Todd J. Lu

Assistant Professor of Sociology (affiliate faculty in School of Environment and Sustainability)

University of Cincinnati

Research Background

My research employs mixed methods to analyze how cultural ideas across social movements shape U.S. environmental politics. My current projects analyze 1) divergent cultural meanings of “green jobs” between U.S. labor unions and environmental organizations and 2) political mobilization and discourse around heat stress protections in U.S. workplaces.

My work appears in peer-reviewed academic journals including Environmental Politics, Mobilization: An International Quarterly, The Sociological Quarterly, and Annual Review of Sociology.

Recent Publications

Vo, Austin H., Katherine Furl, Todd Lu, and Neal Caren. 2026. “Perceiving Protest: How Publics View the Disruptiveness and Effectiveness of Protest.” The Sociological Quarterly 0(0):1–28. doi:10.1080/00380253.2025.2604526. [Public File]

Lu, Todd. 2025. “Reassessing the Economy–Environment Tradeoff: Do Industry Sectors, Green Jobs Opportunities, and Regulatory Threats Affect Environmental Concerns?” Environmental Politics 34(3):507–31. doi: 10.1080/09644016.2024.2384779. [Public File]

Lu, Todd. 2024. “When Black Movements Matter: Controlling Images and Black Lives Matter Protests in Media Attention to Police Killings.” Mobilization: An International Quarterly 29(1):19–40. doi: 10.17813/1086-671X-29-1-19. [Public File]

See my Google Scholar Profile for full list and current works.