Maddy Kroot [she/her]

I am an assistant professor in the department of geography at the University of Wisconsin-Madison (beginning August 2025). I received my Ph.D. in Geography from Clark University in 2025. My interests lie at the intersections of political ecology, energy geographies, critical infrastructure studies, and science and technology studies., where my research interrogates the environmental politics of energy transitions with a focus on electricity infrastructure. How can we think spatially about justice, democracy, and participation in and through energy transitions and infrastructure systems?

I explore how "green-on-green" conflict arises when the need for decarbonization comes into friction with mandates for greater public participation in energy governance and the protection of rural landscapes targeted for new energy infrastructure. My doctoral dissertation examines community opposition to new high-voltage transmission lines in northern New England, intended to increase imports of Quebecois hydroelectricity to Massachusetts to meet MA's decarbonization targets. The project considers transmission both as a mechanism for grid decarbonization and a locus for community contestation over how decisions are made about the energy future - where, by whom, and via what logics.

I was a former National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellow and a Jack Kent Cooke Foundation Graduate Scholar. My research has been supported by grants from the NSF Doctoral Dissertation Research Improvement program, the Edna Bailey Sussman Foundation, and internal university funding sources. I previously completed a Post-Baccalaureate Fellowship in Geography at Dartmouth College, where I also earned a B.A. in Geography and Linguistics in 2019. When I am not staring at powerlines, I am an avid hiker and do regular trail maintenance on the Appalachian Trail in NH.