2026 Projects

Spring 2026 Environment and Society Lab Senior Capstone

For the spring 2026 edition, we initially organized our work around the collective theme of communities affected by petrochemical contamination. We wanted to build from 2025 Center for Resilient Communities (CRC) Intern Isabelle Judy’s work with the Environment and Society Lab in creating a “petrochemical map” of West Virginia (featured on this website). After an initial few weeks of theoretical readings on petrochemical exposures, toxics, extractivism, and environmental justice, four groups of four students each identified their research topics and sites and began generating research questions, appropriate literature reviews, and a research plan. They received research and methods training both in class and through the WVU Libraries. One of our four groups followed the petrochemical lead, focusing on the Allegheny Ballistics Lab superfund site near Keyser, WV. The other three groups became intrigued with other socio-environment issues of emergent concern: two proposed AI Data Centers in Tucker and Mason counties, respectively, and a water crisis from an oil spill in the town of Wayne, Wayne County. All the students traveled to their respective research sites, introducing them to the raw, improvisational, and potentially exhilarating nature of community-based ethnographic fieldwork. They wrote literature reviews and field notes processing the ethnographic and archival data they were collecting. They engaged in participant observation and conducted semi-structured interviewing and social media reviews. They carefully analyzed reports and legislation, and some even dived into the microfiche newspaper archives of the WVU Library’s Rare Book room. It was an immersive, and in many ways experimental and high impact research experience for the students. As I told them in class, our anthropology students are some of the first people to report and engage in research on both legacy and emergent environmental issues of critical concern to West Virginia’s rich and storied communities. In doing so, they train and apprentice, in a relatively short period of time, in how to do solid ethnographic work. But more importantly, they learn the value of doing meaningful and ethically responsible research attuned to the needs and values of our mountain communities.

On this Environment and Society Lab website you will find research project abstracts and the course syllabus; research overviews, analyses and features, photos, maps, and other visuals (under this "2026 Projects" tab); a listing of 2026 Lab Team members (under "Team"), and links to various relevant grassroots and advocacy groups (under "Resources").

Photo courtesy of WBOY 12 News

GROUP 1: “They’re Not Gonna Save Us": Environmental Risk, Public Understanding, and Collective Activism Against Data Center Development in Tucker County

Andrew Bonner, Emma Snyder, Anna Sullivan, and Alexia Whitehair

This research focused on community activism and public perceptions of risk in Tucker County, WV, in the wake of the proposed construction of a data center and power plant between the small tourist towns of Davis and Thomas. We aimed to answer questions about how community members have reacted to the data center, the region's lasting legacy of extractivism, and what the county’s future may hold if the data center is constructed. Our methods included on-site research and interviews in Tucker County with activists, residents, and business owners, as well as a visit to the proposed site. We also attended WVU-sponsored events on data center policies, environmental justice, and Tucker United. All of this research has been synthesized and compiled from our fieldwork experiences and literature review to create a well-rounded presentation of collective understanding and risk perception in Tucker County regarding the proposed data center.

GROUP 2: At What Point Is This Pleasant? Examining a Data Center in Mason County, WV

Alexandra Constantine, Venkat Das, Allie Johnson, and Jacob Smertneck

West Virginia finds itself in a new era, one marked by the absence of coal and a desire for something new to bring life back into the economy. As a response, state officials have begun to pose AI as the “new coal”, a catalyst for economic revival that will improve the lives of everyday West Virginians. Yet how much of this is true? This research project examines how surrounding communities have responded to this proposed development as well as how this project builds on legacies of extractivism in Appalachia. Through a combination of digital observation, site-based ethnography, and unstructured interviews with residents of Point Pleasant, we find that the campus’s development has been marked by a staggering lack of transparency and a preemptive regulatory environment that has disempowered regular citizens. Drawing on the theoretical frameworks of sacrifice zones, extractivism, energopower, and community responses, we argue that the Monarch Compute campus replicates longstanding patterns of disempowerment associated with extractive industries. However, unlike the coal industry’s reliance on forging community connections and manufacturing consent, this project operates through obfuscation and state-level legislation like HB 2014. As fenceline residents are denied agency over their own communities, harm is experienced as a toxic continuum that redefines their relationship with their homes and land. This research combines anthropological understandings of energy politics with the emergent struggles — and resistance — of Mason County, WV. Ultimately, this considers a new form of extractivism, mired in the language of AI and progress.

