Clare Hinrichs

Professor of Rural Sociology in the College of Agricultural Sciences at Pennsylvania State University

Clare Hinrichs, PhD is professor of rural sociology in the College of Agricultural Sciences at Pennsylvania State University. She received her PhD in development sociology from Cornell University. Her research, teaching, and public engagement activities center broadly on the social, organizational, and political dimensions of sustainability transitions in food, agricultural, and environmental systems. Recent research projects have examined regional food security and resilience and multifunctional agricultural landscapes, both in the Northeast U.S. At Penn State, she teaches undergraduate courses on food systems and on environment and society, as well as graduate courses on the sociology of food and agricultural systems, on sustainability theories and frameworks, and on qualitative research methods. Clare was president of the Agriculture, Food, and Human Values Society in 2013. She currently serves on the Administrative Council of the USDA’s Northeast Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education Program. (University Park, PA)