Dr. Matthew Jerome Schneider is an assistant professor of sociology at the University of North Carolina Wilmington, the co-director of the Sustainability, Equity, and Action (SEA) Lab, and a visiting scholar with the Ocean Nexus Center. His work is situated in the areas of race and racism, social inequalities, environmental sociology, and community and civic engagement. His most recent projects consider how local stakeholders interpret and respond to various environmental issues. For example, in one line of research, he examines American support for expansion of renewable energy production (e.g., wind and solar) and for a “just transition.” Specifically, by exploring the emerging offshore wind industry in North Carolina, USA, this project attempts to better tease out the tension between just transition discourse and an ongoing history of extractive logics. In a second line of research, he is collaborating with Winyah Rivers Alliance, a riverkeeper organization in Coastal North and South Carolina, USA, to better understand local environmental activism and volunteering during a time in which publics are increasingly aware of the pressing climate crisis, environmental injustices, and threats to public health. Schneider’s recent work has appeared in outlets such as Qualitative Sociology, Human Geography, Sociological Quarterly, and Environmental Justice.

In his free time, Matt enjoys hiking with his dogs, biking, playing or watching basketball, and sipping coffee.