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Dissertation Research

Understand Ecological Grief in Endangered Species Conservation

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. 

Processing Eco-Grief through Art

I facilitate the creation of community art projects at large conservation conferences that memorialize lost or threatened creatures, species, or places. Participants reflect on and depict their relationship to the more-than-human world using collage as method. I will thematically analyze the art created in these memorials as part of my dissertation.

Extinction Storytelling

Inspired by the sub-discipline of extinction studies, I think about how to craft narratives around extinction that can help imagine ecological future in which humans across the globe can live in reciprocity with the more-than-human world

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