James (Jim) Elliott is an award-winning sociologist who earned his Ph.D. in Sociology (with a minor in Geography) from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He then trained as a Postdoctoral Fellow with the Carolina Population Center at UNC Chapel Hill. Before coming to Rice, he earned tenure at the University of Oregon and Tulane University, where he received presidential awards for his undergraduate, graduate and service-learning teaching.

Dr. Elliott’s current research focuses on the social production of inequalities and environmental hazards as well as urban and community dynamics. He is currently a consulting editor for the American Journal of Sociology, an editorial board member of the American Sociological Review, and an invited member of the Committee on Population at the National Academies of Sciences. At Rice, he co-directs the Center for Coastal Futures and Adaptive Resilience (CFAR), and in the past he has served as the co-editor of Sociological Perspectives and as an advisor to the National Science Foundation’s program in Sociology, as well as Department Chair.

RECENT & NOTABLE PUBLICATIONS:

(* DENOTES STUDENT OR POSTDOCTORAL COAUTHOR AT TIME OF SUBMISSION)

Elliott, James R., Kevin Loughran, A. Alexander Priest*, Phylicia Lee Brown. 2026. “The Revolving Door of Risk: Climate Hazards, Risk Containment and the Hidden Social Dynamics of Managed Retreat.” Russell Sage Foundation Journal of Social Sciences. Forthcoming.

Elliott, James R., A. Alexander Priest*, Phylicia Lee Brown, Stephen J. Brown*. 2025. “Toxic Fear: Climate, Contamination, and Worries about Future Flooding in Coastal Industrial Communities.” Natural Hazards Review.

Elliott, James R., Dominic Boyer, and Phylicia Lee Brown*. 2024. “Hurricane Milton: Flooded Industrial Sites and Toxic Chemical Releases Are a Silent, Growing Threat.” The Conversation, Sept. 30.

Elliott, James R., Kevin Loughran, and Phylicia Lee Brown.* 2023. “Divergent Residential Pathways from Flood-Prone Areas: How Neighborhood Inequalities Are Shaping Urban Climate Adaptation.” Social Problems 70(4): 869-892.

Elliott, James R. and Zheye Wang. 2023. “Managed Retreat: A Nationwide Study of the Local, Racially Segmented Resettlement of Homeowners from Rising Flood Risks.” Environmental Research Letters 18(6): 06-4050.
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Howell, Junia* and James R. Elliott. 2019. “Damages Done: The Longitudinal Impacts of Natural Hazards on Wealth Inequality in the United States.” Social Problems 66(3): 448-467.

• Honorable Mention for the 2019 Allan Schnaiberg Outstanding Publication Award from the Environmental Sociology Section of the American Sociological Association.
• Social Problems: “most discussed article of the year (2019)”
• Presented to the U.S. Government Accountability Office (the research wing of the US Congress), November 14, 2019, Washington, DC.

Elliott, James R. and Junia Howell*. 2017. “Beyond Disasters: A Longitudinal Analysis of Natural Hazards’ Unequal Impacts on Residential Instability.” Social Forces 95(3): 1181-1207.

Frickel, Scott and James R. Elliott. 2018. Sites Unseen: Uncovering Hidden Hazards in American Cities New York: Russell Sage Foundation.

• Winner of the 2020 Robert E. Park Award for Best Book from the Community and Urban Sociology Section of the American Sociological Association

Elliott, James R. and Matthew Thomas Clement*. 2017. “Natural Hazards and Local Development: The Successive Nature of Landscape Transformation in the United States.” Social Forces 96(1): 851-876.

Elliott, James R. and Scott Frickel. 2015. “Urbanization as Socio-Environmental Succession: The Case of Hazardous Industrial Site Accumulation.” American Journal of Sociology 120(6): 1736-1777.

• Honorable Mention for the 2016 Jane Addams Award for Best Article from the Community and Urban Sociology Section of the American Sociological Association.

Elliott, James R. and Scott Frickel. 2013. “The Historical Nature of Cities: A Study of Urbanization and Hazardous Waste Accumulation.” American Sociological Review 78(4): 521-543. (Lead article.)

Pais, Jeremy* and James R. Elliott. 2008. “Places as Recovery Machines: Vulnerability and Neighborhood Change after Major Hurricanes.” Social Forces 86(4): 1415-1453.

Elliott, James R. and Jeremy Pais.* 2006. “Race, Class, and Hurricane Katrina: Social Differences in Human Responses to Disaster.” Social Science Research 35(2): 295-321.

• Most cited and downloaded article in the journal’s history. In top 20 of all social science articles downloaded from ScienceDirect since 2005.

Elliott, James R. and Ryan A. Smith. 2004. “Race, Gender and Workplace Power.” American Sociological Review 69(3): 365-386.

Smith, Ryan and James R. Elliott. 2002. “Does Ethnic Concentration Influence Access to Authority? An Examination of Contemporary Urban Labor Markets.” Social Forces 81(1): 255-279.

Elliott, James R. and Mario Sims. 2001. “Ghettos and Barrios: The Impact of Neighborhood Ethnicity and Poverty on Job Matching among Blacks and Latinos.” Social Problems 48(3): 341-361.

Elliott, James R. and Ryan Smith. 2001. “Ethnic Matching of Supervisors to Subordinate Work Groups: Findings on Bottom-Up Ascription and Social Closure.” Social Problems 48(2): 258-276.