problem with the Farmer’s Voice.” Agriculture and Human Values, 31(4):649-653.
Stone, Glenn Davis, Andrew Flachs, and Christine Diepenbrock. 2014 “Rhythms of the Herd: Long Term Dynamics in Seed Choice by Indian Farmers.” Technology in Society. 36(1): 26-38.
Flachs, Andrew. 2013 “Gardening as Ethnographic Research – Volunteering as a Means for Community Access.” Journal of Ecological Anthropology, 16(1):97-103
Flachs, Andrew. 2010 “Food For Thought: The Social Impact of Community Gardens in the Greater Cleveland Area.” Electronic Green Journal, 30(1):1-9.
Non-Peer Reviewed Publications and Other Media
Flachs, Andrew and Joseph Orkin. 2023. “Fermented foods sustain both microbiomes and cultural heritage.” Article, The Conversation. <link>
Flachs, Andrew and Joseph Orkin. 2023. “Bridging disciplines to explore the culture of fermentation.” Invited feature article, The Microbiologist. <link>
Flachs, Andrew and Ashley Glenn. 2023 “Bosnian Home Gardens and Foodways with Ashley Glenn and Dr. Andrew Flachs.” Podcast Interview, Foodie Pharmacology Podcast <link>
Flachs, Andrew. 2023. Becoming organic: nature and agriculture in the Indian Himalaya by Shaila Seshia Galvin. Book Review, The Journal of Peasant Studies, 50(1):441-445.
Flachs, Andrew, Elizabeth Brite, Maura Finkelstein, Karen Tranberg Hansen, Sandip Hazareesingh, Tanya Matthan, Alessandra Mezzadri, Meena Menon, Robert Spengler, Kedron Thomas, Vaishnavi Tripuraneni, the Udaanta Trust, Jonathan Wendel, and Emily A. Wolff. 2022 “The Global Lives of Indian Cotton.” Esri Story Map. <link>
Flachs, Andrew. 2022. “Contested GM Worldviews,” Podcast Interview, Landscapes Podcast <link>
Flachs, Andrew. 2022. Tasting Qualities: The Past and Future of Tea. Sarah Besky. Oakland: University of California Press, 2020. 252 pp. Book review, American Ethnologist 49(1):135-136.
Flachs, Andrew. 2022. Aniket Aga. 2021. Genetically Modified Democracy: Transgenic Crops in Contemporary India. Book review, Contributions to Indian Sociology, 56(3):326-328.
Flachs, Andrew, Ankita Raturi, Juliet Norton, Valerie Miller, and Haley Thomas. 2022 “Building back bigger or degrowing local food? US alternative food networks and post-corona agrarian economies.” Blog post. FocaalBlog <link>
Wyndham, Felice, Janelle Baker, Kelly Bannister, Mario Bruno, Andrew Flachs, Cynthia Fowler, Andrew Gillreath-Brown, Elizabeth Olson, Kali Wade, and Sarah Walshaw. “When is it Appropriate to Reference Identities, Relationships of Belonging, or Knowledge Lineages in Ethnobiological Scholarship?” Editorial, Ethnobiology Letters 12(1):73-78.
Flachs, Andrew. 2021 “Pickles, sauerkraut and the gut microbiome with Dr. Andrew Flachs.” Podcast Interview, Foodie Pharmacology Podcast <link>
Flachs, Andrew. 2021 “What problems does organic cotton solve?” Photo essay. Sapiens <link>
Flachs, Andrew. 2021 “Farmer protests and cotton capitalism in India.“ Radio Interview, A Public Affair <link>
Flachs, Andrew, Elizabeth A. Olson, John M. Marston, Maria Bruno. 2021 “Ethnobiology after four years of socioecological violence.” Editorial, Ethnobiology Letters 12(1):16-18.
Flachs, Andrew. 2021 “Laura-Anne Minkoff-Zern The New American Farmer: Immigration, race, and the struggle for sustainability.” Book review, Agriculture and Human Values. 38: 341–342.
