Prof Stoddard is a human-environment geographer who is interested in the intersection of nature, society, and justice, particularly in the context of climate change. She looks at the ways in which we can design for climate resilience, in terms of infrastructure, location specific practices, and through community resilience. Stoddard also looks at the vulnerability and resilience of food systems to disasters (climate, disease outbreaks, etc.), and the impacts for humans, animals, and ecosystems. She looks at the ways in which technology, policies, and social movements can make powerful change to make food systems more resilient and just. 

Stoddard’s interest and research on social justice extends into the classroom, including research on critical and culturally relevant pedagogies, STEM and social justice, and in her own efforts to create inclusive spaces and practices for learning. Stoddard has been the recipient of multiple grants to examine issues of bias and stereotyping on undergraduate student project teams and the impact this has on student learning and experience. Through this work, Stoddard, and colleague Geoff Pfeifer, have developed a set of modules and tools to create more equitable team dynamics for use by both students and faculty. These tools continue to be tested, analyzed, and modified with support from her student research team and collaborators.

Stoddard believes that teaching, advising, working with, and learning from students is the best job a person can have. She works to provide students with transferable tools, skills, and knowledge that can enable them to succeed in their areas of interest, in their workplace, and as change agents in the world.