My research critically examines food, energy, and water as key mediators of human-environment interaction. As a human geographer with interdisciplinary training, I combine critical social theory and mixed methods to examine resource governance in times of disturbance and conflict. My research seeks to understand the deeply uneven landscapes of power which shape and constrain how people interact with diverse resources.
I am currently a Postdoctoral Researcher at University of Washington, studying stakeholder and participant perceptions on problems facing the state’s Adaptive Management Program. Before that, I was a Postdoctoral Research Associate as part of the Pathways to Sustainable Urban Water Security project at Texas A&M University, which examined freshwater access and infrastructure in the context of climate change. I coordinated multiple case studies in Texas, California, Australia, Israel, and at the global corporate sector scale to examine diverse perspectives on desalination and water recycling technologies case study sites. Both of these placements use critical Q methodology.
My dissertation, completed at the University of Georgia, examined the intersections of shale gas development and agricultural production in the Marcellus Basin. My research on this subject has been funded by the National Science Foundation, the AAG Rural Geography and Qualitative Research Specialty Groups, the University of Georgia Innovative and Interdisciplinary Research Grant, and the University of Georgia Dissertation Completion Award. I am currently working on a book project inspired by my dissertation research, tentatively titled Land Rich, Cash Poor: Struggling American Farms and the Marcellus Shale Gas Boom.
In my free time, I enjoy hiking, running, and being outdoors with my family. I have been an amateur film photographer since receiving a manual Nikon F10 at age 12, which I still use. Unless noted otherwise, I produced all the photographs on this website. I am also an avid science fiction and fantasy novel reader – writing a fantasy novel is one of my life-long aspirations!
Gretchen Sneegas 