UK’s Loka Ashwood awarded MacArthur ‘Genius Grant’ for groundbreaking work in rural communities, environmental justice

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Oct. 2, 2024) — Loka Ashwood, Ph.D., an associate professor in the Department of Sociology in the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Kentucky, is a recipient of a prestigious 2024 MacArthur Fellowship, often referred to as the “Genius Grant.”

Ashwood is among 22 fellows recognized by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation this year.

“It’s an incredible honor that is thanks to the rural and scholarly communities I work with and in,” she said.

The fellowship provides each recipient with $800,000 over five years — offering complete freedom to use the award in ways that further their creative work and societal impact.

The MacArthur Fellowship is granted after a multi-year, confidential nomination process. Recipients are not aware of their candidacy until they are selected. Additionally, the fellowship acknowledges individuals across various disciplines who have demonstrated exceptional originality.

Ashwood is being honored for “shedding light on rural identity and culture, and for addressing the ecological, economic and social challenges many rural communities face.”

“I first came to these issues through engagement with communities that were suffering. That suffering — that heavy burden that one cannot shake — is what sticks to my bones,” she explained. “In my recent work, I realized this suffering and burden was at a breaking point for people, and the integrity of our democracy was at risk. That is why I turned in my recent scholarship to working with teams of amazing people to get out information and support quickly by extending direct aid to rural communities as quickly as we could.”

“Loka Ashwood’s 2024 MacArthur Fellowship is a deeply meaningful and well-deserved honor. Her pioneering research on rural identity, environmental injustice and corporate power has not only earned her one of academia’s most prestigious awards but also highlights her dedication to amplifying the voices of rural communities,” Ana Franco-Watkins, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, said. “This recognition affirms her as a leading force in reshaping how we understand the complex challenges faced by rural America.”

Ashwood’s research examines the intersection of environmental injustice, corporate and state power, and anti-government sentiment — revealing how state support for some corporate interests can come at a high cost for rural residents and community well-being.

Drawing on her personal experience growing up on a family farm, Ashwood also investigates how these rural communities confront environmental degradation, economic hardship and social alienation.

“The way I approach working with communities is understanding their grievances and turning that into a question — to help galvanize action around that issue,” she said. “I hope that my work will help people have more empathy toward rural communities and their experiences. And I hope seeding that empathy produces change, so we can take on structures that led to these problems in the first place.”

In October 2022, Ashwood received national and international attention for her role in cancer cluster research in Fruithurst, Alabama.

UKNow covered the rise in cancer cases, particularly among children, in the area. Community members sought answers and initiated a collaboration with researchers. Together, they launched a study, “Rural and Community-Based Cancer Cluster Research,” which found elevated cancer rates in the area, especially for melanoma and lung cancer.

The study linked pesticide exposure and contaminated well water to the high cancer prevalence — discovering harmful levels of heavy metals and chemicals in the water.

Throughout the project, Ashwood emphasized the importance of involving the community in research. She also supported the formation of the activist group “Cleburne Cancer Concerns.”

The research has empowered the community to take action, including installing water filtration systems and campaigning against herbicide use. The project continues to serve as a model for how communities and researchers can collaborate to address environmental health issues.

“Communities are gatekeepers of the most important knowledge to take on cancer clusters,” Ashwood said. “They can — and should — be incorporated into research.”

Ashwood’s first book, “For-Profit Democracy: Why the Government Is Losing the Trust of Rural America” (2018), investigates the drivers of government distrust through the lens of nuclear power plant construction in impoverished Burke County, Georgia.

She recounts that residents believed local and federal governments prioritized profits over property rights and well-being. Loss of and damage to public land and waterways further harmed health and economic fortunes.

Ashwood connects the Burke County case to broader disillusionment with state institutions among rural populations. She contends, as government enables exploitative and extractive entities to overtake rural spaces, anti-state politics and culture emerge and coalesce into what she calls a “moral economy of democracy.”

The sociologist also helps rural residents fight environmental injustice by giving new context and understanding to laws that purport to work on their behalf. “Empty Fields, Empty Promises: A State-by-State Guide to Understanding and Transforming the Right to Farm” (2023), co-authored by Ashwood, is an overview of Right to Farm (RTF) laws in all 50 U.S. states. RTF laws were enacted with the understanding that they would protect family farms from complaints and nuisance lawsuits by neighbors. Instead, agricultural corporations have co-opted these laws to prioritize profits for shareholders.

According to the guide, since RTF laws were introduced around 1978, the number of farms has fallen drastically — with 87% fewer hog farms and 82% fewer dairy farms. Through this interdisciplinary approach, she is exposing the causes and dire implications of rural discontent while equipping rural communities with resources to build critical agency and advance their interests.

Currently, Ashwood is working on a book centered around her farming family, as well as a study of the consolidation of agriculture through a growing network of legal and financial relationships among agribusiness companies. As part of her research, she is collaborating with Andy Pilny, in the College of Communication and Information, and doctoral students Hillary Hamilton and Mohammad Khalilian, to study the corporate and financial structures supporting extractive energy and agricultural processes in rural communities. 

In addition to her books, Ashwood’s articles have been published in “Agriculture and Human Values, Rural Sociology, and Environmental Justice.”

Ashwood received a bachelor’s degree (2007) from Northwestern University, a master’s (2009) from University of Galway (formerly National University of Ireland, Galway), and a Ph.D. (2015) from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

She was an assistant professor at Auburn University (2015–2020) prior to joining the faculty at UK, where she currently educates students on the importance of action-centered methodologies that help communities overcome environmental injustices and strengthen democracy.

“I’m indebted to my students for their energy and dedication,” Ashwood said. “They help shine a light on a better tomorrow.”

You can learn more about the MacArthur Fellowship here.