Matt Comi, Environmental Sociologist

Education

Present- PhD Sociology. University of Kansas
Dissertation: Do Farmers Know Better? Exploring on-farm innovation, environmental change, and rural livelihoods in the US hop-growing industry [In Progress]
Committee: Drs. Paul Stock (Chair), Joane Nagel, Greg Cushman, Bob Antonio, Ebenezer Obadare
2020- Graduate Certificate, Environmental Studies. University of Kansas
2018- MA Sociology. University of Kansas
Thesis: Selling seeds, selling communities
2014- BA Studio Art, Writing. Whitworth University

Peer Reviewed Publications

2021 Comi, Matt "Other agricultures of scale: Social and environmental insights from Yakima Valley hop growers" Journal of Rural Studies [Forthcoming]
2021 Comi, Matt and Ruth Stamper. "Chicken Noodle Night: Conviviality, Resilience, and Food at the Vinland Fair." Food Culture and Society Special Issue ed. Bonnie Miller. [Forthcoming]
2020. Comi, Matt "The distributed farmer: Rethinking US Midwestern precision agriculture techniques." Environmental Sociology. DOI:10.1080/23251042.2020.1794426
2019. Comi, Matt "'The right hybrid for every acre': Assembling the social worlds of corn and soy seed selling in conventional agricultural techniques." Sociologia Ruralis 59(1) pp 159-176. DOI: 10.1111/soru.12227
*Recipient, ASA Robert Boguslaw Award

Book Chapters

--- Comi, Matt Seeds, Chemicals, and Stuff: The Agency of Things in (un)just agriculture regimes Environmental Justice in the Anthropocene Ed. Melinda Laituri, Stacia Ryder, Katharyn Powlen. Routledge. [Forthcoming]

Other

2019. Comi, Matt Participatory Research in More than Human Worlds (Book Review) Agriculture and Human Values. Online first. DOI: 10.5304/jafscd.2018.083.015
2018. Comi, Matt Rethinking Control: Complexity in agri-environmental governance research JAFSCD 8(3) DOI: 10.5304/jafscd.2018.083.015
2017. Comi, Matt Vital seeds: An assemblage approach to seed production and ownershipEnvironmental Justice in the Anthropocene Symposium Conference Paper. HDL Handle:10217/183728

Grants and Awards

2020. National Science Foudnation (NSF) Doctoral Dissertation Research Improvement Grant. Award# 1946941. "Exploring on-farm innovation, environmental change, and rural livelihoods in the US hop-growing industry" Division of Social and Economic Sciences: Science, Technology, and Society Program.
2020. University of Kansas, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences Research Excellence Initative Grant Writing Initiative Award
2019. American Sociology Association (ASA) Robert Boguslaw Award for Research on Technology and Humanism
2019. Institute for Policy and Social Research (IPSR) Doctoral Fellow
2019. Association for the Study of Food and Society (ASFS) Alex McIntosh Paper Award
2018. Carrol D. Clark Award
2018. Sociology Departmental Scholarship
2018. Graduate Studies Research Support Award
2018. Morris C Pratt Award [for travel]
2017. University Graduate Fellowship
2017. Warriner Fellowship In Sociology

Conference Participation

Panels Organized

2020. Comi, Matt; Florence Becot; Elly Engle. Intersocietal Dialogues on Anti-Racism and the Covid-19 Pandemic. Digital [Held in lieu of in person 2020 RSS SAFFRIG jointly with ISA RC40]

2020. Campbell, Hugh; Matt Comi; James Hale; Katharine Legun; Paul Stock. Sessions on “Farmer and farm ontologies: Rethinking agriculture after the more-than-human turn” International Rural Sociology Association (IRSA) World Congress. Cairns, Australia. [Conference delayed until 2021 due to Covid-19 pandemic]

Papers Presented

2020. Comi, Matt "Forty Farmers in the Yakima Valley: Assembling contemporary US hop growers" International Rural Sociological Association. Cairns, Australia. [Delayed until 2021 due to Covid-19 pandemic]
2020. Comi, Matt "Ontologies of Innovation: On-farm agriculture technologies in Yakima Valley hop yards" International Rural Sociological Association. Cairns, Australia. [Delayed until 2021 due to Covid-19 pandemic]
2020. Comi, Matt "Other Agricultures of Scale: Social and environmental insights from Yakima Valley hop growers" American Sociology Association. San Francisco, CA. [Cancelled due to Covid-19 pandemic]
2019. Comi, Matt "The distributed farmer: Tracing US Midwestern precision agriculture techniques in the Anthropocene American Sociology Association. New York, NY.
2019. Comi, Matt "‘Pure Yeast Culture:’ Assembling a Social History of Standard Lager” Midwestern Sociological Society. Chicago, IL.
2019. Mahmoud, Kafayat and Matt Comi “Exploring Gender and Place: Professional Craft Brewing in the Heartland” Midwestern Sociological Society. Chicago, IL.
2018. Comi, Matt Thinking With Seeds and Seed Dealers: Exploring the Techno-Political Relations of Big-Ag Seed Sales in Rural Kansas and Missouri International Sociological Association World Congress XIX. Toronto, Canada
2018. Comi, Matt The Distributed Farmer: (Re)Thinking Ownership, Autonomy, and Decision-Making in Precision Agriculture Midwestern Sociological Society. Minneapolis, MN
2017. Comi, Matt. Vital Seeds: An assemblage approach to seed production and ownership” Environmental Justice in the Anthropocene Symposium. Colorado State University. Fort Collins, CO

Research Experience

Graduate Research Assistant, Safeguarding and Enhancing the Experience of Public Internet Users (NSF Award Number: 1946180)—Institute for Policy and Social Research and the Department of Sociology, University of Kansas. Lawrence, KS
Graduate Research Assistant, Digital Inequalities in The Heartland (NSF Award Number: 1742815)—Institute for Policy and Social Research and the Department of Sociology, University of Kansas. Lawrence, KS

Teaching Experience

Courses Taught

Introduction to Sociology
Social Problems
Understanding Kansas Landscapes [Interdisciplinary Environmental Research Methods]

Courses Assisted

Varieties of the Human Experience [Intro to Cultural Anthropology]
Field Ecology
Environmental Studies Senior Capstone

Other Pedagogical Experience

Research Mentor. Haskell Environmnetal Research Studies [HERS] Program *
Graduate Writing Consultant. KU Writing Center

Professional Memberships

RC 40 (Agriculture and Food), International Sociological Associaion
Environmental Sociology Section, American Sociological Association
Coalition of Food and Agriculture Studies
Midwest Sociological Association