Brie Berry

Research Interests:

  • Circular economies
  • Consumption and waste
  • Alternative economies
  • Reuse, resale, and thrift

Research Projects:

Media Expertise:

  • Consumption, waste, reuse, and recycling
  • Alternative economies
  • Waste policy

Degrees:

  • University of Maine, Ph.D. (Anthropology & Environmental Policy)
  • City University of New York, M.S. (Urban Affairs)
  • The George Washington University, B.A. (Anthropology)

Profile:

Dr. Brieanne Berry is an economic and environmental anthropologist. She is a postdoctoral research associate on a National Science Foundation-funded project, Growing Convergence Research – Convergence Around Circular Economies. Her research focuses on the social dimensions of circular economies, and in particular, strategies, policies, and approaches for ensuring just and equitable circular economies. Berry has conducted research on Maine’s vibrant reuse economies, and the value of localized thrift, resale, and redistributive economies in rural communities. She also has research interests in food waste and circular food systems. Her work broadly explores the potential to find value in our discards.

Berry is the recipient of several honors and awards, including the Graduate Student Excellence in Research and Creative Activity award from the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences (2019), the Edith Patch Award (2019), Award for Innovative Sustainability Research Conducted by a Graduate Student (2019), and Outstanding Graduate Student (2021) at the University of Maine. Her work has been supported by the National Science Foundation and the Environmental Research and Education Foundation.

Selected Publications:

Berry, Brieanne, and Ann Acheson. 2017. “Sharing Isn’t Easy: Food Waste and Food Redistribution in Maine K–12 Schools.” Maine Policy Review 26 (1): 47–58.

Berry, Brieanne, Jennifer Bonnet, and Cindy Isenhour. 2019. “Rummaging through the Attic of New England.” Worldwide Waste: Journal of Interdisciplinary Studies 2 (1): 1–12. doi:10.5334/wwwj.16.

Berry, Brieanne, and Cindy Isenhour. 2019. “Linking Rural and Urban Circular Economies through Reuse and Repair.” Journal for the Anthropology of North America 22 (2): 112–14. doi:10.1002/nad.12103.

Horne, Lydia, Brieanne Berry, Anna McGinn, Sandesh Shrestha, Brooke Hafford-MacDonald, and Sara Lowden. 2019. “On Qualitative Writing: Building an Interdisciplinary Community of Practice.” Spire: The Maine Journal of Conservation and Sustainability 3 (1). https://umaine.edu/spire/2019/09/18/on-qualitative-writing/.

Horton, Skyler, Hannah Nadeau, Andrew Flynn, Taylor Patterson, Shayla Rose Kleisinger, and Brieanne Berry. 2019. “Circular Food Systems in Maine: Findings from an Interdisciplinary Study of Food Waste Management.” Maine Policy Review 28 (1): 59–71.

Isenhour, Cindy, and Brieanne Berry. 2020. “‘Still Good Life’: On the Value of Reuse and Distributive Labor in ‘Depleted’ Rural Maine.” Economic Anthropology 7 (2): 293–308. doi:10.1002/sea2.12176.

Isenhour, Cindy, Andrew Crawley, Brieanne Berry, and Jennifer Bonnet. 2017. “Maine’s Culture of Reuse and Its Potential to Advance Environmental and Economic Policy Objectives.” Maine Policy Review 26 (1): 36–46.