Flachs, Andrew. 2020 “Understanding humanity: Dr. Andrew Flachs explains the four areas of anthropology.” Podcast interview, Purdue University Superheroes of Science. <link>
Flachs, Andrew 2020 “Farmers Living and Dying by Cotton Seeds in India.” Blog. Edge Effects <link>
Flachs, Andrew 2020 “Essential Agrarian Histories for Essential Agrarian Futures.” Blog. Exertions, blog of the Society for the Anthropology of Work. <link>
Flachs, Andrew. 2019 “Technological "fixes" aren't making us happier.” Blog. Salon <link>
Flachs, Andrew, Elizabeth A. Olson, John M. Marston, Andrew Gillreath-Brown. 2019 “Mentoring is an Intellectual Pillar of Ethnobiology.” Editorial, Ethnobiology Letters 10(1):104-108.
Flachs, Andrew. 2019 “For India’s cotton farmers, cooperatives — not technology — offer stability.” Blog. Salon <link>
Flachs, Andrew. 2019 “Rich aromas and forest light on South Indian coffee farms.” Blog post, Sensorium <link>
Flachs, Andrew. 2019 “How agricultural policies can support new American farmers.” Policy brief, Scholars Strategy Network <link>
Flachs, Andrew. 2019 “Planting and performing.” Photo Essay, American Anthropologist. <link>
Flachs, Andrew. 2019 “Confounds are Life-an anthropologist takes a closer look at the microbiome.” Radio interview, Earth Eats Podcast. <link>
Flachs, Andrew and Joseph Orkin. 2018 “The Worlds Within Us.” Blog post, Voices for Biodiversity. <link>
Marston, John M., Andrew Flachs, and Elizabeth Anne Olson. 2018 “Publishing in Ethnobiology Letters in 2018.” Editorial, Ethnobiology Letters 9(2): 283-288.
Flachs, Andrew. 2017-18 “Ethnobiology Forage! Blog” Society of Ethnobiology. <link>
Flachs, Andrew and Ashley Glenn. 2017 “Growing the Bosnian Kitchen: Sustainable Food Systems.” Blog post, Voices for Biodiversity. <link>
Flachs, Andrew. 2017 “Monsoon Adaptation.” Blog post, Weather Matters. <link>
Flachs, Andrew. 2017 “Biodiversity on Organic Farms in Telangana, India.” Blog post, Voices for Biodiversity. <link>
Flachs, Andrew. 2017 “High Hopes and Farming Reality.” News & Views, Nature Plants, 3(16212):1-2. <link>
Flachs, Andrew. 2016 “The Green Revolution”. In Encyclopedia of Food and Agricultural Ethics, Paul B. Thompson and David M. Kaplan eds. Pp.1–7. Dordrecht: Springer Netherlands. <link>
Flachs, Andrew. 2016 “How Genetically Modified Crops Grow”. Field Note, National Geographic Magazine, 229(4): 24-25.
Flachs, Andrew. 2015 “David Norton and Nick Reid’s Nature and Farming: Sustaining Native Biodiversity in Agricultural Landscapes”. Book review, Economic Botany, 69(4):378-379.
Flachs, Andrew. 2015 “Dan Barber’s The Third Plate”. Book review, The Common Reader. <link>
Flachs, Andrew. 2014 “If They Spray Four Times, You Have to Spray Five”: How Genetically Modified Cotton is Stalling, Not Solving Pesticide Exposure”. Blog post, Global Health Hub. <link>
Flachs, Andrew. 2014 “Cotton Farming in Telangana, India”. Radio interview, National Geographic Radio. <link>
Flachs, Andrew. 2013-2014 “Explorer’s Journal”. Blogger, National Geographic Blog. <link>
Flachs, Andrew and Glenn Davis Stone. 2013 “Agriculture”. Oxford Bibliographies. <link>
Select Conferences and Invited Talks
2023 “Seeds as elements transcending agriculture.” Paper presented at the American Anthropological Association annual conference, Toronto, Canada.
2023 “Feeding the world as if people mattered: A diverse, political ecology of agrarian change.” Weston Roundtable Lecture, Nelson Center for Sustainability and the Global Environment, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin.
