I'm an associate professor of sociology at Rutgers University.  My research and teaching cut across environmental health, gender, food, consumer studies, and science & technology studies.

Much of my research explores the individualization of risk in the context of widespread environmental pollution. As science and technology reveal environmental contaminants in our air, water, soil and food, I find that women and mothers are held accountable for protecting children and future children from chemical exposures. As I show in my book, Better Safe than Sorry, this responsibility plays out in women's everyday lives, during pregnancy and breastfeeding, and as they shop for their children, prepare family meals, and manage their children's health.

My work has also explored gender and health, and what "hormone balance" means in the world of self-help. In a new project, I'm examining the lived experience of poor air quality under a changing climate.

I teach undergraduate and graduate courses in environmental health, social inequalities, gender, food studies, and research methods.

Curriculum Vitae

Norah MacKendrick
Associate Professor
Department of Sociology
Rutgers University

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