Chelsea Schelly

Michigan Technological University | MTU · Department of Social Sciences

In recent years, Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) has gained prominence in ecosystem science and governance, enhancing understanding of landscape conditions, systems dynamics, and ethical restoration practices. However, Indigenous community engagement in science and practice remains limited. In this paper, we investigate TEK's contribution to...

The Western Upper Peninsula of Michigan includes six rural counties and one Tribal Nation. The region is characterized by long winters, legacies of the extractive mining economy, and the infrastructural features of extreme rurality, including aging housing and low health service density. The region also faces exceptionally high electricity prices....

Are ecovillages suited to the challenge of climate change and radical social transformation? While often framed as social experiments with the potential to support dramatic social change, we argue that ecovillages should be seen as more than that - complicated sites which both enable and constrain social action in the fight to stem the effects of c...

The Rural Energy Justice through Service Transitions (ReJuST) project is a collaborative effort funded by the Environmental Protection Agency that seeks to use community engagement and team science to support just energy transitions in a northern rural community. In this project, researchers are responding to concerns expressed by a local Tribal Na...

Community resilience is critical to managing the effects of climate change and in achieving the United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goals (SDG). Resilient communities are able to manage stressors and recover from them, such as in instances of energy service outages. Instances like these can lead to communities that feel forced to exhibit in...

In this paper, we reflect on our collective experiences engaging with Anishinaabe Tribal Nations in the Great Lakes region to support Tribal sovereignty in decision‐making for food, energy, and water (FEW) systems. In these diverse experiences, we find common lessons. The first set of lessons contributes new empirical knowledge regarding the challe...

Using electrical energy for an increasingly wide range of energy services (including lighting, heating, cooling, food storage, communications, and transport) requires grappling with the impacts of these systems on ecologies and societies. Renewable energy can provide less ecologically damaging electrical energy, but intermittency—the fact that sola...

Decarbonizing the residential buildings sector is important to realize a net-zero future. However, little research comprehensively explores how residential energy by end-uses, i.e., space heating, space cooling, water heating, and appliances, vary across different climate, building, and occupant characteristics. Therefore, based on Residential Ener...

Social practice theory offers a multidisciplinary perspective on the relationship between infrastructure and wellbeing. One prominent model in practice theory frames systems of provision as the rules, resources, and structures that enable the organization of social practices, encompassing both material and immaterial aspects of infrastructures. A s...

Capturing the social dynamic processes among household members that work to shape consumption patterns presents a complex problem for household resource conservation studies. To bridge the gap between the individual and household, we propose and test a series of quantitative measures that explore the underlying structure of household social dynamic...

Are ecovillages suited to the challenge of climate change and radical social transformation? While often framed as social experiments with the potential to support dramatic social change, we argue that ecovillages should be seen as more than that - complicated sites which both enable and constrain social action in the fight to stem the effects of c...

To support the broader realization of agrivoltaics in the U.S., this research provides a multidimensional assessment of the socio-political barriers and opportunities for development. A synthesis of five empirical studies is presented: 1) an investigation of the impediments to farmer adoption; 2) an exploration of development challenges from the pe...

Climate change-induced disasters are increasingly affecting communities around the globe. To study the impacts and recovery of the communities from disasters, resilience is increasingly outlined as a useful concept for policymakers and planners. Resilience helps us to understand a system or individual elements of a system on how they can withstand...

The most energy-intensive consumers on the planet are humans living in industrialized countries who rarely, if ever, question that there will be lighting to turn on in their homes at night, taps that produce water when turned, and the capacity to maintain thermal comfort at the touch of a button or two. The lived experiences of dwelling for the mos...

Unlabelled: Participatory approaches to science and decision making, including stakeholder engagement, are increasingly common for managing complex socio-ecological challenges in working landscapes. However, critical questions about stakeholder engagement in this space remain. These include normative, political, and ethical questions concerning wh...

Agrivoltaic systems integrate agricultural production with solar photovoltaic electricity generation. Given the proven technical, economic, and environmental co-benefits provided by agrivoltaic systems, increased proliferation is anticipated, which necessitates accounting for the nuances of community resistance to solar development on farmland and...

In this study, we compare electricity consumption of the suburban households with similar socio-economic, demographic, and geographic profiles to assess possible roles of social-psychological and behavioral factors. We examine the extent to which these factors influence self-reported energy curtailment (EC) and energy efficiency (EE) behaviors. We...

