Curriculum Vitae
Katherine Mott
EDUCATION
Ph.D. Candidate in Sociology, Syracuse University, 2025 (expected)
”Press to End Nightmare: Exploring Cultures of Solidarity and Resignation in Retail Grocery Work”
Dissertation Committee: Gretchen Purser (advisor), Aaron Benanav, Maggie Dickinson, and Rick Welsh
M.S. in Food Studies, Syracuse University, 2019
Thesis defended with Distinction: Precarity Beyond Food: How the Closure of an Independent Grocery Store Shed Light on the Limitations of Food Access Efforts in Syracuse, New York
Committee: Evan Weissman (advisor), Gretchen Purser, Rick Welsh
B.S. in Environmental Resources Engineering, 2015
SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry (SUNY-ESF), Magna Cum Laude
TEACHING EXPERIENCE
See Teaching for more information.
Instructor of Record
Food and Society (Summer 2025)
Introduction to Social Problems (Summer 2022, Summer 2023, Winter 2024, Summer 2025 (2))
Teaching Assistant
Introduction to Sociology (Spring 2025, Fall 2024)
The Sociology of Work and Labor (Fall 2024, Spring 2022)
Sociological Theory (Fall 2021)
Feeding the City: Urban Food Systems (Spring 2019, Fall 2018)
Feeding the World: Global Agriculture (Spring 2018)
Labor in the Food System (Fall 2017)
PUBLICATIONS
Journal Articles
Mott, Katherine. Forthcoming. “Checked Out: Coping and Cashiering in Retail Grocery Work.” Research in the Sociology of Work.
*Winner of 2021 Graduate Student Paper Competition, Sociology and Social Welfare Division of the Society for the Study of Social Problems
Mott, Katherine. In Progress. “‘A never-ending conveyor belt of people and their garbage:’ Examining reverse logistics retail work.”
Mott, Katherine. In Progress. “Raging against the broken machine: Workers’ experiences of planned obsolescence.”
Mott, Katherine and Amanda Beavin. In Progress. “Negotiating Strategy: Tenant Urgency and Activist Burnout in Syracuse, New York.”
Special Issues
Book Reviews
Other
MEDIA COVERAGE
“Research shows Nojaim’s closing is not a priority for those living around it.” WAER City Limits: A Poverty Project (March 26, 2019)
HONORS AND AWARDS
2024 Syracuse University Maxwell School Roscoe-Martin Fund for Graduate Research ($1,500)
2024 Syracuse University Graduate School Summer Dissertation Fellowship ($5,000)
2024 Outstanding Teaching Assistant Award, Syracuse University
2023-24 Labor Research and Action Network New Scholars Research Grant ($3,000)
2023-24 Syracuse University Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs Graduate Fellowship, Department of Sociology
2022-23 Syracuse University Lender Center for Social Justice Graduate Assistantship
2022 Syracuse University Maxwell School Roscoe-Martin Fund for Graduate Research ($1,500)
2022 Syracuse University Program for the Advancement in Research on Conflict and Collaboration John Burdick Mini-Grant ($2,500)
2020-21 Syracuse University Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs Graduate Fellowship, Department of Sociology
2018-19 Syracuse University Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs Graduate Fellowship, Center for Policy Research - Lerner Center for Public Health Promotion
2017-19 Syracuse University Falk College Graduate Assistantship
2015 Engineer in Training Certification
2015 Robin Hood Oak Award, graduating senior who has made outstanding contributions to SUNY-ESF and general public
2015 Maple Leaf Award, graduating senior with significant volunteer service to the SUNY-ESF community
2014-15 SUNY Undergraduate STEM Research Scholarship ($3,000)
2014 Rosen Undergraduate Fellowship for research internship with NGO Soil For Life in Cape Town, Western Cape, South Africa ($6,000)
INVITED TALKS
Spring 2025, Human Geography, Guest Lecturer
Fall 2024, Advanced Seminar in Ethnography, Guest Speaker
Fall 2023, Advanced Seminar in Ethnography, Guest Speaker
Spring 2022, The Sociology of Work and Labor, Guest Lecturer
Spring 2022, Advanced Seminar in Ethnography, Guest Speaker
PRESENTATIONS AND SYMPOSIA
2025, “‘A never-ending conveyor belt of people and their garbage’: Examining reverse logistics retail work” to be presented at the annual meeting of the American Sociological Association, Chicago, IL (August)
2025, “Checked Out: Coping and Cashiering in Retail Grocery Work” to be presented at the annual meeting of the Society for the Study of Social Problems, Chicago, IL (August)
2024, “Press to End Nightmare: Exploring Cultures of Solidarity and Resignation in Retail Grocery Work” at the annual conference of the Labor Research & Action Network, Portland, OR (June)
