Abby Kinchy

Abby Kinchy is a sociologist whose research and teaching focus on environmental challenges and the relationship between science and democracy. She lives in Troy, NY, where she is a professor in the Department of Science and Technology Studies at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. Kinchy has written two books that explore how ordinary people use “citizen science” to examine environmental problems and advocate for solutions. Science by the People: Participation, Power, and the Politics of Environmental Knowledge, co-authored with Aya Kimura, compares case studies in the United States, Japan, Mexico, and other parts of the world, where citizen scientists have investigated the impacts of shale oil and gas, nuclear power, and genetically engineered crops. Seeds, Science, and Struggle: The Global Politics of Transgenic Crops focuses on farmers and activists in Mexico and Canada who organized in defense of traditional seed-saving practices and alternatives to industrialized agriculture. Kinchy also led the Watershed Knowledge Mapping Project, a study of volunteer watershed monitoring projects in Pennsylvania and New York, where concerned citizens aimed to use water quality data to protect their streams from the impact of natural gas development. More information about Abby Kinchy can be found at https://abbykinchy.weebly.com.c sharing event used for community-building. From 2001-2009 she taught English and Technology at The Beacon School in New York City, an alternative-assessment public high school using project-based learning and portfolios. She served as the Education Coordinator at the Nuyorican Poets Cafe from 2009-2010 before moving to the Capital Region. Lublin earned a B.A. in Urban Studies from Columbia College and an M.A. in Instructional Technology and Media from Teachers College of Columbia University. She oversees activities for Collard City Growers including youth employment and participation, gardening and soil development, and compost collection maintenance.