She has conducted research in Vietnam since 1996 on environment and development issues. She is the author of Forests Are Gold: Trees, People and Environmental Rule in Vietnam (U of Washington Press, 2016), and articles in various environmental, anthropological and development studies journals. She is also the co-editor ofGender and Sustainability: Lessons from Asia and Latin America (U. of Arizona Press, 2013). McElwee holds a Ph.D. in Anthropology and Forestry & Environmental Studies from Yale University, and an MSc in Forestry from Oxford University.