SOPHIE CHAO
Academic. Activist. Multispecies ethnographer.
Hello and welcome to morethanhumanworlds
I am a Postdoctoral Research Associate at the University of Sydney’s School of Philosophical and Historical Inquiry. As an environmental anthropologist, my research explores the intersections of capitalism, ecology, and Indigeneity in the Pacific. In particular, I'm interested in the changing relationships between plants and people across Indigenous, corporate, and scientific contexts. My theoretical thinking is inspired by interdisciplinary posthumanist currents including multispecies ethnography and the environmental humanities, as well as plant science and Science and Technology Studies. I'm now embarking on a new project that will investigate the nutritional and cultural impacts of agribusiness on Indigenous food-based socialities, identities, and ecologies.
I received my Bachelor of Arts in Oriental Studies (First Class) and Master of Science in Social Anthropology from The University of Oxford. My PhD at Macquarie University was funded by an International Endeavour Scholarship and was awarded the Australian Anthropological Society PhD Thesis Prize, the Asian Studies Association of Australia John Legge Prize for Best Thesis in Asian Studies, and the Macquarie University Vice-Chancellor’s Commendation. This research was based on long-term ethnographic fieldwork in rural West Papua, where I examined how deforestation and monocrop oil palm expansion reconfigure the multispecies lifeworld of Indigenous Marind communities and their plant and animal kin.
Prior to my PhD, I worked for international Indigenous rights organization Forest Peoples Programme in the United Kingdom and Indonesia. I have also undertaken consultancies for United Nations bodies including the Food and Agriculture Organisation and the United Nations Working Group on the Issue of Human Rights and Transnational Corporations and Other Business Enterprises.
I am currently Secretary on the Executive Committee of the Australian Anthropological Society, Co-Convenor of the Australian Food, Society, and Culture Network, Co-Convener of the Biopolitics of Science Research Network, and Co-Convenor of the HDR Multispecies Justice Reading Group.
I am keen to forge meaningful collaborations and conversations with Indigenous and decolonial academics, artists, and activists in Australia and beyond, towards a better understanding of and relation to, morethanhuman worlds.
WHY MORETHANHUMANWORLDS?
We live in an era in which humans have become the single most influential geological force on the planet. This epoch, coined the Anthropocene, is also one of mass species extinction, ecological destruction, and precarious futures for humans and for the myriad other-than-human lifeforms that our existence and wellbeing depend upon. Addressing the anthropogenic crisis will require nothing less than recognizing and protecting the morethanhuman worlds that we inherit, inhabit, and eventually pass on. Morethanhuman worlds encompass plants, animals, elements, climates, and differently situated human communities that unequally bear the burden of ecological ruin and repair. Importantly, morethanhuman worlds invite us to rethink the diverse entanglements of humans with otherthanhuman life, matter, and meaning. Making and remaking such morethanhuman worlds requires care, courage, creativity, and collaboration, as we work within and across species lines towards more livable shared futures.
PUBLICATIONS
Below are selected peer-reviewed articles published in anthropology and interdisciplinary journals, as well as pieces published in non-academic outlets including popular anthropology magazines and NGO reports. For a complete list, please see my CV.
Peer Reviewed Manuscripts
In the Shadow of the Palms: Plants and People in West Papua. Under contract with Duke University Press.
Eating and Being Eaten: The Meanings of Hunger in a West Papuan Village. In preparation.
Peer Reviewed Edited Volumes
The Promise of Multispecies Justice. With Eben Kirksey and Karin Bolender. Under review with Duke University Press.
Peer Reviewed Articles
“Eating and Being Eaten: The Meanings of Hunger among Marind.” Submitted to Medical Anthropology: Cross-Cultural Studies in Health and Illness.
“Gastrocolonialism: The Intersections of Race, Food, and Development in West Papua.” Submitted to The International Journal of Human Rights (Special Issue: Racism and Human Rights in West Papua).
“We Are (Not) Monkeys: Contested Cosmopolitical Symbols in West Papua.” Submitted to American Ethnologist.
“Can There Be Justice Here? Indigenous Experiences in the West Papuan Plantationocene.” Submitted to Borderlands.
“Decolonizing Climate Change: A Call for Knowledge Generation Beyond Human Imaginaries.” Submitted to eTropic: electronic journal of studies in the tropics (Special Issue: Tropical Imaginaries & Climate Crisis). With Dion Enari.
2021. “Children of the Palms: Growing Plants and People in Merauke, West Papua.” Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute. 28(2). Forthcoming.
2021. “Beetle or Bug? Multispecies Politics in a West Papuan Oil Palm Plantation.” American Anthropologist. 123(2). Forthcoming.
2020. “A Tree of Many Lives: Vegetal Teleontologies in West Papua.” HAU: Journal of Ethnographic Theory. 10(2): 514 – 529. DOI: 10.1086/709505.
2020. “Introducing Oceanic Societies in COVID-19.” Oceania. With Ute Eickelkamp. 90(S1): 1 – 3. DOI: 10.1002/ocea.5257.
2019. “Wrathful Ancestors, Corporate Sorcerers: Rituals Gone Rogue in Merauke, West Papua.” Oceania. 89(3): 266 – 283. DOI: 10.1002/ocea.5229.
2019. “The Plastic Cassowary: Problematic “Pets” in West Papua.” Ethnos. 84 (5): 828 – 848. DOI: 10.1080/00141844.2018.1502798.
2018. “In the Shadow of the Palm: Dispersed Ontologies among Marind, West Papua.” Cultural Anthropology. 33(4): 621 – 649. DOI: 10.14506/ca33.4.08.
2018. “Seed Care in the Oil Palm Sector.” Environmental Humanities. 10(2): 421 – 446. DOI: 10.1215/22011919-7156816.
2017. “There Are No Straight Lines in Nature”: Making Living Maps in West Papua.” Anthropology Now. 9(1): 16 – 33. DOI: 10.1080/19428200.2017.1291014.
Peer Reviewed Book Chapters
“The Multispecies World of Oil Palm: Indigenous Marind Perspectives on Plantation Ecologies in West Papua.” In Macedo, Marta, Irene Peano, and Colette Le Petitcorps (eds). Plantations and their Afterlives. Cambridge Imperial and Postcolonial Studies Series, Palgrave Macmillan. Submitted.
“Introduction: The Promise of Multispecies Justice.” In Chao, Sophie, Karin Bolender, and Eben Kirksey (eds). The Promise of Multispecies Justice. With Eben Kirksey. Under review with Duke University Press.
2021. “Living in the Plantationocene: Insights from West Papua.” In Pountney, Laura, and Tomislav Maric (eds). Introducing Anthropology: What Makes Us Human? Cambridge, M.A.: Polity Press. Second edition. Forthcoming.
2021. “Sago: A Storied Species of West Papua.” In Vieira, Patricia, Monica Gagliano, and John C. Ryan (eds). The Mind of Plants. