Diane Bates is Professor of Sociology and is the coordinator for Environmental Studies at TCNJ, where she has been a member of the faculty since 2003. She has primary research interests in urban and environmental sociology with dual research projects centered on development in Latin America and in New Jersey. She is an active researcher, interested in understanding social systems near and far, but with particular focus on issues in New Jersey, including the 2016 monograph Superstorm Sandy: The Inevitable Destruction and Reconstruction of the Jersey Shore (Rutgers University Press). In addition to seminars on both urban and environmental sociology, Dr. Bates teaches several courses about social scientific research methods. Dr. Bates is an advocate of community engaged learning, and has worked for over a decade on projects that engage students in the Trenton metropolitan area, particularly with non-profit and public partners. She lives in Ewing with her husband and two school-aged children.
