About Me -

I am an Associate Professor in the Department of Sociology, Anthropology, and Criminal Justice at Clemson University, my alma mater. I am also an extension specialist with the Sandhill Research and Education Center in Columbia, SC. My research and outreach interests include rural sociology, entrepreneurship, health disparities, and sustainable development. I teach courses in Community Sociology, Human Ecology, Social Impact Analysis, and a “creative inquiry” research course on Locally Grown Foods.
Prior to returning to Clemson in 2005, I was a post-doctoral research associate at Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, where I received a Ph.D. in Development Sociology.  While at Cornell, I was awarded a Fulbright Fellowship to examine the emergence of small-scale, commercial agriculture in the economically disadvantaged, former homeland areas of South Africa.  
I am also a graduate of the LBJ School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas at Austin, where I was a student of the late Texas Congresswoman Barbara Jordan.  Upon completing my Master’s at the LBJ School, I relocated to Washington, DC, where I served as a Presidential Management Intern with the U.S. Department of Agriculture and later as a lobbyist in the Texas Governor’s Office of State-Federal Relations.
I have served on the board of directors of Market Matters, Inc., an international business development services organization based in Ithaca, NY.  MM, Inc. focuses on capacity building in emerging markets. I am also a faculty affiliate with the Center for Research on Health Disparities at Clemson University, and am a member of the Pickens County (SC) Education Foundation, Clemson Area League of Women Voters, and serve as co-president of the Cornell Alumni Association Blue Ridge Mountains.