Claire Herbert is an assistant professor in the Department of Sociology at the University of Oregon. She received her B.S. in Sociology and Political Science from University of Oregon in 2006, and her Ph.D in Sociology from University of Michigan in 2016. She was an assistant professor of sociology at Drexel University for three years before joining the Sociology Department at University of Oregon. Her research focuses on law, housing, incarceration, and urban sociology. Her book, Urban Decline and the Rise of Property Informality in Detroit, is under contract with University of California Press. 

Herbert's research project, "When Home is Illegal: How Law and Governance Shape Informal Housing in Lane County," examines how high rates of homelessness in Lane County have contributed to the increase in informal modes of housing such living in tents or vehicles, on squatted land, or in self-built shelters. This project investigates the state’s role in shaping these informal practices and asks how residents navigate state policy and local governance to secure shelter and make home. Findings from this research will inform more constructive and socially just policy responses to poverty, homelessness, and informal housing in the United States.