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Key research themes
1. How do wild resources contribute to food security and nutrition in traditional and Indigenous communities?
This research area investigates the role of wild food species—both plants and animals—in supporting food and nutrition security among Indigenous and rural communities. It examines availability, access, utilization, and cultural perceptions of wild foods, emphasizing traditional ecological knowledge and the implications of socio-economic and environmental changes on these resources. Understanding these dynamics is crucial for sustainable food systems, especially in regions facing malnutrition, poverty, and ecological degradation.
Key finding: Found that wild foods remain an important nutritional resource contributing to food security in the Ugandan sub-regions studied, despite declining use due to increased availability of cultivated foods and erosion of... Read more
Key finding: Provided quantitative evidence of declines in total and per capita wild food harvest volumes among Inuit communities over two decades, linking decreased availability of traditional resources to reduced hunter access to... Read more
Key finding: Documented 61 wild edible plant species used by tribal and rural populations, with fruits being most commonly consumed, showing that collection and utilization of wild edible plants are key contributors to seasonal food... Read more
Key finding: Synthesized archaeological data showing that wild plant and animal resources played a notable role in the subsistence economies of early agricultural societies in Central Europe, despite scarce direct evidence, suggesting... Read more
Key finding: Identified socio-economic modernization, environmental changes, and land-use shifts as principal drivers for the abandonment of foraging practices, while highlighting that cultural heritagization processes and sustainable... Read more
2. What are the socio-political and ethical dimensions of resource ownership and management in the context of wild resources?
This theme explores the normative considerations, ethical frameworks, and governance issues related to ownership, access rights, and management of natural and wild resources. It addresses the colonial and capitalist legacies embedded in resource concepts, the philosophical debate surrounding property rights versus communal stewardship, and emerging ethical arguments advocating for intervention to alleviate wild animal suffering. The complexity of resource systems requires critical engagement with how resources are conceptualized and the power dynamics involved.
Key finding: Critically examined how the concept of 'resources' is socially constructed within colonial and capitalist frameworks, highlighting an internal aporia where critical resource geography simultaneously critiques and reifies... Read more
Key finding: Advanced an ethical argument that humans have moral reasons to intervene in nature to alleviate wild animal suffering caused by natural processes when feasible and beneficial, challenging traditional conservation paradigms... Read more
Key finding: Outlined the regulatory and policy challenges in chemical resource management, emphasizing significant data gaps, safety gaps, and the need for technological innovation in safer chemical use to protect human and environmental... Read more
3. How can wildlands and wild resources be conceptualized, valued, and managed within cultural, ecological, and conservation frameworks?
This theme investigates the multifaceted roles of wildlands and wild resources within ecological systems and human societies, focusing on the evolving paradigms of wildness, conservation ethics, cultural relationships to nature, and the ecological sustainability of wild resource management. It integrates archaeological, ethnobotanical, philosophical, and ecological perspectives to understand wildness not only as untouched nature but as relational and culturally embedded phenomena. This knowledge informs contemporary conservation strategies and debates on wilderness preservation versus human interaction.
Key finding: Trace the historical transformation of the American West's wildlands from untouched landscapes to developed economies, demonstrating how wildlands preservation emerged amid conflicting economic and social interests, and... Read more
Key finding: Evaluated the complex relationship between rural communities and wildland resources in an African game reserve, underscoring that successful conservation must integrate traditional use rights and local livelihoods, as... Read more
Key finding: Reviewed European and North American debates on 'wilding' and rewilding, highlighting the tensions between pursuing truly free (feral) nature and actively managed natural processes; argued that socio-ecological outcomes... Read more
Key finding: Explored American Indigenous relational understandings of 'wild', emphasizing its association with freedom, boldness, and respectful relations with animal-persons and land, contrasting Western dualisms; highlighted how... Read more
Key finding: Through personal narrative and ethnographic vignette, emphasized living intimately and responsively within wild landscapes as a form of cultural and spiritual practice, underscoring the importance of dignity, place-based... Read more