Rate My Professor Clair Uding

Dr. Clair Uding is an Associate Professor in the Department of Criminal Justice and Sociology at the University of Wyoming, where she joined in 2018 as an assistant professor and was promoted to associate professor in 2023. She earned her Ph.D. in Criminology and Criminal Justice from Arizona State University in 2015 and her B.A. in Sociology, concentrating in Criminal Justice, from Colorado State University in 2009. Prior to her current position, Uding served as a Postdoctoral Fellow at George Mason University's Center for Evidence-Based Crime Policy, directing data collection for a large residential survey examining crime hot spots in Baltimore.

Uding's research focuses on crime and place, communities, police legitimacy and procedural justice, and the criminal justice system's response to mental health problems, including involvement of individuals with mental health issues in the justice system and collateral consequences on mental health and well-being. Her current work examines police responses to mental health crisis calls and the location of such crises in micro-geographic places. She possesses extensive experience in survey research design and primary data collection. As principal investigator, she received a $649,464 grant from the National Institute of Justice in 2023 to evaluate the effectiveness of the Fort Collins, Colorado, Mental Health Response Team program, the first such grant for the University of Wyoming's Criminal Justice Program. Uding has published in journals including Criminology and Public Policy, Policing: A Journal of Policy & Practice, Policing: An International Journal of Police Strategies & Management, Youth Violence and Juvenile Justice, and American Journal of Community Psychology. Notable publications include “The Role of Community Disorder in the Association Between Drug Availability and Drug Use: A Moderated Mediation Analysis” (2025), “Reconceptualizing the relationship between legal cynicism and contacting the police” (2025), “Legal Cynicism and Drug Use at the Microgeographic Level: Evidence from a Study of Crime Hot Spots” (2025), “Do White and Black People Truly View the Police Differently? Findings from a Study of Crime Hot Spots in Baltimore, Maryland” (2025), and the book “The Future of the Criminology of Place: New Directions for Research and Practice” (2025). With over 800 citations, her scholarship has significant impact. Awards include the Extraordinary Merit in Research Award from the UW College of Arts and Sciences (2024) and Provost’s Term Professorship (2022). She was selected for the inaugural UW Faculty Leadership Institute cohort (2025-26), serves on the Albany County Mental Health Board, and published a research brief on co-responder models in Police Chief Magazine (2025).