California Institute for Rural Studies

Current Projects

COVID-19 Farmworker Study

The COVID-19 Farmworker Study (COFS) provides critical missing information on farmworkers’ abilities to protect themselves and their families during the COVID-19 pandemic. The study brings together a collective of community-based organizations, researchers and advocates to reveal information that can only be gathered directly from farmworkers who have been working during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Eastern Coachella Valley

Since 2011, CIRS has been working alongside community members and partners to reveal infrastructure and development needs as well as ongoing environmental justice issues affecting this region.

Rural Research network

We are convening a network of researchers who are rooted in rural communities and committed to rural justice. CIRS will host an initial meeting of the Rural Researchers Network in fall of 2021 to discuss rural research agendas and projects, identify and articulate shared values around community-driven research, build capacity among the next generation of rural researchers of color and develop new models and methods for co-equal partnerships between communities and researchers.