She is a broadly trained sociologist with teaching and research interests in a number of substantive areas including: environmental sociology, sociology of health & illness, rural sociology, and public sociology. Her research involves the intersection of environmental sociology, inequality, and occupational health. In particular, much of her research focuses on energy, from extraction to waste disposal and its impact on communities and workers. Bodenhamer is currently examining the contestation of black lung disease among coal miners in central Appalachia. In this multifaceted research project, she analyzes the ways in which black lung victims and their supporters confront the illness and challenge various agencies and institutions for redress, as well as the ways in which elites contest illness claims.