Dr. Kinchy has written two books that explore how ordinary people use “citizen science” to examine environmental problems. Science by the People: Participation, Power, and the Politics of Environmental Knowledge, co-authored with Aya Kimura, compares case studies in the United States, Japan, Mexico, and other parts of the world, where citizen scientists have investigated the impacts of shale oil and gas, nuclear power, and genetically engineered crops. Seeds, Science, and Struggle: The Global Politics of Transgenic Crops focuses on farmers and activists in Mexico and Canada who organized in defense of alternatives to industrialized agriculture. 

Dr. Kinchy led the Watershed Knowledge Mapping Project, a study of volunteer watershed monitoring projects in Pennsylvania and New York. This research examined social conflicts surrounding unanswered scientific questions about the impacts of shale gas "fracking." The study combined interviews, participant observation, surveys of water monitoring organizations, and GIS mapping of water monitoring activities. Dr. Kinchy also studied other dimensions of the fracking controversy, such as the disclosure of industry information about chemicals used in the fracking process and the risks of transporting oil by rail. This project led her to co-organize STS Underground, a research network that advances social science research on the technoscientific dimensions of mining, burial, and other forms of subterranean exploration. 

Her newest project, Nuestros Suelos/Our Soil, explores how citizen science and novel sensors could help urban and residential communities identify heavy metal contamination in soil. She is writing a book about how scientists, decision-makers, and affected communities attempt to reduce the harms caused by lead-contaminated soil in different places around the world. She is also working with a team at RPI to develop novel sensors that will enhance the public's capacity to recognize and respond to soil pollution.