To accelerate scientific progress by advancing the spread of open access and free and open source software and hardware in academia, this study surveyed university professors in Canada to determine their willingness accept open source (OS) endowed chair professorships. To obtain such an open source endowed chair, in addition to demonstrated excelle...

This study proposes a novel policy to provide incentives for open science: to offer open-source (OS)-endowed professorships. To hold an open-source-endowed chair, in addition to demonstrated excellence in their field, professors would need to agree to (1) ensuring all of their writing is distributed via open access in some way and (2) releasing all...

Scientific study of issues at the nexus of food–energy–water systems (FEWS) requires grappling with multifaceted, “wicked” problems. FEWS involve interactions occurring directly and indirectly across complex and overlapping spatial and temporal scales; they are also imbued with diverse and sometimes conflicting meanings for the human and more-than-...

Household consumption of food, energy, and water comprises a significant use of resources in the United States. National level authority-based policy tools and top-down systemic shifts have not been widely adopted, thus near-term changes in consumption are dependent upon the actions of individuals. However, typical policy tools intended to change v...

The field of natural resources struggles to attract diverse talent despite efforts to increase racial/ethnic diversity. We explored factors influencing career choices among racially/ethnically underrepresented students and professionals in natural resources fields. The Social Cognitive Career Choice theory was used as a framework for analyzing data...

Agrivoltaic systems, which deliberately maximize the utility of a single parcel of land for both solar photovoltaic (PV) electricity production and agriculture, have been demonstrated as a viable technology that can ameliorate competing land uses and meet growing energy and food demands efficiently. The goal of this study is to assess the environme...

The Energy Act of 2020 authorizes $1 billion over five years from 2021 to 2025 to support energy storage development in the United States. In addition, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) Orders 841 and 2222 opened the wholesale energy markets for distributed energy resources, including energy storage. The statute and orders pave the wa...

This study proposes a novel policy to provide incentives for open science: to offer open source (OS) endowed professorships. To hold an open source endowed chair , in addition to demonstrated excellence in their field, professors would need to agree to: 1) ensuring all of their writing is distributed via open access in some way, and 2) releasing al...

Scholars bridging the fields of science and technology studies (STS) and energy research in social sciences (ERSS) offer a rich and integrated conceptualization of how energy systems are imbued in social systems, including cultures, social structures, institutions, and social relations of power. Yet as fields of study, STS and ERSS are dominated by...

Agrivoltaic systems allow for the simultaneous production of solar-generated electricity and agriculture. As the climate change related impacts of conventional energy and food production intensify, finding strategies to increase the deployment of solar photovoltaic systems, preserve agricultural land, and minimize competing land uses is urgent. Giv...

Large-scale development of solar-generated electricity is hindered in some regions of the U.S. by land use competition and localized social resistance. One approach to alleviate these coupled challenges is agrivoltaics: the strategic co-location of solar photovoltaics and agriculture. To explore the opportunities and barriers for agrivoltaics, in-d...

Research on environmentally consequential human decision-making often begins from the premise that consumption decisions are motivated by individual values. However, we argue that social science research aiming to understand consumer decision-making will benefit from integrating the lived experiences of people in households, where decisions are oft...

Although renewable energy holds great promise in mitigating climate change, there are socioeconomic and ecological tradeoffs related to each form of renewable energy. Forest-related bioenergy is especially controversial, because tree plantations often replace land that could be used to grow food crops and can have negative impacts on biodiversity....

Moving toward a sustainable global society requires substantial change in both social and technological systems. This sustainability is dependent not only on addressing the environmental impacts of current social and technological systems, but also on addressing the social, economic and political harms that continue to be perpetuated through system...

Community and stakeholder engagement is increasingly recognized as essential to science at the nexus of food, energy, and water systems (FEWS) to address complex issues surrounding food and energy production and water provision for society. Yet no comprehensive framework exists for supporting best practices in community and stakeholder engagement f...

Promoting policies for renewable electricity provides insights into ways to advance energy and climate policies that promote the provision of clean, affordable, and reliable electricity while simultaneously promoting social justice. It builds upon the concept of Sustainable Development Goal 7 (SDG 7) as set up by the United Nations. Some current an...

Solar photovoltaic (PV) energy technology can play a key role in decreasing the amount of carbon emissions associated with electrical energy production, while also providing an economically justifiable alternative to fossil fuel production. Solar energy technology is also extremely flexible in terms of the size and siting of technological developme...

