25 to Watch in 2025: UK professor Loka Ashwood awarded MacArthur grant for research
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25 to watch in 2025
The Lexington Herald-Leader is tracking 25 individuals we expect will be making news in 2025.
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Editor’s note: The Herald-Leader is profiling 25 individuals we predict will make news in 2025.
Name: Loka Ashwood
Background: Ashwood is a sociologist focused on using community centered practices to address environmental challenges. She has been a professor at the University of Kentucky since 2020.
Why she’s someone to watch in 2025: In 2024, Ashwood was awarded a MacArthur fellowship, the prestigious “genius grant,” along with significant funding to go towards her work. Ashwood’s research focuses on rural identity and culture, and on the economic and social challenges rural communities face. At 39, she is one of the youngest recipients in this round of grants.
Why 2025 is so important: “My goal is to integrate participatory research into global analyses of corporate structure to work toward economic and environmental prosperity,” Ashwood said. “In the next year, I hope to spend more time with people in the places they love, and perhaps a little less time with corporate data. Community-centered ideas can help us find the best path forward to build within our ecological bounty without sacrificing it. “
What others say about Ashwood: Patrick Mooney, a sociology professor at UK, said Ashwood’s recognition from the MacArthur Foundation was well-deserved.
“As a fellow rural sociologist, I see Loka channeling that intellect to listen to the injustices felt by working-class people in rural America,” Mooney said.
“She hears their anger, but unlike many who dismiss those concerns, she gives them voice: explaining why they are reasonably frustrated with their treatment by both corporate, political, and urban interests. I think this is leading her to explore new solutions that are associated with neither the rather tired traditional left or right. As a colleague, I can say that her passion for pursuit of a safe living and working environment for rural folks extends to ensuring that students and faculty also have a right to a safe living and learning environment. Kentucky is blessed to have her with us.”
This story was originally published January 29, 2025 at 1:30 PM.
