Dr. Lachelle Norris joined Tennessee Tech in the fall of 2002, having previously taught at the University of Tennessee-Martin. She earned her B.S. in sociology from Tennessee Tech University, and an M.A. and Ph.D. in sociology, with concentrations in social movements and environmental sociology, from the University of Tennessee-Knoxville. She regularly teaches Field Research Methods, Death and Dying, Environmental Sociology, Sociology of Appalachia, Social Movements/Social Change, Rural Sociology, and numerous special topics courses focused on hunger, food insecurity and homelessness. 

Her service and research interests involve area food security and she is currently working on a manuscript examining the lives of women of the Upper Cumberland from a historical perspective. She has published in Sociological Perspectives, Sociological Spectrum, Human Organizations, and the Journal of Fashion Marketing and Management.

Dr. Norris is also faculty advisor for the Addiction and Recovery Awareness @ Tennessee Tech University student organization. The ARA@TTU seeks to raise awareness about use of, and dependency on, addictive substances. The organization also gathers and disseminates information on addiction in order to educate the campus community and provides resources for available counseling and recovery opportunities along with offering peer support to those in recovery.

She currently lives on a small farm in Overton county where she spends a good chunk of her time and energy gardening organically and putting up the fruits of her labor. She has a few chickens, too.

Addiction and Recovery Awareness @ Tennessee Tech University