Biography
I was born and raised in Southern California, graduating from high school in Dana Point, California. I received my B.S. in Geography from California Polytechnic State University, and then attended Oregon State University, where I studied Geosciences, Spatial Analysis, and Environmental Management. I transferred to Michigan State University, where I received a doctoral degree in Sociology, specializing in environmental sociology, science and technology studies, and organizational sociology. My dissertation research examined the use of reformulated gasoline (RFG) and the chemical additive methyl tertiary butyl ether (MTBE) and their effects on local environmental groundwater conditions in the US. My past work has explored the consequences of energy policy, regulation, and legislation on federal, state, and local environmental policymaking. During my time at Michigan State University, I worked as a research assistant in the Center for Global Change and Earth Observation (formerly BSRSI) studying tropical forests in Brazil and Southeast Asia, as well as a receiving multiple Foreign Language and Area Studies (FLAS) awards and Ford Foundation travel fellowships for summer research. My first full-time academic position was in sociology at the University of Kentucky. I joined the Tulane faculty in 2014, as professor of practice, jointly between the Department of Sociology and the Environmental Studies Program. I am also an affiliate faculty member in the Urban Studies and City, Culture, and Community programs. In 2018, I was awarded the Jill H. and Avram A. Glazer Professor of Social Entrepreneurship and Carnegie Corporation of New York Professor of Social Entrepreneurship III at the Phyllis M. Taylor Center for Social Innovation and Design Thinking. Read Professor Oliver's full bio graphy.