Agrivoltaic systems are a strategic and innovative approach to combine solar photovoltaic (PV)-based renewable energy generation with agricultural production. Recognizing the fundamental importance of farmer adoption in the successful diffusion of the agrivoltaic innovation, this study investigates agriculture sector experts’ perceptions on the opp...

The state of New York has ambitious mandates for reducing greenhouse gas emissions and increasing renewable energy generation. Solar energy will play an important role in reducing greenhouse gas emissions from the electric energy sector. Concerns over solar installations’ impacts to host communities and the environment have led to growing conflicts...

Land-use conflicts created by the growth of solar photovoltaics (PV) can be mitigated by applying the concept of agrivoltaics, that is, the co-development of land for both PV and agricultural purposes, to commercial-scale solar installations. In this study, we present a conceptual design for a novel agrivoltaic system based on pasture-fed rabbit fa...

This paper examines five communities in the United States (U.S.) that have transitioned to 100% use of renewable resources for electricity. The paper describes and compares social, political, and economic similarities and differences among these communities to improve understanding of the factors that support successful renewable energy (RE) transi...

The concept of energy sovereignty redefines the priorities for decision making regarding energy systems while encouraging increased reliance on renewable energy technologies like solar. Energy sovereignty involves centering the inherent right of humans and communities to make decisions about the energy systems they use, including decisions about th...

The global COVID-19 pandemic is a health crisis, an economic crisis, and a justice crisis. It also brings to light multiple ongoing, underlying social crises. The COVID-19 crisis is actively revealing crises of energy sovereignty in at least four ways. First, there are many whose access to basic health services is compromised because of the lack of...

This research examines the decision factors influencing adoption of residential solar electric power systems in upstate New York. New York has a goal to provide 100% of electric energy in the State through renewable resources, which includes solar electricity, by 2030. Thus, identifying the most important decision factors may be useful in understan...

3D printing technologies based on an open source model offer a tool for distributed manufacturing and individual customization of printed goods, diminishing the environmental externalities associated with the global transport of goods, the production of goods based on raw material extraction, and production waste. They also make it possible to addr...

The Long Island Solar Roadmap Project involves a collaborative research approach with multiple organizational entities and actors engaged in a stakeholder driven process. Long Island is a space-constrained region with a steep urban to rural gradient, resulting in a complex suite of local governments, development priorities, and utility, planning, a...

The understanding of global environmental management problems is best achieved through transdisciplinary research lenses that combine scientific and other sector (industry, government, etc.) tools and perspectives. However, developing effective research teams that cross such boundaries is difficult. This book demonstrates the importance of transdis...

Because of its environmental damage and now often being the most expensive source for electricity production, coal use is declining throughout the United States. Michigan has no active coal mining and seemingly supportive legislation for distributed generation (DG) and renewable energy (RE) technologies. However, Michigan still derives approximatel...

Keith Hart is clearly professionally dedicated to the idea of a human economy: he is the International Director of the Human Economy Programme at the University of Pretoria, the editor of “The Human Economy” book series (in which this book has been published), and editor of the volume at hand, Money in a Human Economy. As an anthropologist, Hart br...

Community solar involves the installation of a solar electricity system that is built in one central location with the costs and benefits distributed across voluntary investors who choose to subscribe and receive credits based on the generated energy. Community solar is gaining attention because of its potential to increase access to renewable ener...

The Straits of Mackinac hydraulically link Lakes Michigan and Huron (Figure 1), and are wide and deep enough (average depth 20 m) to permit the same average water level in both water bodies, technically making them two lobes of a single large lake. The combined Michigan–Huron system forms the largest lake in the world by surface area and the fourth...

This paper argues that understanding environmentally responsible behavior as a constellation of practices, specifically practices that involve bodily engagement, provides the most promising avenue for future research seeking to explain and encourage patterns of behavior that are environmentally responsible and promote environmental sustainability....

It is increasingly apparent that human activities are not suitable for sustaining a healthy global environment. From energy development to resource extraction to use of land and water, humans are having a devastating effect on the earth’s ability to sustain human societies and quality lives. Many approaches to changing the negative environmental co...

It is increasingly apparent that human activities are not suitable for sustaining a healthy global environment. From energy development to resource extraction to use of land and water, humans are having a devastating effect on the earth’s ability to sustain human societies and quality lives. Many approaches to changing the negative environmental co...