2023 “Stretching labor and care in dense Bosnian homegardens” with Ashley Glenn. Paper presented at the Society for Economic Botany/Society of Ethnobiology Annual Conference, Atlanta, Georgia.
2023 “Contribution of race and agriculture courses in promoting an intercultural awareness among undergraduate students” with Theoneste Nzaramyimana, Kathryn Orvis, Linda Pokopy, and Steve Hallett. Paper presented at the National Association of Colleges and Teachers of Agriculture Annual Conference.
2022 ““We are just surviving:” The paradox of robust homegardens in Northern Bosnia” with Ashley Glenn. Invited workshop participant, Energy transition and environmental contestation in the Balkans, Online workshop, Institute of Philosophy and Social Theory, Belgrade, Serbia.
2022 “A post-pandemic anthropology of work.” Roundtable discussant, American Anthropological Association annual conference.
2022 “Returning, staying, and keeping land outside growth.” Paper presented at the European Association for Social Anthropology conference.
2021 “Building back bigger or degrowing local food? US alternative food networks and post-corona agrarian economies.” Paper presented at the American Anthropological Association conference.
2021 “Conviviality.” Conference discussant, Political Ecology Research Center, virtual joint conference, Massey University and Waginengen University, New Zealand and the Netherlands.
2021 “A political ecology of industrial agriculture from a US perspective.” Invited lecture presented to the Economy and Society in India discussion series at the Center for the Study of Social Systems at Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, India.
2021 “Centering farmer learning in the development of sustainable agriculture technologies.” Plenary talk presented at the International Conference on Education, Environment, and Agriculture, Virtual Conference, Camarines Sur, Philippines.
2021 “On pickles: biological and sociocultural links between fermented foods and the human gut microbiome.” Paper presented at the Society of Ethnobiology annual conference, virtual conference panel (panel convener and chair).
2020 “Choices and performances in Indian GM cotton fields.” Invited talk, North Carolina State University Genetic Engineering and Society Center colloquium series, virtual talk.
2020 “Anthropology and the future of farming in South India.” Invited talk, Illinois State University food studies program, Normal, Illinois.
2019 “Ethnographic perspectives on fermentation and the microbiome” Invited talk, Purdue University Interdepartmental Nutrition Program.
2019 “Tenacious cooperatives and creative choices on Telangana cotton farms.” Paper, American Anthropological Association conference, Vancouver, Canada. (panel co-convener and co-chair).
2019 “Creative rural solutions amid agrarian crisis and cotton capitalism in Telangana, India,” Paper presented at the Annual Conference on South Asia, Madison, Wisconsin (panel chair).
2019 “Cultivating knowledge: Decoding agricultural sustainability through an ethnography of seeds,” Keynote lecture, Cornell-Syracuse South Asia Consortium, Syracuse, New York.
2019 “Ethnobiologizing Fermentation Revivalism,” Paper presented at the Society of Ethnobiology conference, Vancouver, Canada.
2018 “Organic Aspirations and Neoliberal Agriculture in South India,” Paper presented at the AAA conference, San Jose, California.
2018 “Anthropological Perspectives on Fermented Food and the Microbiome,” Invited Talk, Indiana University Food Institute Seminar, Bloomington, Indiana.
2018 “Using Anthropology to Understand Biotechnology in Rural India,” Invited Talk, School of Social Sciences, University of Hyderabad, Hyderabad, India.
2018 “Ethnobiology and the Hope for Sustainable Cotton Agriculture in Telangana, India,” Paper presented at the Society of Ethnobiology and Society for Economic Botany joint conference, Madison, Wisconsin.
2018 “Growing Pains: Farmer Fees and Agricultural Consultation in Telangana, India,” Paper presented at the Dimension of Political Ecology conference, Lexington Kentucky.
2017 “Seeds as Relational Beings in Telangana Agriculture”, Paper presented at the AAA conference, Washington DC (panel co-convener and co-chair).
2017 “Postcolonial Performance and “Scripts” in Telangana Cotton Farming”, Paper presented at the Annual Conference on South Asia, Madison, Wisconsin (panel chair).
2017 “Squeezing Agrobiodiversity: Herbicides and High Density Cropping on GM Cotton Fields in Telangana, India”, Paper presented at the Society for Ethnobiology Conference, Montreal, Quebec.
