Monica Patrice Barra

Monica Patrice Barra is an Assistant Professor at the University of South Carolina with a joint appointment in the School of the Earth, Ocean & Environment and the Department of Anthropology within the College of Arts and Sciences. She is also a faculty affiliate in the Department of African American Studies and the Department of Geography. Her interdisciplinary scholarship bridges cultural anthropology, environmental justice, and science studies.

Her research focuses on environmental racism, Black and Indigenous ecologies, political ecology, and the cultural dimensions of climate change and coastal restoration in the American South. She employs ethnographic methods to explore how racial and geographic inequalities shape environmental policy and community resilience, particularly in Black coastal communities of Louisiana.

Her recent publications (2018–2024) reveal a consistent thematic trajectory centered on racial justice in environmental science, reparative restoration, and the lived experiences of communities on sinking lands. These works span journals in anthropology, geography, and environmental studies, reflecting her interdisciplinary reach.

• McCausland Faculty Fellowship (2024)
• Breakthrough Star Award (2023)
• Arts Research with Communities of Color Fellowship (2022–2024)
• Hunt Postdoctoral Writing Fellowship (2021)
• Early Career Fellowship (2020–2022)
• Innovators Fellowship (2019–2021)
• Rebirth Grant (2017)
• Monroe Fellowship (2016)

Dr. Barra has secured significant research funding from the Wenner-Gren Foundation, National Academies of Sciences, NSF, and the Social Science Research Council. She has collaborated with engineers, geologists, artists, and cultural institutions such as the Water Institute of the Gulf and the Harvey B. Gantt Center. She teaches courses on environmental anthropology, decolonizing the environment, and environmental racism. She leads the Critical Ecologies Lab, which supports community-engaged research on racial and environmental justice.