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Dr. Skye Niles

Assistant Professor, Environmental Studies

Wilkinson College Other Programs, Wilkinson College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences; Environmental Science, Schmid College of Science and Technology

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Email: niles@chapman.edu

Education:: University of California, Berkeley, Bachelor of Arts
University of Colorado at Boulder, Master of Arts
University of Colorado at Boulder, Ph.D.

Biography

Skye Niles is an environmental sociologist who specializes in using interdisciplinary and community-engaged methods to address environmental concerns.

Her research focuses on identifying how social and environmental inequalities are co-produced, and what can be done to reduce the negative impacts of environmental hazards.

Her research projects include studying the impacts of incarceration on the environment, identifying the links between housing unaffordability and exposure to environmental hazards, and understanding how communities organize and respond to disasters.

Recent Creative, Scholarly Work and Publications: Niles, Skye. 2025. “Incarceration and environmental privilege: Prison labor in the ‘playground of the nation.’” Environmental Sociology, 1–12.; Ryder, Stacia, Abby Cunniff, and Skye Niles. 2024. “Environmental Inequality.” Elgar Encyclopedia of Environmental Sociology. Edited by Christine Overdevest. Edward Elgar Publishing.; Niles, Skye, Shawhin Roudbari, and Santina Contreras. 2023. “Neoliberal Multiculturalism and the Reformulation of Racial Hierarchies in International Development.” Sociology of Race and Ethnicity 10(2), 249-263.; Glade, Sara, Skye Niles, Shawhin Roudbari, Phaedra Pezzullo, Shideh Dashti, Abbie Liel, and Shelly Miller. 2022. “Disaster Resilience and Sustainability of Incarceration Infrastructures: A Review of the Literature.” International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction, 80: 1-16.; Niles, Skye. 2022. “Colorblind Racism and Market-Based Development.” Sociology of Development, 8(2): 139–161.; Contreras, Santina and Skye Niles. 2022. “Building Resilience through Informal Networks and Community Knowledge Sharing: Post-disaster Health Service Delivery after Hurricane Maria.” Environmental Hazards, 21(5): 433-452.

Dr. Skye Niles

Biography

Recent Creative, Scholarly Work and Publications

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