July 13, 2011

SNRE Professor Dorceta Taylor has been named chair-elect of the Environment and Technology Section of the American Sociological Association.

The Section on Environment and Technology provides a home for about 460 sociologists interested in a range of environmental issues. Section members recently voted on new officers. Next year, Professor Taylor will become chair of the Section.

The Environmental and Technology Section honored her last year with its Allan Schnaiberg Outstanding Publication Award, given for publications of special noteworthiness in the field of environmental sociology. The award was for her 2009 book, "The environment and the people in American cities, 1600s-1900s: disorder, inequality, and social change,"  published by Duke University Press.

The duties of the section chair include organizing and moderating the annual section business meeting and reception; presiding over the awards ceremony; writing an annual report; overseeing the finances and submitting quarterly financial statements; overseeing elections; recruitment; and panel presentations at the annual meetings.  The chair also works with committees charged with selecting award winners, maintaining the listserv and writing the section newsletter.

At SNRE, Professor Taylor serves as program director for the Multicultural Environmental Leadership Development Initiative (MELDI), which provides resources to students and environmental professionals to use in developing their careers. Its website provides information on environmental justice research, organizations and events of interest in the field. http://meldi.snre.umich.edu/.

The American Sociological Association has 51 sections and about 13,700 members.