Personal Summary
Margiana is a political ecologist who studies climate equity and agrarian change. Margiana’s research examines adaptive capacity in working landscapes; agricultural responses to environmental change; and water and land use policy and racial equity in a changing climate. Through civically engaged research, teaching, and mentoring, Margiana aims to help dismantle the drivers of inequities, especially in rural places. Margiana grew up on a dairy goat farm in Massachusetts and worked in several non-profits before graduate school, primarily with immigrant and refugee farmers. At UC Berkeley, Margiana developed a collaborative research program and prioritized student mentorship. At EVST, she looks forward to teaching courses on the political ecology of agrifood systems, climate equity and justice, rural livelihoods, and environmental policy.
RESEARCH PROGRAM
- Social-ecological systems and climate change. I am particularly interested in the kinds of management practices implemented on “working landscapes” and their impact on ecosystem functioning and biodiversity conservation. Example of published work. Additionally, I was an editor for a special issue on farming systems and adaptive capacity in Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems, which can be found
- Rural livelihoods and crises. Here I examine how rural agricultural communities in the US respond and adapt to the impacts of climate change - from water scarcity and unpredictable weather to changing demographics, policies, markets, and migrations. This is the focus of my dissertation - an early draft was awarded the 2021 Lawrence Busch Graduate Student Paper Award from the Rural Sociology Society. Articles that draw on this richly textured data, including over 130 in-depth interviews, include publications in the journals and
- Public institutions and (in)equity. I ask questions about the role of public institutions like County government or Cooperative Extension in defining and defending what is considered acceptable agriculture, who has power and control in those institutions - especially at the local level, and how that shapes access and equity as rural places transformation. Example of published work and
Education
EDUCATION
Postdoc UC Berkeley Dept. of Environmental Science, Policy and Management and Visiting Postdoc Fellow at Harvard University’s History of Science Dept., 2023
PhD Environmental Science, Policy, and Management, University of California, Berkeley, Dec. 2022
MS Environmental Science, Policy and Management, University of California Berkeley, 2019
BA Geology and Biology, Brown University, 2011
Publications
RECENT PUBLISHED WORK
. 2022. Journal of Global Environmental Change, Vol. 75. 102557. (Petersen-Rockney, M.)
2022. Political Geography, Vol. 99. 102781. (Petersen-Rockney, M., Lu, J., Dev, L., all co-lead authors)
. 2022. Climatic Change, 173:23. (Petersen-Rockney, M.)
. 2022. Rangeland Ecology and Management, 84: 75-85. (Saliman, A. (undergraduate research assistant) and Petersen-Rockney, M. (Co-lead authors))
2021. Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems 5:564900. (Authors: Petersen-Rockney M, Baur P, Guzman A, Bender SF, Calo A, Castillo F, De Master K, Dumont A, Esquivel K, Kremen C, LaChance J, Mooshammer M, Ory J, Price MJ, Socolar Y, Stanley P, Iles A and Bowles T). Press release and featured in the Daily Cal
. 2021. (Authors: Petersen-Rockney, M.; Ahmed, S.; Bowles, T.; Baur, P.) Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems. 5:806604
2021. Journal of Agricultural History, Vol 95: 5. (Petersen-Rockney, M.)
2019. California Agriculture. Vol. 73, no. 3. (co-first author with Micheal Polson)
2019. Grist Magazine feature article. (Petersen-Rockney, M.)
2018. Op-ed National Young Farmers Coalition. (Petersen-Rockney, M.)
2018. Policy Brief. Berkeley Food Institute. (Petersen-Rockney, M. and Calo, A.)
2018. High Country News. (Petersen-Rockney, M.)