Bioenergy holds significant promise to mitigate the climate-related problems associated with fossil fuel use in heat, electricity, and transportation fuel production. Many governments are encouraging bioeconomy growth with new policies. International trade between bioenergy producing and consuming nations has increased over the years. Developed cou...

Shipbreaking in the Chittagong region of Bangladesh supplies metal to meet the needs of the nation’s construction sector. The shipbreaking industry has received international attention for environmental contamination and workers’ insecurity. However, these issues have been framed without considering the actors (and their associated motive) that pro...

Following requirements of the Energy Policy Act of 2005, most U.S. states require utility companies to adopt interconnection and net metering policies, allowing customers to become prosumers who both consume and produce electricity, generating electricity using distributed renewable energy technologies, connecting to the existing electric utility g...

The U.S. electrical grid, the largest and most complex man-made system in the world, is highly vulnerable to three types of external threats: 1) natural disasters, 2) intentional physical attacks, and 3) cyber-attacks. The technical community has recommended hardening the grid to make it more resilient to attack by using distributed generation and...

Most Americans take for granted much of what is materially involved in the daily rituals of dwelling. In Dwelling in Resistance, Chelsea Schelly examines four alternative U.S. communities-"The Farm," "Twin Oaks," "Dancing Rabbit," and "Earthships"-where electricity, water, heat, waste, food, and transportation practices differ markedly from those o...

Energy justice is increasingly being used as a framework to conceptualize the impacts of energy decision making in more holistic ways and to consider the social implications in terms of existing ethical values. Similarly, renewable energy technologies are increasingly being promoted for their environmental and social benefits. However, little work...

Public support is critical to renewable energy sector growth, an important element of reducing fossil fuel dependence and mitigating climate change. Prevalent understandings of public support for renewable energy projects often work within a binary framework of acceptance and non-acceptance, arguably unable to capture the nuances of localized publi...

This paper argues that current efforts to study and advocate for a change in energy technologies to reduce their climate and other environmental impacts often ignore the political, social, and bodily implications of energy technology choices. Framing renewable energy technologies exclusively in terms of their environmental benefits dismisses import...

Political divisions are important in understanding public perceptions of unconventional oil and natural gas development, but so is proximity to drilling activities.

This interdisciplinary book brings together several conceptual frameworks with a diversity of case studies and examples of efforts to orient everyday material practices toward greater sustainability. It builds upon a variety of influential internal criticisms of dominant strands of contemporary environmentalism in postindustrial societies. These cr...

Putting Sustainability into Practice offers a robust and interdisciplinary understanding of contemporary consumption routines that challenges conventional approaches to social change premised on behavioral economics and social psychology. Empirical research is featured from eight different countries, using both qualitative and quantitative data to...

While researching the adoption of residential solar electric technology through a comparative two-state case study, participating solar electric technology adopters indicated some ways that policy—namely, the structure of incentives provided via their state’s renewable portfolio standard (RPS), local rebate program incentives, and the requirements...

Scholars in science and technology studies have debated the various ways in which technologies are (or are not) political. Here, I examine how users themselves understand and articulate the politics of a specific technology—residential solar electric technology—and how understandings of politics interact with motivations to adopt. Based on intervie...

In this paper, the contrasting theories of metabolic rift and ecological modernization theory (EMT) are applied to the same empirical phenomenon. Metabolic rift argues that the natural metabolic relationship between humans and nature has been fractured through modernization, industrialization and urbanization. EMT, in contrast, argues that societie...

3-D printing technologies have the potential to improve both Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) education and Career and Technical Education (CTE), as well as integrating these two educational emphases and providing opportunities for cross-curriculum engagement. The objective of this study is to investigate the potential of op...

Every summer, thousands of people assemble to live together to celebrate the Annual Gathering of the Rainbow Family. Participants establish temporary systems of water distribution and filtration, sanitation, health care, and meals provided freely to all who gather, and they develop sharing and trading systems, recreational opportunities, and educat...

The electricity grid in the United States may be the largest, most pervasive technological system ever constructed to meet the needs and comforts of human beings (Nye 1997). Although it is less than 150 years old, the electricity infrastructure of this nation is ubiquitous; power lines stretch across deserts, forests, states, highways, and the enti...

When it comes to any current scientific debate, there are more than two sides to every story. Controversies in Science and Technology, Volume 4 analyzes controversial topics in science and technology-infrastructure, ecosystem management, food security, and plastics and health-from multiple points of view. The editors have compiled thought-provoking...