GROUP 3: Allegany Ballistics Lab: A Look Into the Relationship Between Military Corporations and Communities

Bridget Abel, Laci Gaidis, Grace Johnson, and Kyleigh Sampson

Keyser, West Virginia is a small industrial town situated on the North Branch of the Potomac River and is part of the Cumberland, Maryland Metropolitan area. The area is a rural industrial area with a population of just below five thousand people. The small town of Keyser has been polluted for nearly a century, its resources systematically extracted and with the people of the community experiencing slow violence. This project explores how the Keyser community around Northrop Grumman understands and experiences pollution coming from a superfund site. Northrop Grumman is a military contractor that recently acquired the Rocket Center or Allegany Ballistics Lab site near Keyser. The research engaged in a variety of methods. It began by searching and synthesizing scholarly, peer-reviewed sources. It delved into the town’s history, Facebook groups, and general statistics about the area to gain a well-rounded perspective before we did a site visit. During our site visit, we went to Potomac State and Keyser and asked locals if they knew anything about the pollution. This paper discusses the long history of Keyser in relation to ongoing military waste, industrial pollution, and workplace disasters. Through a thorough analysis of Allegany Ballistics Lab’s environmental and economic impact, the connections between this military industrial site and this community become clear.

Photo from Thomas Moore (2005) "The Space Motors of Allegany Ballistics Laboratory." https://doi.org/10.2514/6.2005-3808

GROUP 4: Flowing Towards the Future: Contamination and Consequences in Wayne, West Virginia

Hayden Hart, Jacob Shafer, Rebekah Stinnette, and Daniel Walker

On January 11, 2026, residents of Wayne County reported that water within their homes smelled of fuel. Beginning on January 13, 2026, the Wayne County Sheriff’s Office found signs of vandalism at the East Lynn substation, owned by Appalachian Power and Electric. Officials found damaged fences, broken wires, and traces of copper wire being removed from the scene, indicating vandalism. Because of the tampered substation, the vandalism resulted in the failure of the transformer, leaking approximately 4,900 gallons of non-PCB (polychlorinated biphenyls) into Camp Creek. The oil then began to leak downstream into Twelvepole Creek, which serves as the main water source through the Town of Wayne and Wayne County. The residents rely on Twelvepole Creek as their primary source of water, which feeds into the water system supplying the town. Once this was discovered, on January 16, 2026, Mayor Danny Grace initiated a “Do Not Consume” order. The order forced residents to use bottled water for all daily use, marking the beginning of an environmental crisis for the small town. Our research explores the impacts of the Wayne water crisis in rural West Virginia through the lens of the community itself. Specifically, we ask: How do the residents of Wayne respond to environmental disasters at the local level? How has the Wayne water crisis contributed to the tensions and disconnect between local communities and state governments? How has the community perceived the recent water incident in Wayne?

ANTH 488 Senior Capstone Spring 2026 Syllabus

SENIOR CAPSTONE: ENVIRONMENT AND SOCIETY LAB

ANTH 488

T-Th 10:00-11:15 Chitwood G5

Spring 2026

Instructor: Dr. Daniel Renfrew

Office: Field Hall 3301

Office hours: By appointment

E-mail: Daniel.Renfrew@mail.wvu.edu

Course Description:

This senior capstone course is designed as both a theoretical and practice-based advanced introduction to ethnography. It combines individual and collective efforts in conceptualizing, designing, and carrying out ethnographic research. Students will be introduced to the basic principles of research design, and to the methods, analytics, and ethics of ethnographic inquiry. The course focuses on a specific topic of anthropological interest and of relevance to the people of West Virginia and/or the Appalachian region, which is then studied collectively through collaborative ethnographic research. This semester, students will choose topics related to specific communities engaged with petrochemical contamination, extractivism, and environmental justice issues, drawing from the petrochemical communities map on the Environment and Society Lab website. Following the principles of a “multi-modal” anthropology that engages digital formats and attempts a close collaboration with our publics, we will seek to transcend traditional classroom learning by publishing our work on the Environment and Society Lab webpage platform www.wvenvsoc.org.

Learning Objectives:

By the end of the course, students should be able to:

· Select a research topic and formulate actionable research questions.

· Organize and engage in collective, collaborative, and original research.

· Demonstrate proficiency in basic ethnographic methods and tools of data collection.

· Collect original (primary) ethnographic data, as well as secondary sources.

· Identify and apply appropriate theory to the analysis of ethnographic data and secondary sources.

· Demonstrate proficiency in both academic and public-facing writing.

· Communicate ideas effectively and concisely through oral, written, and visual/digital formats.

Required Readings:

Several articles and book chapters are required and available in PDF format through eCampus. I may add assigned readings throughout the semester, as appropriate and depending upon the research topics chosen by the class.

