Marie Carmen is an environmental sociologist studying how communities navigate inequitable access to the most fundamental resources: food, water, and shelter. She uses applied, participatory methods to ask rigorous academic questions and co-create practical solutions designed by and for the people they are meant to serve. Her work draws on an intentionally interdisciplinary foundation: a PhD in Sociology from Michigan State University, a Master’s in Animals and Public Policy from Tufts University, and a Bachelor’s in Psychology from Ohio Wesleyan University.
During her PhD, she partnered with DigDeep and the U.S. Water Alliance to address inequities in water access experienced across the United States. She also worked with the Ashraya Initiative for Children and other local stakeholders in Pune, India to understand how power and social networks shape access to urban space and resources for both slum residents and street dogs. Most recently, she completed a postdoctoral research fellowship with the National Wildlife Federation’s Sustainable Agriculture team. In this postdoc, she evaluated the reach and impact of their flagship Grow More program, supported watershed management research in the Quad Cities region, and partnered with the Michigan Department of Agriculture to sharpen their sustainable agriculture strategy.
At CIAS, she is bringing her systems-level lens and sustainable agriculture experience to the regional grain economy through two grant-funded projects: defining grainsheds and developing an oat roadmap to better understand the opportunities and challenges facing diversified food-grade grain farmers.
Peer-Reviewed Articles & Book Chapters
Shingne, Marie Carmen. Knowledge, Power, and Positionality within a Grounded, Community-Driven Approach to Solving Rural Water Insecurity in the United States. Humboldt Journal of Social Relations Special Issue 49. Abstract under review.
Shingne, Marie Carmen and Stephen P. Gasteyer. Perspectives on Conservation Among Young Farmers and Women Farmers in the Michigan Western Lake Erie Basin. Journal of Society & Natural Resources. Under Review.
Reimer, Adam P., Marie Carmen Shingne, Aleta Dam, and Jessica Espenshade. 2026. Growing More Conservation: Evaluating the Impacts of an Outreach Skills Training Program. Journal of Soil and Water Conservation. Forthcoming
Shingne, Marie Carmen, and Stephen Gasteyer. 2022. “Water Justice as Social Policy: Tackling the Global Challenges to Water and Sanitation Access.” In Global Agenda for Social Justice: Solutions 2022. Bristol, UK: Policy Press.
Shingne, Marie Carmen, and Laura Reese. 2022. “Animals in the City: Wither the Human-Animal Divide.” Journal of Urban Affairs, 44(2): 114-136.
Shingne, Marie Carmen. 2022. “The More-Than-Human Right to the City: A Multispecies Reevaluation.” Journal of Urban Affairs, 44(2): 137-155.
Shingne, Marie Carmen. 2021. “The Right to the More-Than-Human City: A Multispecies Reevaluation.” In Laura Reese, ed., Animals in the City. New York, NY: Routledge.
Shingne, Marie Carmen, and Laura Reese. 2021. “Animals in the City: A Review.” In Laura Reese, ed., Animals in the City. New York, NY: Routledge.
Reports & Institutional Publications
National Wildlife Federation and Sand County Foundation. 2024. Investigating Rural Readiness for Watershed Protection: An Assessment of Community Capacity to Implement Natural Infrastructure Projects in the Quad Cities Region. [Project manager; contributed to research design]
Sustainable Agriculture Team at the National Wildlife Federation. 2024. “Growing Outreach Conference: Leveraging Social and Behavioral Sciences in Agricultural Sustainability Efforts.” Conference Proceedings Report [Contributing author and conference planner/facilitator]
Sustainable Agriculture Team at the National Wildlife Federation. 2024. “Growing Outreach Capacity to Advance Conservation Agriculture: A Collaborative Roadmap.” Conference White Paper. [Contributing author]
DigDeep and the U.S. Water Alliance. 2019. “Closing the Water Access Gap in the United States: A National Action Plan.” https://closethewatergap.org. [Contributing researcher]
- State of the Grain: Defining, evaluating, and showcasing the regional grainshed in the Upper Midwest U.S.
- Building the Oat Road Map: A Pathway for Developing Robust Food-Grade Oat Supply Chains in the Upper Midwest U.S.