I study how people build their lives, with an emphasis on values and history.

Lately, my social science results take the form of narrative nonfiction.

—

I’m a Professor of Sociology at Yale. I’m a scholar not an activist (if it has to be said).

I’m also a first-generation college graduate and Wyoming native. I earned my Ph.D. from Notre Dame.

My social science reaches both academic and public audiences. I frequently present my research to policymakers, including the U.S. Senate, the White House, the Vatican, and the United Nations. My research has been published by Science, Princeton University Press, the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the American Sociological Review, Nature Climate Change, among others, with funding from the Environmental Protection Agency and the National Science Foundation. 

*New book forthcoming

HIGH LONESOME: Four Journeys into the Heart of a New America

(W.W. Norton press)

I split my time between Yale and the Mountain West, where I direct a research program on rural communities and landscapes.