SOCA 488 has been designated as a SpeakWrite course by the Eberly College of Arts and Sciences. As part of the Eberly College’s commitment to fostering effective communication skills, this course will:

· Emphasize informal and formal modes of communication

· Teach discipline-specific communication techniques

· Use a process-based approach to learning that provides opportunities for feedback and revision

· Base 85% of the final grade on successful spoken and/or written performance

For more information about the SpeakWrite program, please visit SpeakWrite.wvu.edu. Students are also encouraged to visit the Eberly Writing Studio for assistance and feedback on writing and/or oral presentation assignments: http://speakwrite.wvu.edu/writing-studio

Class format: Classes meet twice a week and involve discussion, informal lectures, student presentations, and collective workshops. The class format is primarily seminar style and horizontally collaborative. Lectures will be kept at a minimum, with a greater emphasis placed on collaborative student engagement and collective learning. I will provide prompts, guidance, and basic analytical and methodological building blocks, but the expectation is that we will learn and research collectively and collaboratively. This means students must keep up with all assigned work, diligently pursue outside research, and be prepared to participate in small-group or full class discussion. Students will choose or be placed into research groups of 4 that they will keep for the duration of the semester. A significant portion of student efforts will be designated to research outside of class. Students will be graded both collectively and individually. In other words, everyone is counting on each other! We will be collectively building website content as the public face of our research efforts. I expect the highest levels of care and professionalism in putting together final materials.

A general theoretical, contextual, and methodological orientation (including all assigned readings) characterizes the first fifth of the course. The rest of the course will be dedicated fully to a guided but independent group research process. Class time will consist of sharing, reflection, and strategizing. This is the time students will be expected to collect ethnographic data, write field notes, and plan the various dimensions of the final project. I may add some methods-oriented readings and guides, as necessary.

Attendance will be taken daily. Although there is no point system linked to attending class, given the collaborative nature of this course, I expect every student to be in class every day and to engage fully in out-of-class activities, barring exceptional circumstances (such as illness, extreme weather events, and/or university excused/unavoidable travel). I reserve the right to make changes to the syllabus, and I will notify students with as much advance warning as possible. The course schedule is subject to change.

SUPPLIES AND LINKS: No specific equipment or supplies are mandatory for the success of this course. However, students will be expected to engage in ethnographic interviewing and participant observation, when possible. In these cases, some kind of audio and/or visual recording device might be helpful to have.

GRADING AND EVALUATION: Students will be evaluated on their understanding and use of the course material, their successful engagement in collaborative research, and their ability to express this knowledge in written assignments and group presentations. Normally, everyone in a group will receive the same grade on a given assignment. However, I reserve the right to deduct points from individuals within broader group assignments if I detect academic dishonesty, or I deem they engaged in minimal or no partnership in group efforts.

Your final grade will be based on the following point distribution (as measured by percentage):

Ethnographic Field Notes (3 x 10 pts- Individual): 30 points

Final Project:

Literature review (10 Individual; 5 Group) 15 points

Methods section (Group): 5 points

Data analysis/write up (Group): 20 points

Presentation (Group, 5-in class; 15-website): 15 points

Participation (Peer and instructor-evaluated, Individual): 15 points

(Total possible): (100 points)

Ethnographic Fieldnotes (30 points): Students are expected to write at least three ethnographic fieldnotes based on their research experiences. Fieldnotes serve as a way of documenting the research process by providing a combination of rich detail, summary, incipient analysis, and personal reflection. They are meant to serve as the basis for more formal written analysis. I will provide details and examples for you to follow. Students are encouraged to submit field notes directly following each fieldwork/data collection experience. All final un-submitted field notes are due on the second-to-last day of class and will not be accepted following that day. Each fieldnote is worth up to 10 points. Additional (up to 2) field notes beyond the required minimum of 3 are eligible for up to 2 bonus points each.

