Tess Pendergrast

Tess Pendergrast is a Research Associate with the Cornell Prison Education Program (CPEP) and retains a faculty affiliation with the Department of Global Development at Cornell University. She holds an MS and PhD in Development Sociology from Cornell University and a BA from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

• Education: PhD and MS in Development Sociology (Cornell University), BA (UNC Chapel Hill)

Her research focuses on socio-economic class and racial inequalities, environmental justice movements in the U.S. Southeast, and barriers/opportunities for postsecondary education for incarcerated populations. She employs mixed methods and prioritizes community-based participatory research (CBPR). A current project co-leads a multi-year study on the impacts of college education in prison and reentry outcomes.

Teaching includes courses on waste politics, international development, and social movements. She has been a regular instructor with CPEP since 2019 and designed classes through Cornell’s John S. Knight Institute.

• Labs/Teams: Cornell Prison Education Program, Department of Global Development