Welcome

Welcome to the STS Futures Lab. We embrace interdisciplinary collaboration to better understand and address the complexities that arise at the interface of science, technology, and society, with a particular emphasis on the mid- to long-term futures of technological trajectories. For more about what we do, how we started, and some of our methods, please refer to our opening blog post. For more about our research project, please visit our Research page.

Please also visit digital exhibit in the Innovating STS project of the 4S STS Infrastructures Platform: The STS Futures Lab at the Intersection of Research and Pedagogy.

Are you a JMU student interested in joining the lab? Check out this video created by JMU and STS Futures Lab alumna Riley Pates:

STS Futures Lab Founding Co-Directors

Dr. Emily York

Emily York is an Associate Professor in the School of Integrated Sciences (SIS) at James Madison University. She holds a PhD in Communication (Science Studies) from the University of California-San Diego. Her research and teaching interests engage the social, political, and ethical dimensions of emerging technologies and innovation regimes, the reproduction of STEM cultures, and critical approaches to STS inquiry and STS pedagogies. She is an associate editor in the editorial collective for the journal Engaging Science, Technology, and Society with a focus on the issue of STS Pedagogies. Here is my CV and here is my faculty profile page at JMU.

Dr. Shannon N. Conley

Shannon N. Conley is an Associate Professor in Integrated Science and Technology (ISAT) at James Madison University.  She holds a PhD in Political Science from Arizona State University with concentrations in Public Policy, Political Theory, and Science and Technology Studies (STS).  Her research and teaching focus on social, policy, and ethical issues related to emerging science and technology. She participates in the scholarly community of Studies of Experience and Expertise (SEE), is a member of the Science and Democracy Network, and was elected president of the Communities of Integration Network in 2016.

STS Futures Lab Faculty & Affiliates

Dr. Tolu Odumosu, School of Integrated Sciences

Dr. Michael Klein, Writing, Rhetoric, & Technical Communication

2022-2023 Student Lab Members

Coming Soon

2020-2021 Student Lab Members

Nolan Harrington is a second-year student at James Madison University majoring in Integrated Science and Technology with a minor in Honors Interdisciplinary Studies. He has been part of the STS Futures Lab for three semesters. During this time, Nolan has worked extensively with his advisors Drs. Conley and York to research reproductive technology and policy in the country of Malta. This research has been accepted to SEESHOP, an international workshop for discussing expertise in the realm of science, and to The Society for the Social Studies of Science (4S). Nolan has also participated in various Co-Imagining Futures Engagements with the Lab. Outside of the Lab, Nolan is an associate editor for the National Collegiate Honors Council’s Undergraduate Journal for Research and Creative Activity and a Candidate for Stanford University’s University Innovation Fellows program. His favorite part about the lab is getting to engage with real-world implications of STEM that expand past the basic curriculum.

Nolan Harrington

Meghan Jennings is a junior in the Integrated Science and Technology program at James Madison University. She is concentrating in energy systems and sectoring in environmental science. She plans to minor in Environmental Information Systems as well. Meghan has been a part of the STS lab since Spring of 2019. Since joining the STS lab, she has been conducting her own research regarding sustainable energy transitions in Virginia.

 Meghan Jennings

Jenna Osorio is a third-year Integrated Science and Technology major and is a member of the STS Futures Lab. Jenna plans on following a tailored concentration that focuses on sustainable energy and environmental issues and is double minoring in Honors Interdisciplinary Studies and Biology. Jenna is very passionate about STS and environmental sustainability studies, and she is so grateful to Dr. Shannon Conley and Dr. Emily York for creating such an open and positive working and learning environment for their students.

