Kaitlin Stack Whitney Headshot

Kaitlin Stack Whitney

Assistant Professor

Department of Science, Technology, and Society
College of Liberal Arts
Extended Faculty Member
kxwsbi@rit.edu
585-475-6604

Kaitlin Stack Whitney

Assistant Professor

Department of Science, Technology, and Society
College of Liberal Arts
Extended Faculty Member

Education

BS, Cornell University; Ph.D., University of Wisconsin-Madison

Bio

Dr. Stack Whitney (she/her) is an assistant professor in the Science & Technology Studies department in the College of Liberal Arts. She leads the SWEET Collaborative (the Stack / Whitney Col(lab)orative of Entomology, Environment, and Technology), working with RIT undergraduate and graduate student collaborators, RIT faculty, as well as faculty and students at other universities and non-academics across North America. She is committed to participatory, intersectional, and feminist approaches to pressing environmental questions. https://www.rit.edu/sweetlab/

Her research is at the intersection of policy, animal studies, and ecosystem services - often, but not always, with insects as focal organisms. She uses a range of tools, ranging from museum specimens to observational fieldwork to coding big data. These approaches include methods from science (ecology and ecoinformatics) and science studies (feminist biology and modern environmental history).

Before coming to RIT, Dr. Stack Whitney worked for the nonprofit CNFA on the US Department of Agriculture's Farmer to Farmer Program in Eastern Europe and Washington DC, as well as the US Environmental Protection Agency Office of International & Tribal Affairs and Office of Pesticide Programs.

Dr. Stack Whitney has a professional and personal commitment to inclusive and accessible pedagogy, research, and outreach for learners of all ages. She works on issues of "open" scholarship - including researching and writing on ethical and institutional barriers to openness. She lives in a bilingual ASL/English household and continues to take ASL courses through NTID.

kxwsbi@rit.edu
585-475-6604
Personal Links
Personal Website
ORCID
Google Scholar
Areas of Expertise
insects
ecology
novel ecosystems
environmental policy
critical open studies
animal studies
pollinators

Select Scholarship

Kaitlin Stack Whitney.  2024. Thinking with Termites about Fractious Futures for Fecal Microbiota Transplantation in the United States. Catalyst: feminism, theory, technoscience 10 (2): 1- 25.  https://doi.org/10.28968/cftt.v10i1.41952

Kaitlin Stack Whitney and Kristoffer Whitney. 2024. Squished bugs: teaching and learning reflexivity in ecology. Environmental Humanities 16 (1): 211–229. https://doi.org/10.1215/22011919-10943169

Kaitlin Stack Whitney. 2023. Ladybugs: The (Natural) Enemy of My Enemy Is My Friend? Enlisting Ladybugs into the War on Insect Pests. Catalyst: feminism, theory, technoscience 9 (1): 1-11.  https://doi.org/10.28968/cftt.v9i1.38252

Please see https://www.rit.edu/sweetlab/publications for more information.

