Employment
Powerplant Idea LLC
Consultant and researcher (2024 – Present)
George Mason University
Director of communications, Honors College (June 2019 – Present)
Concentration head, MAIS in energy and sustainability (2023 – Present)
Digital initiatives coordinator and Instructor, Honors College (August 2015 – June 2019)
Distance education assistant, University Libraries (June 2014 – August 2015)
Graduate technical director: Research, technology, and online community, Honors College (June 2013 – June 2014)
Graduate teaching assistant, Department of Cultural Studies: CULT 320 (Spring 2014)
Graduate teaching assistant: NCLC 203, New Century College [now School of Integrative Studies] (Spring 2012, Spring 2013)
Graduate teaching assistant: HNRS 110, Honors College (Fall 2011, Fall 2012, Fall 2013)
Saylor Foundation
Consulting professor for OERs (August 2012-June 2013)
Virginia Tech
Graduate assistant: ePortfolio committee, Department of English (Summer 2010, Summer 2011)
Graduate assistant, Center for 21st Century Studies (Summer 2010)
Graduate teaching assistant: ENGL 2614, Department of English (Fall 2010 – Spring 2011)
Education
George Mason University
PhD Cultural Studies (2022); Fields: Culture and Political Economy; Cultural Studies of Science and Technology
Virginia Tech
MA English (2011)
College of William and Mary
BA English (2001)
Publications and Presentations
Dissertation and thesis
PhD Dissertation: “Misplaced Hopes, Dysfunctional Attachments, and Unplanned Energy Transitions: The Role of Clean Coal Discourse in the Cultivation of Energy Communitarianism Along the Ohio River” chaired by Denise Albanese. Roger Lancaster and Andrew Light, committee members, July 2022. https://doi.org/10.13021/MARS/6334
MA Thesis: “A Genealogy of Frankenstein’s Creation: Appropriation, Hypermediacy, and Distributed Cognition in Shelley Jackson’s Patchwork Girl, Victor Erice’s Spirit of the Beehive, and Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein” chaired by Robert B. Siegel. Peter W. Graham and Katarina M. Powell, committee members, May 2011. http://hdl.handle.net/10919/76983
Book chapters
“The Sex Pistols and Situationism” with Matteo ‘Babe’ Ferrari, Federico Caprari, Damiano Cason, Collin Hawley, Marco Manicardi, and Adriana Zdrzalek. In Handbook to the Sex Pistols, edited by John Schofield and Paul Graves-Brown. Routledge, forthcoming/under review.
“Flexible, not flawless: Teaching critical reading skills through a bridge program” with Kayla Gourlay and Maoria Kirker. In Teaching Critical Reading Skills: Strategies for Academic Librarians, edited by Hannah Gascho Rempel and Rachel Hamelers. ACRL Press, 2023.
“The politics of space in Joe Sacco’s representations of the Appalachian coalfields.” In The comics of Joe Sacco: Journalism in a visual world, edited by Daniel Worden, 123-139. University Press of Mississippi, 2015.
Writing in scholarly journals
Scholarly commentary on “The World As Abyss” Lateral 13, no. 1 (2024). https://doi.org/10.25158/L13.1.6
Response to Caroline West’s “From company town to post-industrial: Inquiry on the redistribution of space and capital with a Universal Basic Income” Lateral 8, no. 1 (2019). https://doi.org/10.25158/L8.1.11
“Towards an epistemological theory of comics journalism: Case studies in Joe Sacco’s war reportage.” Public Knowledge Journal 3, no. 4 (2011). [Journal defunct; archived in the Internet Archive Wayback Machine]
Conference papers
“From clean coal to blue hydrogen; or, how not to transition off of fossil fuels” at the Conference on Global Coal Transitions (July 17, 2024): Columbus, OH.
“Solidarity, community, and sectoralism: Appalachian climate response from ‘clean coal’ to the ‘hydrogen hub’” on the “Energy, climate, and federal investments reshaping North America” panel of the Critical Rural Geographies group at Dimensions of Political Ecology conference (February 24, 2024): Lexington, KY.
“Clean coal, Appalachian energy communitarianism, and the problem of solidarity” on the “Climate solidarity in the capitalocene” panel at American Studies Association conference (November 3, 2023): Montreal, Quebec.
“Conclusions, residues, and wastes: The aftermath of ‘clean coal’ in Appalachia.” Participant on an Environment, Space and Place working group panel at Cultural Studies Association national conference (June 3, 2023): Fairfax, VA.
“‘Clean coal’: Community economic identity, sectoral bargaining, and energy transition in Appalachia.” Participant and co-organizer of Environment/(In)justice/Community panel at Connecting/Not Connecting symposium at the George Mason University Center for Humanities Research (April 28, 2023): Fairfax, VA.
“How not to have a just transition; or, the relationships between ‘clean coal,’ constrained political horizons, and metaphors for state planning in Central Appalachia.” Participant in the “Energy Reckonings” seminar at Cultural Studies Association national conference (June 2-4, 2022): Chicago, IL.
