I am an environmental social scientist and political ecologist studying food system transformations and sustainability transitions in rural geographies across the Americas.
Carrie Seay-Fleming, PhD
I use fine-grain qualitative research to better understand food system transformations and sustainability transitions in rural geographies across the Americas. My research asks: who wins and who loses from efforts to govern the environment and from specific proposals to improve human-environment relationships? I have particular expertise in food security, sustainable development, biotechnology, energy transitions in agrarian landscapes, and land-use conflict. I focus regionally on Latin America and the Western United States.
I am currently an Assistant Professor in the department of Environment, Sustainbility, & Geography at the University of Minnesota Duluth. I regularly serve as a subject-matter expert in major media including The Daily Beast, VICE News, the Wilson Center, High Country News, and Grist.
Recent publications
Seay-Fleming, C., Swanson, T. & Gerlak, A.K. From scale-neutral to scale-specific: rethinking agrivoltaics through small farmers’ rationalities. Agriculture and Human Values 43, 118 (2026).
https://doi.org/10.1007/s10460-026-10925-2
Seay-Fleming, Carrie, Tyler Swanson, and Andrea Gerlak. "For what and for whom? A political ecology of agrivoltaics in the Southwestern United States." Sustainability Science 20.4 (2025): 1467-1481.
https://doi.org/10.1007/s11625-025-01653-3
Seay-Fleming, Carrie, et al. "Cultivating engagement: Public participation in agrivoltaics planning and design." Energy Research & Social Science 127 (2025):
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.erss.2025.104273
Accountable Solar Energy Transitions (ASSET)
In May of 2024, I participated in a workshop funded by the Research Council of Norway. This short film presents key highlights from the workshop, including my work on agrivoltaics, which brought together researchers from four continents to share insights from and deliberate over the governance of solar energy transitions.
Episode 2:Food Insecurities in Guatemala w/ Carrie Seay-Fleming
Tangled Roots Podcast