Jenna Osorio

Max Etka

Mallory Cunningham

Courtney Forberg

Cara Garvey

Alexa Houck

Joshua Jones

Ayshah Obaid

Justine Sambo

Andrew Webb

Katie Wheeler

Quinn Williams

Previous Student Lab Members

Dorothy Caserta is a senior in ISAT at JMU. She is doing a tailored concentrating related to sustainable energy and environmental issues, and minoring in STS. This is her second semester in the STS Futures Lab. Dorothy participated in various Co-Imagining Futures Engagements with the Lab. In the Spring of 2019, Dorothy worked on a paper with the STS Futures Lab which ended up peer reviewed and published in OMICS, a journal of integrative biology. In the Summer of 2019, Dorothy interned with the VA Department of Health Office of Radiological Health where she worked in the Radioactive Materials Program and Emergency Preparedness and Response Program. During her internship she assisted in environmental collection, monitoring, and analysis, assisted and observed several state-wide drills for emergency planning and training, and observed the licensing process for industries using radioactive materials. In the Fall of 2019 she attended and co-presented at the Society for Social Studies of Science (4S) Annual Meeting in New Orleans on “Manufacturing Nature: A Case Study in the Construction of a Natural Pool and Vertical Gray Water Filtration and Farming Systems”. For the remainder of her senior year, Dorothy will be doing a local agricultural and farm internship with local farms in Harrisonburg, VA, will continue to work on her capstone project of designing and constructing a Natural Swimming Pool, and further develop her research in the STS Futures Lab. Dorothy loves the STS Futures Lab for a number of reasons, her main one being because of the open and creative environment Dr. Shannon Conley and Dr. Emily York have worked so hard to create for their students.

Dorothy Caserta

Caroline Clark is a third year undergraduate student in the Integrated Science and Technology program at James Madison University and a member of the STS Futures Lab. She plans on sectoring in Energy and Applied Biotechnology, in addition to pursuing a Spanish minor.

Caroline Clark

Noah Etka

Matthew Long is a third-year undergraduate student in Public Policy and Administration at James Madison University with a concentration in Public Management. He has a minor in Science, Technology and Society, and has strong interests in Science and Technology Policy, Environmental Management, and Emerging Technologies. In the Spring Semester of 2020, Matthew will be participating in the Department of Political Science’s Global Affairs Program in Washington D.C., where he will be seeking an internship with the Federal Government.

Matthew Long

Nick McCaslin is a senior in the Integrated Science and Technology program at James Madison University and a member of the STS Futures Lab. Nick is sectoring in production systems and telecommunications, networking, and security. His concentration is on leadership in innovation systems. He has worked with JMU as an Orientation Peer Adviser and is also the executive director of JMU SafeRides, a nonprofit organization on campus with the mission of creating a safer community by preventing drunk driving.

Nick McCaslin

Riley Pates is currently a senior at James Madison University in the College of Integrated of Science and Technology. Riley has participated in the STS Fellowship Lab for three semesters and has researched the relationship between Sex Trafficking and Technology, the Investigation of how Technology is Being Utilized by Traffickers in the Human Trafficking Cycle, and Sex Trafficking alongside Rt. 81. This personal research stemmed into Riley’s Capstone project where she is researching A Systems Approach to Combating Sex Trafficking in Virginia.

Riley Pates

Justine Sambo is a third year undergraduate student at James Madison University. She is currently majoring in Integrated Science and Technology and sectoring in Production Systems and Telecommunications Networking and Security and plans to concentrate in Production Systems.

Justine Sambo

Anna Sortore is a second-year student at James Madison University. Her major is Integrated Science and Technology with a minor in Honors Interdisciplinary Studies. This is her first year in the STS Futures Lab and she looks forward to the broad scope of research opportunities, as well as the support and access to materials that the STS Lab provides. Anna is an active member of many clubs on campus, including ISAT Honor Society, Climbing Club, and Intervaristy. She is an employee at the Adventure Program in UREC and is a teaching assistant for a freshmen level ISAT course.

Anna Sortore

Dylan Tracey is a senior at James Madison University pursuing a degree in Integrated Science and Technology with a concentration in production systems and minoring in supply chain management and military science. He has been in the U.S. Army Reserves for the past 4 years and will commission as an officer this May. His senior capstone project involves creating a passive lower limb exoskeleton for soldiers with the goal to provide support and decrease lower limb injuries caused by demanding military activities.

Dylan Tracey

Sydney VanNostrand is in her third of four years at JMU. She is an ISAT major with a concentration in Energy Systems. In the Spring of 2019, Sydney worked on a paper with the STS Futures Lab which ended up peer reviewed and published in OMICS, a journal of integrative biology. Sydney has been conducting her own research regarding sustainable energy transitions in Virginia. In the Fall of 2019, Sydney co-presented her and Meghan’s research at the Annual Meeting of the Society for Social Studies of Science in New Orleans.

Sydney VanNostrand

2018 STS Futures Lab Members

Faculty Affiliates

We welcome our colleagues to become STS Futures Lab faculty affiliates. Want to collaborate, co-advise a student, or just pop in when you can and be a friend of the lab? Please contact us!