The Uses of Biodiversity: Scientific Knowledge and Post-Conflict Aspirations in Colombia
My dissertation research investigates the production of scientific knowledge about biodiversity in Colombia, one of the world's most biodiverse places, in the wake of the 2016 peace agreement between the FARC guerrilla and the state. It examines the mobilization of biodiversity as a valuable resource for building a post-conflict future and the daily, material effects of these operations on peoples and landscapes.
During 2021-22, I conducted ethnographic and archival research in Colombia and scientific institutions and collections in Berlin (Botanic Garden and Botanical Museum), Bogota (Ornithological Collection at the Universidad Nacional), Madrid (Royal Botanical Garden), Philadelphia (The Academy of Natural Sciences), and New York (American Museum of Natural History). My interlocutors were ornithologists, birdwatchers, and microbial ecologists who study biodiversity in regions insufficiently explored by science. I accompanied them across laboratories, scientific collections, and fieldwork activities. I also conducted ethnographic research with guerrilla ex-combatants, small farmers, and Afro-Colombian and Indigenous communities who live in biodiverse areas studied by scientists. Lastly, I interviewed public servants and academics who helped draft the country’s leading public policies at the recently inaugurated Ministry of Science, Technology, and Innovation.
My dissertation research and writing has been supported by the National Science Foundation, the Social Science Research Council, the Andrew Mellon Foundation, the Tinker Foundation and the Fulbright Commission (Colombia).