My Research

Thank you for your support as I develop this research throughout the completion of my masters program! Check back here for more updates in the future! 🙂

Last Updated: June 19, 2022

Political Ecology: a field of study related to environmental studies and political science that examines the relationship between the environment, political and economic power, and societal factors as it pertains to environmental issues, land politics, and natural phenomenon.

My Current Project: The ways different community’s or society’s foundations or ecological relationships influence the attention or action regarding climate change adaptation and resiliency is crucial. Using the term derived from the work of Elizabeth Povinelli, I am conducting my study through a decolonial lens, by analyzing the influence of geontopower, (a term to describe how settler science and power distinctions are used to influence and dictate ecological relationships and classifications between “living” and “non-living” beings or things in our environment), in climate change response techniques. While this concept may seem abstract, decoding geontopower is essential for achieving higher levels of environmental protection. The ecological norms that are established in settler societies are present in our climate change response which often presents itself as harmful or incomplete forms of environmental protection and resilience. They are incomplete because often times these approaches do not have the complete health of the environment and populations in mind, but instead place much of their focus on economic and developmental goals, which demands the creation of a hierarchal order for change–what is more/most worthy of saving. This type of approach is encapsulated in a colonial, capitalist framework and leaves adaptation and resiliency incomplete because the environment sustains itself through a balance of all its pieces, and when that balance is destroyed, the environment as we know it will cease to exist–unless the balance is restored in time to save it. Through my research, I will be conducting a case study on political ecology through the lens of geontopower in Oceania, one of the world’s most vulnerable geographies, when considering climate change.

Creative Work

The playlist that accompanies my first self-published zine. This playlist is meant to illicit the feelings you may find while escaping the bustling metropolis or suburban lifestyle. Its a journey to find the place where you can really allow yourself to be lost in the sense of feeling absolutely surrounded by nature without looking back to where you just came from.