Contact

Michelle R. Worosz
Professor
308A Comer Hall
Auburn, AL 36849
334-844-5682

Michelle-Worosz-e1427315016547Michelle Worosz

Professor

Agricultural Economics and Rural Sociology

 

RURAL SOCIOLOGY,
SOCIOLOGY OF FOOD AND AGRICULTURAL SYSTEMS,
SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

SPECIAL PROJECTS:

SUDY INTERESTS:

  • Food Safety Governance

EDUCATION

2006
Ph.D., Sociology, Michigan State University
1997
M.S., Resource Development, Michigan State University
1992
B.S., Social Science, Multidisciplinary Program, Michigan State University

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

2019 – Present
Professor, Auburn University
2013 – 2018
Associate Professor, Auburn University
2014 – Present
Co-Director, Interdepartmental Graduate Program in Sociology
2014 – 2019
Coordinator, Rural & Community Development Minor
2011 – Present
Core Faculty, Auburn University Food Systems Institute
2008 – 2013
Assistant Professor, Auburn University
2009 – 2011
Core Faculty, Auburn University Food Safety Initiative
2007 – 2008
Assistant Professor, Michigan State University
2006 – 2007
Research Associate, Michigan State University

HONORS AND AWARDS

2019 – 2020
Lead 21, Class 15
2017
Project Team Award, Auburn University College of Agriculture
2017
Best Paper Award, journal of Rural Sociology
2016
Teaching Excellence Award, Auburn University College of Agriculture
2014
AAES Director’s Research Award for Junior Faculty, Alabama Agricultural Experiment Station
2013
Excellence in Instruction, Rural Sociological Society

PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS

(NACTA)
North American College Teachers of Agriculture
(RSS)
Rural Sociological Society

COURSES TAUGHT

ROSC 3190
Food, Agriculture and Society
ROSC 4930
Directed Studies in Rural Sociology: Agrifood Systems
ROSC 4960
Special Problems in Rural Sociology and Community Development: Sustainable Agrifood Systems
ROSC 5650/6650
Sociology of Natural Resources and the Environment
ROSC 7700
Methods of Social Research
ROSC 7960
Special Problems in Rural Sociology: Sociology of Food and Agriculture

Select Publications

2016
  • Denny, R.C.H.,* M.R. Worosz, and N.L.W. Wilson. The importance of governance levels in alternative food networks: The case of red meat inspection rules. Rural Sociology (DOI: 10.1111/ruso.12103).
2015
  • Johnson, T., N.L. Wilson, M.R. Worosz, D. Fields, and J.K. Bond. Commodity Highlight: Sweet Potatoes. Vegetable and Pulses Outlook, VGS-354-SA1. Economic Research Service, U.S.
2014
  • Worosz, M.R. and D. Stuart. Invited. Food safety and the structure of the agrifood system. Pp. 103-120 in Rural America in a Globalizing World: Problems and Prospects for the 2010s, edited by C. Bailey, L. Jensen, and E. Ransom. West Virginia.
  • Wilson, N.L.W. and M.R. Worosz. Zero tolerance rules for food safety and quality. Food Policy, 45: 112-115.
2013
  • Prevatt, C., J. Novak, W. Prevatt, M.R. Worosz, K. Balkcom, W. Birdsong, B. Gamble, and J. Howe. A return-risk analysis of Southern row-crop enterprises and the sod-based rotation. Journal of Agribusiness, 31 (1 & 2): 35-45.
  • Stuart, D. and M.R. Worosz. The myth of efficiency: Technology and ethics in industrial food production.Journal of Agricultural and Environmental Ethics, 26(1): 231-256.
2012
  • Stuart, D. and M.R. Worosz. Risk, anti-reflexivity, and ethical neutralization in industrial food processing. Agriculture and Human Values, 29:287-301.
  • Worosz, M.R. and N.L.W. Wilson. A cautionary tale of purity, labeling and product literacy in the gluten-free market.  Journal of Consumer Affairs, Summer:288-318.
  • Denny, R. and M.R. Worosz. Meat inspection regulations: The federal – state relationship. Pp. 170-180 in Empowering Underserved Farmers and Rural Communities by Changing Legislation, USDA Eligibility Requires, and Program Delivery, edited by T.M. Hargrove, N.O. Tackie, R. Zabawa, and W.A. Hill. Tuskegee University, Tuskegee, AL.
2011
  • Bain, C., E. Ransom, and M.R. Worosz. Constructing credibility: Using technoscience to legitimate strategies in agrifood governance. Journal of Rural Social Sciences, vol 25(3):160-192.
2010
  • Worosz, M.R. The Mobile Bay Research Project: An experiment in collaborative learning about the social construction of environment and natural resource problems. Southern Rural Sociology, vol 24(3):51-76.
2009   
  • Knight, A.J., M.R. Worosz, and E.C.D. Todd. Dining for food safety: Consumer perceptions of food safety and eating out. Journal of Hospitality & Tourism Research, vol 33(4):471-86.
 2008
  • Kennedy, J., M.R. Worosz, E.C.D. Todd, et al. Segmentation of U.S. consumers based on food safety attitudes. British Food Journal, vol 110(7):691-705.
  • Rudy, A.P., C.K. Harris, B. Thomas, et al. The political ecology of SW Michigan agriculture, 1837-2004. Pp. 152-205 in Agrarian Landscapes in Transition: Ecological, Social and Conservation Effects, edited by C. Redman and D.R. Foster: Oxford University Press.     
  • Worosz, M.R., A.J. Knight, and C.K. Harris. Resilience in the red meat sector: The role of food safety policy. Invited paper, Agriculture and Human Values, vol 25(2):187-191..
  • Knight, A.J., M.R. Worosz, M.K. Lapinski-Lafaive, et al. Consumer perceptions of the food safety system: Implications for food safety educators and policy makers. Food Protection Trends, vol 28(3):27-32.
  • Worosz, M.R., A.J. Knight, C.K. Harris, et al. Barriers to sustainability in the specialty red meat sector. Southern Rural Sociology, vol 23(1):170-207.
  • Knight, A.J., M.R. Worosz, E.C.D. Todd, et al. Listeria in raw milk soft cheese: A case study of risk governance in the United States using the IRGC framework. Pp. 179-220 in Global Risk Governance: Concept and Practice Using the IRGC Framework, edited by O. Renn and K. Walker: Springer Press.
2007
  • Knight, A.J., M.R. Worosz, and E.C.D. Todd. Serving food safety: Consumer perceptions of food safety at restaurants. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, vol 19(6): 476-84.
  • Todd, E.C.D., C.K. Harris, A.J., Knight, and M.R. Worosz. Spinach and the media: How we learn about a major outbreak. Food Protection Trends, vol 27(5): 314-21.