2023, Admitted to the University of Texas Austin Urban Ethnography Lab’s Ethnography Summer School (May)
2022, Co-organizer with Gretchen Purser on Lender Center for Social Justice’s Symposium titled “Labor’s Revival: Unions and the Struggle for Racial and Economic Justice,” Syracuse, NY (October)
2021, “’Hurry Up and Wait’: Poverty, Stigma, and Contractual Citizenship” Presented at the virtual annual meeting of the American Sociological Association (August)
2021, “’Hurry Up and Wait’: Poverty, Stigma, and Contractual Citizenship” Presented at the virtual annual meeting of the Society for the Study of Social Problems (August)
2018, “‘Lotta food, no money’: Precarity Beyond Food Access.” Presented at the Joint Annual Meeting of the Agriculture, Food, and Human Values Society and the Association for the Study of Food and Society, Madison, WI (June)
2018, Co-organizer with Evan Weissman of thematic panel on “Urban Food Access Disparities” at the annual conference of the Joint Annual Meeting of the Agriculture, Food, and Human Values Society and the Association for the Study of Food and Society, Madison, WI (June)
2017, “An Analysis of the Closing of Nojaim Brothers Supermarket in the Near Westside Neighborhood of Syracuse, NY: Initial Findings” at the Northeast Sustainable Agriculture Working Group Annual Meeting, Baltimore, MD (October)
2015, “Fire as a Forcing Function in Ecological Restoration” (with Doug Daley) at the New York Water Environment Association, Inc. – Central New York Chapter Annual Meeting, Skaneateles, NY (April)
2014, “From the Ground Up: Diminishing Food Insecurity through Sustainable Soil Practices” at the American Society of Agronomy, Crop Science Society of America, and Soil Science Society of America Annual Meeting, Long Beach, CA (November)
PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES
Professional Affiliations
American Sociological Association
Society for the Study of Social Problems
Labor Research Action Network
Working Class Studies Association
Service to the Profession
2021-Present, Syracuse Ethnography Workshop
2020-Present, Syracuse University Future Professoriate Program
Service to the Department
2021-22, Graduate Student Representative for Sociology Faculty & Staff Meetings
2020-Present, Member of Syracuse University Sociology Graduate Student Association
Service to the Community
2017-Present, Organizing Committee Member of Syracuse Graduate Employees United
2021-23, Member of Syracuse Tenants Organizing for Power (STOP!) Coalition
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
2019-20 Data Analyst, Greater Syracuse H.O.P.E. (Syracuse, NY)
Managed programming efforts for eleven subcontractors funded through New York State Empire State Poverty Reduction Initiative (ESPRI) grant
Provided data analytics and visualizations for assessment of all programming efforts
2016-2018 Environmental Engineer, Arcadis of North America (Syracuse, NY)
Designed green stormwater infrastructure features for the Philadelphia Water Department to combat effects of combined sewer overflow in Philadelphia, PA
Trained new project members in fundamental concepts as well as computer aided drafting
Managed tasks, schedules, and budgets of green stormwater infrastructure projects
2015 Research, Writing, and Development Intern, Food First (Oakland, CA)
Conducted literature reviews and developed a research brief regarding major food policy initiatives, agricultural practices, and investigative reports
Coordinated fundraising events and other programming
2014 Research Intern, Soil For Life (Cape Town, Western Cape, ZA)
Assisted trainers in informal settlements with home gardening program training sessions
Developed soil-related educational materials for home gardening program participants
Conducted soil analyses for several home gardeners and Soil For Life property
2013-15 Undergraduate Research Assistant, SUNY-ESF (Syracuse, NY)
Conducted independent undergraduate research concerning fire-soil interactions and effects on ecological restoration
Performed soil research methods using infiltrometers, thermocouples, and pressure plates
ADDITIONAL SKILLS
Data Analysis: ATLAS.ti, Stata, Qualtrics, SPSS
Data Visualization Software: Tableau, ArcMap/ArcGIS Online
Programming Languages: R, MatLab, Python
Other Software: AutoCAD Civil3D, Adobe InDesign/Illustrator, Google Suite, Microsoft Office Suite