Texas

  • Translating Kenyan Conservation to Texas

    I spent part of the summer of 2025 in Kalama Conservancy, in northern Kenya’s Samburu County. The conservancy, part of the Gir Gir group ranch, covers 16,000 hectares (roughly 95,000 acres) of semi-arid savanna, acacia woodlands, and dramatic rocky outcrops. It lies between Samburu National Reserve and the Marsabit region, functioning as a vital wildlife

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  • “Living with Javelinas”: New Book Under Contract

    After five years of research and writing, I am pleased to announce that my first book is under contract with University of Texas Press. Peer reviews came back as positive with incredibly helpful feedback that will undoubtably enhance the text. I look forward to continuing writing and editing the manuscript with the reviewers’ suggestions in

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  • Guest on The Sausage of Science Podcast

    I was a guest on The Sausage of Science podcast with Dr. Chris Lynn, discussing my research. Listen below. I discuss my past research project on human-javelina relations in Texas, my forthcoming book, and my current work in on Mexican wolf reintroduction.

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  • Dissertation Defense: Five Years of Recovery

    On April 30, 2019, a shooter entered my classroom on my last day of teaching at UNC-Charlotte. I was preparing to move to Texas to begin a doctoral program in environmental anthropology at UTSA. UTSA was so kind, offering to defer my enrollment as I struggled with the aftermath of the shooting. However, I needed

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  • Dissertation: Living with Javelinas: On the Co-production of Human-Javelina Conviviality in Texas

    Abstract This dissertation investigates the coexistence of humans and javelinas in Texas. Through a blend of traditional ethnography, ethology, and GIS mapping, the study explores the dynamics of interactions at three primary sites across Texas, emphasizing the mutual shaping of shared spaces and the significance of negotiation. The dissertation argues that convivial human-javelina relations in

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  • Our Edited Volume is Out: Nurturing Alternative Futures: Living with Diversity in a More-than-Human World

    I am pleased to announce that Nurturing Alternative Futures: Living with Diversity in a More-than-Human World is currently out with Routledge. I am honored to have contributed a portion of my research – “Of People and Peccaries: Perception and Politics in the Texas Hill Country” – alongside such wonderful scholars.

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  • American Anthropological Association 2023 Talk: Making Pigs Dirty: Conflicting Perspectives on Javelinas and Hogs in Texas

    I co-chaired a panel at the 2023 meeting of the American Anthropological Association titled “The America Animal.” Abstract: Other-than-human animals comprise a large part of the social and ecological fabric of our lives in ways that are often unexpected or unnoticed. Humans encounter other-than-human animals as pets, pests, food, medical devices, entertainment, bastions of “wild”

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  • Radio Guest: “Anthropologist traces the “multi-species politics” of javelinas and humans”

    I was a guest on the NPR and Marfa Public Radio show, Nature Notes, discussing my research on human-javelina relations in Texas. Listen for a sneak peek at some of the content in my forthcoming book on the subject. Link to the radio show. https://www.marfapublicradio.org/show/nature-notes/2023-05-10/anthropologist-traces-the-multi-species-politics-of-javelinas-and-humans

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  • Dissertation Manuscript Outline: Human-Javelina Relations in Texas

    Humans and Javelinas: Something Something… I need a title … This study is motivated by the broad pressing question: How do we live in a world full of difference? More specifically, how do our relationships with other beings shape our identities and the course of our shared futures? As we experience increasing precarity associated with

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  • Dissertation Update: “On Anthropomorphism”

    I’ve sent off the first section of my dissertation to my advisor. This section is going in the introduction around the theoretical and methodological foundations of the study.Next stop: “Chapter 1- Contested Actors”

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