Research Project (55 points): For the research project, students will engage in collaborative ethnographic research on a particular topic/theme/site related to petrochemical communities in West Virginia and/or the surrounding region. Groups should choose an overarching theme to examine collectively, with the class groups engaged in related but complementary research projects. Potential themes and topics to choose from are quite varied and could focus on any of the following, for example: social movement/environmental justice analysis of activist groups demanding accountability; ties between resource extraction and petrochemical contamination; critical analysis of corporate discourse and public relations; emerging data and material infrastructures; content analysis of mass media coverage; the politics of science, technology and regulation; oral histories, framing, and meaning-making among local residents; material cultural and/or visual analysis of petrochemical communities; the risk and vulnerability of petrochemical infrastructures; biocultural approaches to environmental hazards and disease; medical/critical medical anthropological engagements with environmental or contested illness; the construction of illness narratives, etc. Topics need to be developed collectively and in consultation with the rest of the class (to ensure complementary research), and the professor. Research will be conducted both individually and collectively within your groups. The point breakdown for the research project is as follows:

-Literature review (15 points; 10 individual/5 group): utilizing library-based research and concept mapping, individuals will compile a short annotated bibliography (4-6 sources, 3-4 pages). Following grading, your groups will be expected to compile a full literature review (12-18 sources, 6-8 pages) that will be a core component of your group research project.

-Methods (5 points, group): This section will be short (1-3 pages) and turned in as a group. It constitutes a description and reflection upon the methods chosen to address your research question(s).

-Data analysis/write up (20 points, group): Students will work together with their research group to submit a collective write up of their research results. This will be the core of your final project and should be 10-15 pages long.

-Presentations (20 points, group): You will be asked to engage in short, 15-minute presentations (5 points) on the last day of class (in class and through Zoom). The second “presentation” (15 points) is the final visual group project in condensed form that we will post to the website. This is due during finals week.

More detailed guidelines on all of these components will be provided.

Participation (15 points):

Students are expected to participate actively in class and within their research groups, and you will be assigned a grade for your participation. Grades will come from a split between peer-evaluation within your research groups, and instructor evaluation. Participation means: You participate equitably within your research groups. You share responsibilities and contribute your portion to group products. You keep up with schedules and deadlines and offer feedback to your group members in your collective projects throughout the semester.

There is no formal attendance policy. You are advanced students preparing to embark into graduate school or the “real” world, and therefore I leave it to you to be responsible and take full advantage of this experience. I will take attendance regularly for accounting purposes. However, if you regularly miss class (i.e. more than a few absences throughout the semester) you will not be able to fully or adequately “participate,” and therefore your participation grade will likely suffer. Students egregiously failing to adhere to the above criteria may receive as few as 0 points, at the instructor’s discretion.

Grading criteria:

The following grades will be assigned for written work according to the designated criteria:

A (90% or more): A superior performance surpassing assigned work in unique and novel ways and integrating diverse ideas from a wide range of sources in addition to those discussed in class.
B (80-89%): Excellent work surpassing the expectations of the assignment and demonstrating initiative
and a willingness to move beyond the basic requirements of the assigned work.
C (70-79%): Satisfactory work meeting all basic requirements of the assignment.
D (60-69%): Work in some way less than satisfactory. Although conforming to basic requirements in some way, the completed work is nevertheless not a coherent response to the assignment.
F (59% or lower): A profoundly unsatisfactory performance that does not meet
the intent of the assignment at any level.

Statement on Academic Integrity

The integrity of the classes offered by any academic institution solidifies the foundation of its mission and cannot be sacrificed to expediency, ignorance, or blatant fraud. Therefore, I will enforce rigorous standards of academic integrity in all aspects and assignments of this course. For the detailed policy of West Virginia University regarding the definitions of acts considered to fall under academic dishonesty and possible ensuing sanctions, please see the Student Conduct Code at http://studentlife.wvu.edu/studentconductcode.html. Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools can be valuable for brainstorming ideas or organizing thoughts. However, AI has widely become a crutch and a rampant mechanism of academic dishonesty across WVU and other institutions of higher education. Use of generative AI in any submitted project must be disclosed in detail through an addendum to the project. If you submit content generated through AI, this will result in a failing grade for the project, and I reserve the right to report you for academic dishonesty. Should you have any questions about possibly improper use of AI, improper research citations or references, or any other activity that may be interpreted as an intentional or unintentional act of academic dishonesty, please see me before the assignment is due to discuss the matter.

Inclement Weather: Make your own decisions on whether to attend class on days of inclement weather. You will not be specifically penalized, and I encourage you to consider your physical safety above course attendance. Additionally, I reserve the right to cancel class should I personally deem it unsafe to make it to campus. Alternately, we may pivot to online learning via Zoom on those days.

Inclusivity Statement

The West Virginia University community is committed to creating and fostering a positive learning and working environment based on open communication, mutual respect, and inclusion. Any suggestions as to how to further such a positive and open environment in this class will be appreciated and given serious consideration. If you are a person with a disability and anticipate needing any type of accommodation in order to participate in this class, please make appropriate arrangements with the Office of Disability Services (293-6700).

