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Dissertation Research

I have been interviewing conservationists who work with endangered species in the US and Mexico about their definitions of extinction and the emotions that come with working amidst an extinction crisis. These interviews have shown me how little space conservationists have to openly grieve for the more-than-humans they work with. I hope to travel to conservation conferences in the future and create arts-based grief rituals to create spaces for ecological grief in science.

Ecological grief: the grief felt in relation to experienced or anticipated ecological losses, including the loss of species, ecosystems and meaningful landscapes due to acute or chronic environmental change (Cunsolo and Ellis, 2018)
 

Eco-grief is emerging as a mental health response to ongoing ecological destruction. Multiple scholars have described and define ecological grief, and characterized the experiences of eco-grieving activists or climate researchers. Few have done such work with conservationists who work with endangered species. 

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