College of Agriculture & Natural Resources Department of Community Sustainability

Program: CSUS

Academic Focus Area: Gender, Environmental Justice & Community Action

Hometown: Colorado Springs, CO

Advisor: Wynne Wright

Michelle Larkins is pursuing her PhD under the direction of Dr. Wynne Wright, in MSU’s Department of Community Sustainability. She hopes to focus her doctoral research on the experiences of women who were/are involved in community based socio-environmental action, bringing to the foreground the accomplishment and embodiment of women’s community work. Michelle is a  CS Mott Pre-doctoral fellow in Sustainable Agriculture, and has completed the Gender, Justice, and Environmental Change, and Ecological Food and Farming Systems specializations. Michelle earned her Masters of Science from MSU in Fisheries and Wildlife in 2008. There her research focused on how the perceptions of women and racial/ethnic minority groups might differ from men and non-minorities regarding the risks and benefits to their community from the presence of CAFOs (Confined Animal Feeding Operations).

Currently she works as a gender research assistant for the Global Center for Food Systems Innovation (GCFSI) at MSU, and as an instructor in the Health and Sciences at Pikes Peak Community College where she teaches Environmental Science. Previously, as a graduate researcher, Michelle has worked with the Center for the Integration of Research, Teaching, and Learning (CIRTL), and as a member of the Fund for the Improvement of Post-Secondary Education (FIPSE) team for Experiential Sustainability Education Assessment. These positions focused on mixed methods data collection and analysis. As a teaching assistant, Michelle taught in the Biological Sciences department and, in 2011, she was awarded a position as full instructor for Fisheries and Wildlife (FW) 211- Gender and the Environment.