Her key concept of heterarchy is now applied to studies of societal and environmental change. She is the director of the Integrated History and Future of People on Earth (IHOPE) initiative, a global network of researchers based at Sweden’s Uppsala University that unites the biophysical and social sciences and community voices to build a livable future.

Carole Crumley’s special areas of interest are epistemology of complex adaptive systems, especially as regards human societies; "Two Cultures"  (science/humanities) problems in inter- and transdisciplinary research; integrated global-to local-scale historical ecology; historical climate change; evolution of landscapes; social inequality; social memory; geomatics (e.g., GIS, RS) applications in anthropology, ecology, and planning.

Carole Crumleys research interests focus on Western Europe, where she directs a long-running research project (1975-present), that has been pursued with colleagues and her students, in Burgundy, France.  The research traces the history of agriculture and industry in a key European region over a three thousand year period, using archaeology, historical documents and maps, ethnography,and environmental data in a GIS database.  The project’s ethnographic component is large, and is focused on the practice of contemporary agro-pastoralism in the contexts of a rapidly changing global market and a complex regulatory environment (e.g., the EU Common Agricultural Policy, French regulations).

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