Environment and Society Lab Team

This page records our past and present Environment and Society Lab team. It includes students in the WVU Senior Anthropology Capstone course ANTH 488, as well as Independent Reseachers.

Project Coordinator and Editor

Daniel Renfrew, Ph.D.

Environmental anthropologist and professor at West Virginia University. Dr. Renfrew has conducted research in Uruguay and the United States. He is interested in questions related to community responses to toxic exposures, environmental justice, environmental subjectivity, and the tensions between resource extraction and conservation.

Department webpage: https://soca.wvu.edu/faculty-and-staff/faculty-directory/daniel-renfrew

Photo: Dr. Renfrew in front of the DuPont/Chemours Washington Works plant along the Ohio River, in Washington, West Virginia. Photo by Lauren Bowlin.

Spring 2024 Team

Meet the Team!

This year, we have three research teams, all collaborating on the socio-environmental dimensions of the East Palestine toxic train derailment.

UNSEEN RISK AND STRUCTURAL VULNERABILITY IN FENCELINE COMMUNITIES

McKenna Moore

McKenna is a Senior Anthropology and Sociology double major with a minor In Native American Studies. She is from Morgantown, WV and will be attending Mississippi State University to pursue a Master's in Applied Anthropology.

Bryan Hill

Bryan is a Senior Anthropology and History double major with a minor in Spanish. He is from Princeton, WV.

Bethanny Prascik

Bethanny is an Anthropology and Dance dual major with an Art History minor and a certificate from the Global Mountaineers Program. She is from Fairmont, WV. Next year she will be attending Cardiff University.

REGULATORY CAPTURE, KNOWLEDGE GAPS, AND CITIZEN SCIENCE

Audrey Caiola

Audrey Caiola is a senior Anthropology major with minors in Criminology and Forensic Science from Reisterstown, Maryland.

Corissa Nazarewycz

Corissa is a Senior Anthropology Major with a minor in history. She is from New Haven, West Virginia and will be continuing her education at WVU with a Master's in Public History and a certification in CRM.

Madison Baskin

Madison is a senior Anthropology major from Yorktown, Virginia

Matthew Valenti

Matthew Valenti is a senior Anthropology and History double major. He is From Weirton, WV and will be attending Indiana University of Pennsylvania in the Applied Archaeology masters program.

TOXIC UNCERTAINTY, CONTESTED ILLNESS, AND COMMUNITY MOBILIZATION

Riley "Red" Klug

Riley Klug is a senior Anthropology student with a second major in Art History and minors in History, Native American Studies, and General Political Science. Red is from Moundsville, West Virginia.

Virginia Affemann

Virginia is a senior Anthropology student with a minor in Art History from Shepherdstown, West Virginia.

Delaney Miller

Delaney Miller is a senior Anthropology student with minors in Art History & Religious Studies from Shady Spring, West Virginia.

Spring 2023 Team

Meet the Team!

This year, in lieu of a Capstone, our team consisted of two Senior Researchers; Amanda Mahany and Lauren Bowlin. Together, they created a composite of academic resources pertaining to the Anthropology of PFAS, and they collected PFAS-related media drawn from historic newspapers in the Ohio Valley. Additionally, they travelled to Parkersburg with Dr. Renfrew to interview local activists, as well as visit the original site of Dupont Manufactures.

Amanda Mahany is a Senior Anthropology student from Bethesda, MD. Following graduation she will be pursuing a Masters degree in Social Work at University of Pennsylvania.

Lauren Bowlin is a Senior Anthropology and Religious Studies student from Morgantown, WV. Following graduation, she will being work at Grave Creek Archaeological Mound as an SCA Museum Collections Intern.

Spring 2022 Team

Meet the Team!

This year we have three research groups consisting of six students each. They are dedicated to the following themes: Environmental Health and Justice; Corporate Strategies; and Science and Regulation