“How not to have a just energy transition. The case of ‘clean coal.’” Dimensions of Political Ecology (March 25, 2022): Virtual.
“Breaking things in the coal industry: A reply to Gavin Mueller’s Breaking Things at Work.” Cultural Studies Association national conference (June 11, 2021): Virtual.
“The art of coal waste: Disjunct temporalities in the use of coal waste as a material in contemporary fine art.” Cultural Studies Association national conference (May 24, 2017): Washington, DC.
“Towards an ecocritical theory of comics journalism: Spatial practices and affective engagements in Joe Sacco’s representations of inequity in the Appalachian coal fields.” Popular Culture Association/American Culture Association national conference (March 27, 2013): Washington, DC.
“The epistemology of comics journalism.” International Communication Association international conference (May 28, 2012): Phoenix, AZ.
“Frankenstein’s hideous progeny go forth: Reception theories, participatory culture, and distributed cognition.” Virginia Tech English Graduate Student Organization conference (February 2012): Blacksburg, VA.
“Bela Tarr’s Werkmeister Harmonies: Diegetic space and ideology.” Virginia Tech English Graduate Student Organization Conference (February 2011): Blacksburg, VA.
“Towards an epistemological theory of comics journalism: Case studies in the war reportage of Joe Sacco.” Mid-Atlantic Popular and American Culture Association regional conference (October 2010): Alexandria, VA.
“‘Mutual aid’ and ‘the struggle for existence’ in Darwinist fiction: Representations of the primate as natural Other in H. G. Wells’ The Time Machine and Peter Dickinson’s Eva.” Popular Culture Association/American Culture Association national conference (April 2, 2010): St. Louis, MO.
Research-based presentations, guest lectures, and events
“Contradictions in climate policy: The Inflation Reduction Act and Bipartisan Infrastructure Act” Discussion with the University Scholars Institute, George Mason University (August 19, 2024).
“Just transitions.” Discussion with the University Scholars Institute, George Mason University (August 17, 2023).
“Climate justice.” Guest lecture for Dr. Ilona Moore’s Introduction to Global Affairs, George Mason University (April 27, 2023).
“Climate reparations.” Guest lecture for Dr. David Zeglen’s Introduction to International Studies, University of Michigan (April 5, 2023 and November 29, 2023)
“How not to have a ‘just transition’: the case of ‘clean coal.” Presentation to #EnviroSocSci Lunch Seminar, George Mason University (May 6, 2022).
“Challenges for sustainable energy infrastructure transitions in the Anthropocene: A preliminary report on fieldwork concerning ‘clean coal’ in a community along the Ohio River” Presentation at University Scholars Institute, George Mason University (August 22, 2019).
“What’s ‘social’ about the ‘social cost of carbon’? Or, does the rising sea level lift all ships?” Presentation at Cultural Studies Student Organizing Committee’s Cultural Studies Colloquium student panel, George Mason University (Fall 2018).
“Coal mining, labor unrest, and automation: Opening remarks before a screening of the PBS documentary The Mine Wars” Presentation to YDSA student organization, George Mason University (May 2017).
“Ethical and political relations to the distant Other in Hedges and Sacco’s Days of Destruction, Days of Revolt.” Presentation to New Century College Cornerstones students, George Mason University (September 2013).
Professional presentations
“Integrating the communications function and experiential learning” Presentation to College Communicators Association conference (January 10, 2025): Norfolk, VA.
Career talk to Washington Youth Summit on the Environment, George Mason University (June 25, 2024)
Career talk to Washington Journalism and Media Conference, George Mason University (July 10, 2024 and July 12, 2023)
Teaching
George Mason University
HNRS 411 Honors College Thesis: Research and Creative Projects Seminar
Instructor of record (Spring 2018, Fall 2018, Spring 2019)
Assisting Dean Zofia Burr (Spring 2016, Fall 2016, Spring 2017)
HNRS 410 Honors College Thesis Proposal: Research and Creative Projects Seminar
Instructor of record (Fall 2017, Spring 2018, Summer 2018, Fall 2018, Spring 2019)
Assisting Dean Zofia Burr (Spring 2016, Fall 2016, Spring 2017)
HNRS 361 Multidisciplinary Practicum
Research and Creative Projects Seminar (Fall 2019, Spring 2020, Fall 2020, Spring 2021, Spring 2022, Spring 2023)
Teaching Climate Change – assisting Dr. Melanie Fedri (Summer 2020)
HNRS 360 Multidisciplinary Topics
Energy and Culture (Fall 2019, Fall 2021)
HNRS 353 Technology in the Contemporary World
Clean coal and culture (Spring 2018)
Science, technology, and power (Spring 2016, Spring 2017)
HNRS 330 Research, Technology, and Online Community
College application coaches – with Kareema Smith and Eva Bramesco (Spring 2019)
Communications research team (Fall 2018)
Early Identification Program research team (Spring 2018)
CAART research team (Fall 2017, Spring 2018)
