Jeremy Sorgen

Research

• Environment
• Tribal Sovereignty
• Philosophy
• Problem-Solving

The Land Sovereignty Lab uses qualitative, participatory, and philosophical methods to co-produce research products that address several audiences: Tribal, agency, and funding partners, environmental scholars, and engaged citizens. We frequently collaborate with quantitative and remote sensing experts to conduct mixed-method studies of complex socio-environmental problems. Current and recent projects include Tribal sovereignty in land use planning and development, Tribal community development, intergenerational storytelling, and environmental restoration. Our research has received funding from state and federal agencies and private foundations.

Projects

ActiveFunded by CDFW Cannabis Restoration Grant Program

Illegal “Trespass” Cannabis on Tribal Lands

Tribal lands are three times more likely than other land types to be impacted by illegal or “trespass” cannabis grows, causing serious cultural, environmental, and health challenges for California’s rural Tribes. These grows impact watersheds, wildlife, and culturally significant sites. This research, in partnership with a Tribal advisory committee, explores the impacts of trespass grows on Tribal lands and ancestral territories, revealing a cluster of issues surrounding legacy contamination, jurisdictional and enforcement gaps, and Tribal restoration priorities.

Preliminary findings

• California’s Tribal lands are 3x more likely to be impacted than other land types.
• Illegal cannabis is a problem statewide, and Tribes experience its impacts in residential areas, remote areas of the reservation, adjacent private and public parcels, and within their wider ancestral territories.
• Unlicensed cultivators target Tribal lands because of jurisdictional and enforcement gaps.
• For California’s rural Tribes, environmental impacts are also cultural and community impacts, including direct impacts to human health.
• State-led eradication and remediation efforts can deepen harm to sensitive ecosystems and Tribal cultural resources when conducted without Tribal consent, protocols, or cultural monitoring.

ActiveFunded by California Department of Cannabis Control & the Campbell Foundation

The Sovereign Market

Over one-quarter of the 575 federally recognized Tribes in the United States have exercised their sovereignty to develop cannabis or hemp programs. In California alone, more than 18 federally recognized Tribes have opened commercial cannabis enterprises despite the lack of formal pathways to participate in the state-licensed market. In partnership with UNLV Cannabis Policy Institute and UC Davis Institute of the Environment, this project promotes Tribal economic sovereignty and sustainable development by understanding diverse economic strategies across Tribal nations. The project will assess nationwide partnership models to outline pathways for California State and Tribal cannabis markets to work together and to assess prospects for intertribal trade.

CompletedFunded by California Humanities & NEH

Hitch Stories: Intergenerational Knowledge Sharing

The Clear Lake Hitch, known as Chi to Clear Lake Tribes, used to be so abundant that Elders say you could walk across the rivers on their backs. Hitch served as a staple food, and “hitching” season was a time of feast, ceremony, and celebration. Today the Hitch are in rapid decline due to environmental degradation of the Clear Lake watershed. This project engages Pomo youth and Elders in intergenerational storytelling to pass down traditional knowledge and build up the next generation of environmental stewards.

Partners & products

In partnership with Robinson Rancheria and other Clear Lake Tribes, researchers and students at UC Berkeley and Northeastern University created Tribal archives and a public-facing StoryMap. The project aims to share cultural and traditional ecological knowledge across generations and raise awareness about the Hitch.

CompletedFunded by California Department of Cannabis Control

Tribal Cultural Resource Protection

California Assembly Bill 52 mandates meaningful consultation between agencies and Tribal governments on permit applications. A research team from UC Berkeley and Northeastern University, in partnership with a Tribal advisory committee, studied the experience of consultation and Tribal cultural resource protection after Proposition 64 (2016) legalized adult-use cannabis. With the goal of strengthening Tribal sovereignty over cannabis permitting, the team produced publications, a report, new mapping tools, and a customizable consultation policy template for Tribes.

Key findings & resources

• There is a high probability of spatial coincidence of cannabis and Tribal cultural resources.
• Meaningful consultation mandated by state statutes is undermined by inadequate funding, information gaps, and agency discretion, creating power imbalances.
• Many Tribal representatives are concerned about changing policies for legal recreational cannabis in California.
• Tribes have vast differences in GIS capacity.
• Many Tribal representatives reported consultation was lacking or entirely absent from cannabis projects in their jurisdictions.

Guided by these findings and the Tribal Advisory Committee, the team developed mapping/GIS tools, a customizable Consultation Policy Template, and publications, webinars, and a final report, all available on the UC Berkeley Cannabis Research Center’s Resources for Tribes page.

Publications

1. 2026

   Field Philosophy and Community Engaged Research

   Sorgen, J. Public Philosophy Journal, special issue, forthcoming.

2. 2026

   Settler Futures on the Eastern Shore: In Search of Value Change

   Sorgen, J. American Journal of Theology and Philosophy 46(2–3).

3. 2026

   Final Report to DCC: Licensed and Unlicensed Cultivation Across Ban and Permit Jurisdictions

   Polson, M., Reiman, A., Dillis, C., Hossack, J., LaRosa, S., Petersen-Rockney, M., Sorgen, J., Owusu Sarfo, K.

   Assesses the evolution of unlicensed cannabis cultivation since legalization.

4. 2026

   Mapping Indigenous California: Agency and Tribal Perspectives on Ancestral Territorial Representation

   LaRosa, S., Butsic, V., Sorgen, J., Nelson, P., Sowerwine, J. Land Use Policy 169.

   Compares agency and Tribal perspectives on how ancestral territories are represented in maps used for land use decisions.

5. 2025

   Final Report to DCC: Examining Tribal Sovereignty over Cannabis Permitting on Native Ancestral Lands

   Sorgen, J., LaRosa, S., Butsic, V., Nelson, P., Sowerwine, J.

   Finds California’s consultation policies are inadequate and inconsistently applied, placing Tribal cultural heritage sites at risk, and offers actionable recommendations for DCC and other state agencies.

6. 2025

   Unchecking the Box: Overcoming Barriers to Meaningful Consultation

   Sorgen, J., Nelson, P., Butsic, V., LaRosa, S., Gaughen, S., Crosby, E., Geary, R., Sowerwine, J. Environmental Science & Policy.

   Traces barriers to Tribal consultation to asymmetrical power relations and colonial legacies, with recommendations for Tribal-agency relations.

7. 2025

   Tribal Sovereignty in Land Use Decision Making: Evaluating Cultural Resource Law in California

   Sorgen, J., Nelson, P., LaRosa, S., Butsic, V., Gaughen, S., Starkey, A.M., McCavour, M., Geary, R., Sowerwine, J. Environment and Planning E: Nature and Space.

   A qualitative analysis of AB 52 showing local consultation holds promise even as laws are inconsistently applied.

Full list in my Curriculum vitae (PDF) →

Impact & Media

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I take on a limited number of research partnerships and consulting engagements each year.

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