Currently Teaching

BIOL-495
Advanced Biology Research
1 - 4 Credits
This course is a faculty-directed student project or research involving laboratory or field work, computer modeling, or theoretical calculations that could be considered of an original nature. The level of study is appropriate for students in their final two years of study.
ENVS-298
Environmental Science Independent Study
1 - 4 Credits
This course is a faculty-directed tutorial of appropriate topics that are not part of the formal curriculum. The level of study is appropriate for student in their first three years of study.
ENVS-780
Environmental Science Project
1 - 6 Credits
This course will result in an Environmental Science project accomplished by the MS student for an appropriate topic as arranged between the candidate and the project advisor. Credit 1-6
ENVS-790
Environmental Science Thesis
1 - 4 Credits
The thesis option will be available to environmental science graduate students only with prior written approval of program faculty. Students will submit a proposal to a faculty member who agrees to serve as the student's thesis committee chair. The proposal will describe the basic research question to be investigated and the experimental protocols to be employed. Proposals will be reviewed by the program faculty who will give permission to register for thesis credit. This course may be taken several times over the course of a student's graduate program, for variable credits. A written thesis and oral defense are required at the completion of the thesis research.
ENVS-791
Continuation of Thesis
0 Credits
Continuation of Thesis
ENVS-795
Environmental Science Graduate Research
1 - 4 Credits
This course is a graduate level, faculty-directed, student project or research involving laboratory or field work, computer modeling, or theoretical calculations that could be considered of an original nature. The level of study is appropriate for students in Environmental Science graduate program.
ENVS-798
Advanced Environmental Science Independent Study
1 - 4 Credits
This course is a faculty-directed tutorial of appropriate topics that are not part of the formal curriculum. The level of study is appropriate for student in the Environmental Science graduate program.
STSO-120
Introduction to Environmental Studies
3 Credits
Introduction to Environmental Studies explores the human condition within an environmental context by emphasizing critical environmental problems facing humans on both global and regional scales, and by applying interdisciplinary approaches. Issues, their causes, and potential solutions will be analyzed with respect to ethical, social, historical, political, scientific, and technological factors. Key concepts and themes include climate change, natural resource use and waste, population and consumption, urban and built environments, food, energy, globalization, markets, politics, environmental justice and inequality, and environmentalism.
STSO-220
Environment and Society
3 Credits
Environment and Society examines the social, cultural, political, and ethical issues related to the environment. The main purpose of this course is to get you to think critically about environment and society relations—how humans interact with the environment and one another—and the consequences of those interactions on individual, local, national, and regional levels. It is organized around the concepts of sustainability and resilience, which combine interdisciplinary insights from the natural sciences, social sciences, and humanities. Other key themes include the Anthropocene, industrialization and impacts of capitalism, and intersectionality and environmental justice.
STSO-225
Nature, Sex, and Gender
3 Credits
In this course, students will explore ways in which scientific knowledge about nonhumans and the natural world has been shaped by human ideas about sex, gender, and heteronormativity. They will learn about the changing perspectives on sex and gender in the natural sciences through readings and multimedia and investigate how gender and sexuality have been studied in biological and natural sciences past and present. Additionally, readings and media will explore the intersection of sex and gender in the environment with related social issues, such as racism, ableism, and colonialism. The course will also examine how scientific, science studies, and gender studies scholars are developing and using new approaches, such as queer ecologies and feminist biology, to critique and change how science is practiced with respect to assumptions and inferences about sex and gender.
STSO-320
Artificial Intelligence in Society
3 Credits
How does artificial intelligence impact society? In this course, we will examine how AI and related algorithmic technologies shape, and are shaped by, societal issues and factors. We will critically examine historical and contemporary research and applications of AI from social, cultural, and policy perspectives. Students will encounter a variety of perspectives from science and technology studies, the humanities, and the social sciences and use real-world cases in order to analyze how AI technologies may differentially impact people, communities, and societies.
STSO-510
Interdisciplinary Capstone Seminar
3 Credits
This course is an upper-level, Writing Intensive undergraduate seminar that explores the complex interlinkages between science, technology, the environment, and society in contemporary and historical contexts. The capstone seminar will sharpen the student’s understanding of STEM and environmental topics by integrating diverse perspectives from the humanities and social sciences, including approaches from science and technology studies (STS) and environmental studies. Students will work closely with faculty as they develop, revise, and present a research project. (Enrollment in a Department of STS minor or immersion, or permission of instructor).
WGST-225
Nature, Sex, and Gender
3 Credits
In this course, students will explore ways in which scientific knowledge about nonhumans and the natural world has been shaped by human ideas about sex, gender, and heteronormativity. They will learn about the changing perspectives on sex and gender in the natural sciences through readings and multimedia and investigate how gender and sexuality have been studied in biological and natural sciences past and present. Additionally, readings and media will explore the intersection of sex and gender in the environment with related social issues, such as racism, ableism, and colonialism. The course will also examine how scientific, science studies, and gender studies scholars are developing and using new approaches, such as queer ecologies and feminist biology, to critique and change how science is practiced with respect to assumptions and inferences about sex and gender.

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