OER textbook project (Spring 2017)
University Libraries information cycle project team (Fall 2016)
CULT 320 Globalization and Culture (Fall 2019)
HNRS 261 Community Connection Practicum: College Application Coaches
Instructor of Record, with assistance from Eva Bramesco and Jasmyne Rogers (Spring 2020)
Assistant to Eva Bramesco (Spring 2021)
NCLC 203 Inquiry to Action (Spring 2012, Spring 2013)
HNRS 131 Contemporary Social Issues
Responses to Climate Change (Fall 2022, Fall 2023, and Fall 2024)
HNRS 110 Research Methods
Instructor of Record (Fall 2015, Fall 2016, Fall 2017)
Graduate teaching assistant (Fall 2011, Fall 2012, Fall 2013)
HNRS 122 Reading the Arts
Climate Change in Fiction (Spring 2025)
EIP 0909 Climate Change and Civic Engagement Pre-Honors Seminar (Summer 2020)
Student Transition Empowerment Program Critical Reading Workshops (Summer 2017, Summer 2018, Summer 2019)
Awards
David W. Rossell Quill Award, George Mason University (2021)
Exceptional Support Award, George Mason University (2015)
XCaliber Award, Virginia Tech – with ePortfolio for English team (2011)
Carol Chermside Award for Best Master’s Thesis, Virginia Tech (2011)
Grants and Funding
Early Career Fellow, Global Coal Transitions Conference travel and attendance grant (2024)
Jack Kent Cook Foundation funding for EIP Pre-Honors Seminar – PI for EIP, Honors College, and University Library team (2020)
Summer support for dissertation research, Cultural Studies/CHSS (2019)
4-VA 2015 Open Educational Resources Grant – PI or OER team (2016-2017)
Selected Academic Service
Faculty Advisor, Student Environmental Justice Alliance (2023-2024)
Co-organizer, Center for Humanities Research “Connecting/Not Connecting in Climate Justice Organizing” panel, George Mason University (11 November 2022).
Organizer, Climate Justice and Energy Transition reading group program (2020-2022); Participant, Climate Justice and Energy Transition reading group (2022-present)
Organizer, Center for Humanities Research Environmental Justice reading group (with Levi Van Sant 2020-2023; solo 2023-present)
Faculty Advisor, Virginia Environmental Justice Summit (2020-2024)
Co-organizer, Center for Humanities Research “Climate Justice: Pasts/Presents/Futures” panel, George Mason University, 1 April 2022.
Faculty Supervisor, Honors College communications interns (2018 – present)
Chair, Honors College space committee (2018 – 2021)
Member, Honors College space committee (2021 present)
Member, Honors College curriculum committee (2016 – present)
Coronavirus instructional continuity team (Spring 2020)
Honors College designated “Blackboard champion” for ed tech consultations (Spring 2020)
Chair, Honors College website committee (2016-2018)
Advisor, Honors College Volgenau School of Engineering majors (2016-2018)
Member, Honors College advising committee (2016-2018)
Member, University Libraries tutorial team (2014-2018)
Member, Honors College data committee (2017)
Substitute member, university Student Educational Planner committee (2017)
Member, University preferred names and pronouns policy proposal committee (2016)
Reviewer: Media, War, and Conflict (2015)
Library representative (substitute), University distance education council (2015)
Co-organizer, University Libraries distance education roundtable (2015)
Participant, University Libraries teaching and learning roundtable (2015)
Presenter, University Libraries tech talks (2014-2015)
Member, University Libraries website committee (2014-2015)
Member, University Libraries committee on digital media policy (2014-2015)
Institutional Coverage and Media Appearances
Parkes, Xia Amari. “Richard Todd Stafford teaches youths about water pollution and to monitor stream health.” George Mason University Honors College website (June 23, 2023)
Butler, Audrey and Sophia Chapin. “Honors College’s Richard Todd Stafford recognized with David W. Rossell Quill award.” George Mason University Honors College website (April 14, 2021)
Allen, Laura Harbart. “After coal and COVID-19, Appalachia needs more than a one-time check. Universal Basic Income could be next.” 100 Days in Appalachia (August 4, 2020)
Lamagdeleine, Izz and Imani Holloman. “Faces of Mason: Richard Todd Stafford.” IV Fourth Estate (April 1, 2019)
Clark, Mary Lee. “Cultural Studies students create new podcast for 25th Annual Colloquium.” George Mason University website (October 31st, 2018)
Selected Community Engagement
Warren County Izaak Walton League
Second Vice President, Warren County VA Izaak Walton League (2022-2023)
Walton Wednesdays instructor (water pollution), Warren County VA Izaak Walton League (2020-2023)
Save Our Streams (benthic macroinvertebrate citizen science project) Chair, Warren County VA Izaak Walton League (2021-2022)
Save Happy Creek Coalition representative, Warren County VA Izaak Walton League (2020-2021)
Friends of the North Fork of the Shenandoah River
Board Member, Friends of the North Fork of the Shenandoah River (2021-present)
Secretary, Board of the Friends of the North Fork of the Shenandoah River (2024-present)
last updated 05 May 2025