2017 “Development Roles: Contingency and Performance in Alternative Agriculture in Telangana, India”, Paper presented at Volkswagen Foundation Workshop, Heidelberg, Germany (Convener and organizer).
2017 “Field Performances: Knowledge, Cotton, and Political Ecology in Telangana, India”, Invited Talk, Centre for International Environmental Studies at the Graduate Institute, Geneva, Switzerland.
2017 “Cultivating Knowledge: Learning and Agrarian Change on GM and Organic Cotton Fields in Telangana, India”, Invited Talk, Southern Methodist University, Dallas, Texas.
2017 “Developing Knowledge: GMOs, Organic Agriculture, and International Development in Telangana, India”, Invited Talk at East Anglia University, Norwich, United Kingdom.
2017 “Resilient Knowledge: Learning to Farm on Genetically Modified and Organic Cotton Fields in Telangana, India”, Invited Talk at Smith College, Northampton, Massachusetts.
2016 “Spatial Modeling in Warangal Seed Fad Patterns”, Paper presented at the Heidelberg University Geography Department Colloquium series, Heidelberg, Germany.
2016 “Redefining Success: The Political Ecology of Genetically Modified and Organic Cotton as Solutions to Agrarian Crisis”, Paper presented at the Society for Applied Anthropology Conference, Vancouver, British Columbia.
2016 “Developing Knowledge: Incentive and Constraint Among Cotton Farmers in Telangana, India”, Invited Talk at the University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona.
2014 “Risk, reward, and the creation of knowledge on organic cotton projects in Telangana, India”, Paper presented at the AAA Conference, Washington DC.
2013 “Trial Runs in Uncertain Times: Skilling among Organic and Bt Cotton Farmers in Telangana, India”, Paper presented at the Cluster of Excellence “Asia and Europe in a Global Context” Heidelberg, Germany.
2012 “Rhythms of the Herd: Long Term Patterns in Warangal Agriculture”, Paper presented at the AAA Conference, Invited Session – Knowledge Boundaries: Conceptual and Methodological Challenges in Studying Indigenous Knowledge, with Glenn Davis Stone and Christine Diepenbrock.
2010 “Food For Thought: The Social Impact of Community Gardens in the Greater Cleveland Area,” presented at the Central States Anthropological Society Conference, Madison, Wisconsin.
2009 “The Capabilities Approach: Navigating Cultural Politics in Human Rights Discourse,” Paper presented at the Central States Anthropological Society Conference, Urbana-Champaign, Illinois.
Research Projects
2021 - “Technological transitions in the US Food system in response to COVID-19”, ethnographer in US Midwest.
2017 – 2020 “Environment and Development in South Indian Organic Agriculture”, ethnographer and ethnobiologist in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, India.
2017- “Preserving Probiotics: Biocultural links between the human gut microbiome and fermented foods”, ethnographer and ethnobiologist in Tennessee, Warangal, India, Kunming, China, and Sarajevo, Bosnia.
2017- “Transnational Foodways in Sarajevo, Bosnia”, collaborator and ethnographer in Sarajevo and surrounding rural areas, Bosnia.
2015-2017, “Human Environmental Relationships in the Lower Illinois River Valley”, Ongoing multidisciplinary project in Calhoun County, Illinois.
2013-2016 “GM Crops and Indigenous Management”, collaborator and ethnographer in Templeton Foundation funded research (Glenn Stone PI), Telangana, India.
2013-2014 “Cultivating Knowledge: Skilling and Constraint on Organic Farms in Andhra Pradesh, India”, Doctoral Dissertation Research, Telangana, India.
2012 “Seed Choice, Farmer Deskilling, and Foodways” Pilot Study, Washington University in St. Louis, Warangal District, Andhra Pradesh, India.
2010 “Female Genital Cutting, The Veil, and Democracy: Navigating Cultural Politics in Human Rights Discourse,” Senior Honors Thesis, Anthropology, Oberlin, Ohio.
