Education

DPhil, Anthropology, University of Oxford
MPhil, Medical Anthropology, University of Oxford
BA, Global Public Health and Anthropology, Bard College

Bio

Nicholas Shapiro was trained as a medical anthropologist at Oxford and cross-trained through postdocs in environmental monitoring, public humanities, and Indigenous feminist research methods. Shapiro publishes across anthropology, public health, environmental engineering, and public facing venues. He directs the Carceral Ecologies lab, advancing research at the intersection of environment, health, and mass incarceration. As a specialist in community-centered methodology, he is also the Director of Research of the UCLA-CDU Dana Center for Neuroscience and Society. His first book, Homesick (Duke, 2025), asks how the homes became a primary site for toxic exposure and how we can collectively struggle for cleaner indoor air. The book questions the efficacy of the traditional tools used to cultivate accountability, repair, and change, argues for their reimagining.

His research and teaching have been recognized with numerous honors, including the UCLA Public Impact Research Award, the Chancellor’s Award for Community-Engaged Scholars, the Cultural Horizons Prize from the Society for Cultural Anthropology, Outstanding Contribution to Making and Doing Prize from the Society for the Social Studies of Science and others.

For more information on his publications see Google Scholar.