Elizabeth Sowers, ’13 sociology Ph.D., is the 2013 recipient of the Kathy Alberti Prize. The award recognizes the recent graduate for outstanding promise as a future professor, evidenced by excellence in scholarship and her service to professional societies.

Sowers earned a bachelor’s in global studies from UC Santa Barbara, master’s in sociology from the University of Cambridge and master’s in demographic and social analysis from UCI. Her research focuses on labor, globalization, economic sociology and the logistics industry. With logistics employment rapidly rising in the shadow of lost manufacturing employment, she’s interested in learning whether or not the former are “good” jobs, characterized by stability, solid wages and positive working conditions. She’s presented her findings at the American Sociological Association annual meeting and a number of other conferences, she’s authored or coauthored five studies or reviews in publications including the Sociology Compass and Logistics Spectrum, and she has several more in progress and under review. She also co-authored a book with sociology professor Nina Bandelj on a sociological perspective of the economy and state. Her work has been supported by the John Randolph Haynes Foundation and the UC Institute on Labor and Employment, among others. In 2012, she received the Social Sciences Dean’s Endowed Fellowship. In August, she will join the faculty of Cal State Channel Islands as an assistant professor of sociology.