Marine Science
Brie Berry
Assistant Professor of Environmental Studies
Dr. Brieanne Berry is an economic and environmental anthropologist. She holds a B.A. in Cultural Anthropology from The George Washington University, an M.S. in Urban Affairs from CUNY Hunter College, and a Ph.D. in Anthropology & Environmental Policy from the University of Maine. Before joining Ursinus College, Dr. Berry was a postdoctoral research associate on a National Science Foundation-funded project, Growing Convergence Research – Convergence Around Circular Economies.
Dr. Berry’s research focuses on the social dimensions of circular economies, and in particular, strategies, policies, and approaches for ensuring just and equitable circular economies. Dr. Berry has conducted research on Maine’s vibrant reuse economies, and the value of localized thrift, resale, and redistributive economies in rural communities. She also has research interests in food waste and circular food systems. Her work broadly explores the potential to find value in our discards.
Dr. Berry is the recipient of several honors and awards, including the Graduate Student Excellence in Research and Creative Activity award from the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences (2019), the Edith Patch Award (2019), Award for Innovative Sustainability Research Conducted by a Graduate Student (2019), and Outstanding Graduate Student (2021) at the University of Maine. Her work has been supported by the National Science Foundation and the Environmental Research and Education Foundation.
Department
Degrees
- B.A. Cultural Anthropology, The George Washington University
- M.S. Urban Affairs, CUNY Hunter College
- Ph.D. Anthropology & Environmental Policy, University of Maine
Teaching
- Social Life of Waste
- Introduction to Environmental Studies
Research Interests
- Circular economy
- Consumption & waste
- Secondhand economies
- Environmental justice
- Environmental policy
- Economic & environmental anthropology
Recent Work
Berry, Brieanne. “Glut: Affective Labor and the Burden of Abundance in Secondhand Economies.” Anthropology of Work Review 43, no. 1 (2022): 26–37. https://doi.org/10.1111/awr.12233.
Berry, Brieanne, Cindy Isenhour, Jean MacRae, Erin Victor, Travis Blackmer, Jared Entwistle, Linda Silka, Michael Haedicke, Susanne Lee, and Deborah Saber. “After the Perfect Storm: Learning From Disruptions in Maine’s Materials Management System.” Case Studies in the Environment 6, no. 1 (2022): 1–11. https://doi.org/10.1525/cse.2022.1706963.
Isenhour, Cindy, Michael Haedicke, Brieanne Berry, Jean MacRae, Travis Blackmer, and Skyler Horton. “Toxicants, Entanglement, and Mitigation in New England’s Emerging Circular Economy for Food Waste.” Journal of Environmental Studies and Sciences 12, no. 2 (2022): 341–53. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13412-021-00742-w.
Isenhour, Cindy, Brieanne Berry, Andrew Crawley, Travis Blackmer, Emily Scruton, Llewellyn Searing, Sujan Chakraborty, and Jennifer Bonnet. “Resourceful ME: Exploring Multiple Forms of Value in Maine’s Reuse Sector.” Orono, ME: University of Maine, April 2022. https://umaine.edu/reuse/media-and-publications/.
Berry, Brieanne, Brianna Farber, Fernanda Cruz Rios, Michael A. Haedicke, Sujan Chakraborty, Sara Sophia Lowden, Melissa M. Bilec, and Cindy Isenhour. “Just by Design: Exploring Justice as a Multidimensional Concept in US Circular Economy Discourse.” Local Environment 0, no. 0 (2021): 1–17. https://doi.org/10.1080/13549839.2021.1994535.
Isenhour, Cindy, and Brieanne Berry. “‘Still Good Life’: On the Value of Reuse and Distributive Labor in ‘Depleted’ Rural Maine.” Economic Anthropology 7, no. 2 (2020): 293–308. https://doi.org/10.1002/sea2.12176.
Berry, Brieanne, Jennifer Bonnet, and Cindy Isenhour. “Rummaging through the Attic of New England.” Worldwide Waste: Journal of Interdisciplinary Studies 2, no. 1 (2019): 1–12. https://doi.org/10.5334/wwwj.16.
Berry, Brieanne, and Cindy Isenhour. “Linking Rural and Urban Circular Economies through Reuse and Repair.” Journal for the Anthropology of North America 22, no. 2 (2019): 112–14. https://doi.org/10.1002/nad.12103.
Horne, Lydia, Brieanne Berry, Anna McGinn, Sandesh Shrestha, Brooke Hafford-MacDonald, and Sara Lowden. “On Qualitative Writing: Building an Interdisciplinary Community of Practice.” Spire: The Maine Journal of Conservation and Sustainability 3, no. 1 (2019). https://umaine.edu/spire/2019/09/18/on-qualitative-writing/.
Horton, Skyler, Hannah Nadeau, Andrew Flynn, Taylor Patterson, Shayla Rose Kleisinger, and Brieanne Berry. “Circular Food Systems in Maine: Findings from an Interdisciplinary Study of Food Waste Management.” Maine Policy Review 28, no. 1 (2019): 59–71.
Berry, Brieanne, and Ann Acheson. “Sharing Isn’t Easy: Food Waste and Food Redistribution in Maine K–12 Schools.” Maine Policy Review 26, no. 1 (2017): 47–58.
Isenhour, Cindy, Andrew Crawley, Brieanne Berry, and Jennifer Bonnet. “Maine’s Culture of Reuse and Its Potential to Advance Environmental and Economic Policy Objectives.” Maine Policy Review 26, no. 1 (2017): 36–46.