She has published in journals ranging from Science to Social Studies of Science, and is the author of Fields and Streams (2012), a book about the political economy of stream restoration in the U.S. and the construction of environmental expertise. Her research, funded primarily by the National Science Foundation, combines social and physical science to address environmental markets, the Clean Water Act, and stream restoration. Lave is a co-founder of EDGI (the Environmental Data and Governance Initiative), an international network of academics and environmental professionals that advocates for evidence-based environmental policy and robust, democratic scientific data governance. She has won numerous teaching awards, including the Campus Catalyst Award for Excellence in Teaching Sustainability.