SCHEDULE OF CLASSES:

(readings should be finished for the day on which they are assigned, listed next to the date)

Week 1: An Introduction to Petrochemical Communities in West Virginia

13 Jan: Overview of Course

-Homework: peruse in detail the Environment and Society Lab website: www.wvenvsoc.org; past

capstone projects, and Petrochemical Communities interactive map: https://www.wvenvsoc.org/2025-projects/mapping-petrochemical-communities

15 Jan: Read: Alice Mah (2023) Preface (ix-xv) and Introduction (pp. 1-24) to Petrochemical Planet:

Multiscalar Battles of Industrial Transformation, Durham and London: Duke University Press,

Week 2: Analytical Calibration: Pollution is Colonialism; Toxic Worlds

20 Jan: Read: Max Liboiron, Introduction (pp. 1-37) to Pollution is Colonialism (Duke, 2022)

-Max Liboiron, Manuel Tironi, and Nerea Calvillo (2018) “Toxic Politics: Acting in

a permanently polluted world,” Social Studies of Science 48(3): 331-349.

22 Jan: Read: Alex Nading (2020) “Living in a Toxic World,” Annual Review of Anthropology 49: 209-24.

**Choose Research Groups**

Week 3: A Multimodal Anthropology of Petrochemical Communities: The PFAS Case

27 Jan: Read: David Bond, Chapter 5, “Petrochemical Fallout” (pp. 123-146) from Negative Ecologies:

Fossil Fuels and the Discovery of the Environment (California, 2022).

-Daniel Renfrew and Thomas W. Pearson (2021) “The Social Life of the ‘Forever Chemical’: PFAS

Pollution Legacies and Toxic Events,” Environment and Society 2021: 146-163.

29 Jan: Read: Collins, Samuel, Matthew Durington, and Harjant Gill (2017) “Multimodality: An

Invitation,” American Anthropologist 119(1): 142-53.

- Collins, Samuel, Matthew Durington, and Harjant Gill (2021) “The Uncertain Present and the

Multimodal Future,” American Anthropologist 123(1): 191-93.

-Benton, Adia, and Yarimar Bonilla (2017) “Rethinking Public Anthropologies in the Digital Age:

Toward a New Dialogue,” American Anthropologist 119(1): 154-56.

Lecture/Discussion: The Research Process

Week 4: Beginning Research

3 Feb: Preliminary Research Ideas Due (Group)

Lecture/Discussion: Research Ideas and Finetuning Research Questions

5 Feb: Lecture/Discussion: The Research Process

Week 5: Literature Reviews

10 Feb: Lecture/Discussion: Concept Mapping, Annotated Bibliographies, and Literature Reviews

-Review eCampus guides

12 Feb: Library Research Session (with Catherine Fonseca, WVU Libraries; meet at

Downtown Campus library, room 2036; please bring laptops)

Week 6: Annotated Bibliography and Methods

17 Feb: Due: Revised Research Plan (Group)

In-class discussion/working of bibliographies and Literature Review

19 Feb: Lecture/Discussion: Methods

Week 7: Getting Ready for Data Collection

24 Feb: (Asynchronous) Due: Annotated Bibliography (Individual)

26 Feb: In-class update and feedback on research progress

Week 8: Ethnographic Research

3 Mar: Lecture/Discussion: Writing fieldnotes

Review Fieldnote examples on eCampus

5 Mar: In-class reflection and strategizing

Week 9: Ethnographic Research

10 Mar: In-class reflection and strategizing

12 Mar: (Asynchronous)

Due: Literature Review (Group)

March 14-22 SPRING BREAK (NO CLASSES)

Week 10: Ethnographic Research

24 Mar: In-class reflection and strategizing

26 Mar: In-class reflection and strategizing

Week 11: Ethnographic Research

31 Mar: Lecture/Discussion: Writing about Methods

2 April: (Asynchronous) Group Research Work

Week 12: Ethnographic Research

7 April: In-class reflection and strategizing

9 April: Due: Methods Section (Group)

Week 13: Analysis/Write up

14 April: Lecture/Discussion: From fieldnotes to analysis to narrative

16 April: In-class reflection and strategizing

Week 14: Analysis/Write up

21 April: (Asynchronous) Group research work

23 April: In-class reflection and strategizing

Week 15: Final Research Projects and Presentations

28 April: In-class: Prep and discuss presentations

Last Day to Submit Fieldnotes (Individual)

30 April: (In Class and ZOOM) Research Presentations

Research Projects Due (Group)

** Website-ready Final Projects Due on or before Thursday, May 7th, 7 p.m.**

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