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Topic: A researcher studying sustainable and eco-friendly living in ChinaSource: UC Berkeley Disability LabFocus Area: Permaculture, alternative education, and land restoration in Southwest ChinaReading Time: Under 1 minuteRelevance: Queer disability studies and green community living
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Good first step: Read Min Lee's research profile at UC Berkeley Disability Lab
Search 'Min Lee UC Berkeley Disability Lab' to learn more about her book and research on sustainable living.
Min Lee is a medical and environmental anthropologist at UC Berkeley. She studies how young people in China are rethinking work, family, food, and community in pursuit of more sustainable and meaningful lives — and what that means for disability, identity, and the environment.
Min Lee holds a PhD from the joint UC Berkeley and UCSF (University of California, San Francisco) Program in Medical Anthropology. For the 2026–27 academic year, she is a Postdoctoral Research Associate at the UC Berkeley Disability Lab. There, she leads undergraduate research projects in queer disability studies. She is also turning her doctoral dissertation into a book. The dissertation, titled 'Life Taking Root,' follows precarious Chinese millennials who have moved to Southwest China to build experimental lives through permaculture — a design approach for sustainable food systems — alternative education, spiritual practice, and ecological restoration.
If you are curious about disability studies, environmental anthropology, or alternative ways of living, Min Lee's work is a useful entry point. Her research ties together topics that often stay in separate boxes — food systems, queer community, disability, and climate. You can explore her work to think more deeply about how individuals navigate big social and environmental pressures in their daily lives.
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Min Lee's work touches several themes that matter right here in Houston — sustainable living, community resilience, and how people form chosen families and care networks outside traditional systems. Houston's own diverse communities and growing interest in urban agriculture and environmental justice make her research feel close to home.
Big questions about how to live well are not just personal — they are political and environmental. Min Lee's research shows how a generation of Chinese millennials is experimenting with real alternatives: growing food, forming chosen families, restoring land, and learning from local plant knowledge. Her work connects those everyday choices to larger ideas about disability, queerness, and what a good life can look like under pressure.