2010 “Berkeley California Farmer’s Market Accessibility,” a research project funded by a grant from Oberlin College and conducted with The Ecology Center, Berkeley, CA.
2009 “The Social Impact of Cleveland Area Community and Urban Gardens,” Oberlin Summer Research Institute, Oberlin, Ohio.
2008 “The Capabilities Approach,” Oberlin Summer Research Institute, Oberlin, Ohio.
2007 Research Assistant, McMaster University Institute of Environmental Health, Hamilton, Ontario.
Teaching
Professor, Purdue University, West Lafayette IN
2017-
Introduction to Anthropology
Food, Culture, and Power
Colonialism, Globalization, and Food Justice
Building the Socioecological Toolkit: Research Methods in Human-Environmental Relationships
Seminar in Ethnographic Analysis
Ethnographic Writing
Public Engagement
Instructor, Heidelberg University, Heidelberg Germany
2016
Readings in Political Ecology and Alternative Agriculture
Instructor, University of Missouri, St. Louis, St. Louis MO
2015
Ethnographic Field Research Methods
Instructor, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis MO
2015
Food, Culture, and Power
Instructor, University College at Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis MO
2014
Introduction to Anthropology
Teaching Assistant, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis MO
2012-2015
Anthropology of Fashion
Culture and the Environment
Anthropology and Existentialism
SciJourn Teaching Fellow, St. Louis MO
2011
Worked with inner city St. Louis teens to increase science literacy through designing and implementing research objectives, conducting science journalism, and publishing the results of that work.
Supervised research, oversaw each step of the journalistic process, and edited work for publication.
Environmental Intern, Chabot Space and Science Center, Oakland CA
2011
Oversaw a Zero Waste Lunch program teaching school children about recycling and composting.
Assisted with environmental education programs, taught the “Green Planet” class, helped build sustainability programs.
Writing, NGO, and Professional Experience
Freelance Writer, Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL)
2016 -
Developed listening comprehension and lecture content for the Education Testing Service (ETS)
Writing Center and Library Fellow
2015-2016
Advised undergraduates, graduate students, and affiliated researchers, including ESL students, through individualized writing sessions.
Studied directive and non-directive writing pedagogy, conducted writing workshops.
Graduate Student Mentor, YMCA Leadership Symposium
2014-2015
Advised professional students in the process of researching, writing, and submitting academic research papers in coordination with YMCA of America.
English Lecturer and Development Assistant, Rural Development Foundation, Telangana, India
2012-2015
Directed English medium classrooms and helped implement English curriculum, including photoblogging.
Designed and maintained website.
Developed an intermediate and advanced curriculum for rural Indian students covering the fundamentals of journalism and intensive English language instruction.
Intern, J.W. Fulbright Commission, Prague, Czech Republic
2009
Advised Czech students on American education, edited English language statements.
Intern, Glopolis: Prague Global Policy Institute, Prague, Czech Republic
2009
Edited English language statements for publication.
Relevant Skills
Proficient Telugu
Basic Czech, French, German, Bosnian
ArcGIS suite
R statistics package
Field ecology and plant taxonomy
Service
Director of Graduate Studies, Purdue University Anthropology
2023
Faculty advisor, Institute for the Recruitment of Teachers
2019-
Junior Board Member, Anthropology and Environment Section, American Anthropological Association
2018-2020
Co-Editor, Ethnobiology Letters
2017-
Editorial Board Member, Ethnobotany Research & Applications
2017-
Co-editor, Forage! Blog of the Society of Ethnobiology
2016-2018
Peer Mentor, Washington University Anthropology Department
2012-2013
American Anthropological Association Food Task Force, White Paper lead author
2012
GOOD Ideas for Cities St. Louis, Team STL Provocateur
2012
Health, Environment, and Recreation Committee, Vanguard Cabinet, City of St. Louis
2011-2012
Lorain County Food Policy Coalition
2010
Institute for the Recruitment of Teachers Associate Program
2010-2011
Professional Affiliations
American Anthropological Association
Environment and Society Section, AAA
Society for Applied Anthropology
Society for Economic Anthropology
Society for Economic Botany
Society for Ethnobiology
Missouri Botanical Garden
References
Available upon request