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Three Department of Sociology faculty members recently received promotions.

J. Arbuckle and Carmen Bain were each promoted to professor, and Shawn Dorius was promoted to associate professor with tenure.

Arbuckle’s research and extension efforts focus on improving the environmental and social performance of agricultural systems. His main area of interest is drivers of farmer and agricultural stakeholder decision making and action related to soil and water quality and adaptation to climate change. Arbuckle directs the Iowa Farm and Rural Life Poll, an annual survey of Iowa farmers.

Bain’s research interests include the political economy of food and agricultural systems; gender, agriculture and international development; and the social dimensions of genetically modified (GMOs) foods and crops. She has conducted research in Chile, Ghana, New Zealand and the U.S. Bain teaches undergraduate and graduate classes on the sociology of agriculture and food systems, the sociology of the environment, and rural sociology. She is the advisor for the undergraduate major, Agriculture & Society.

Dorius’s research and teaching interests include demography, stratification and research methods.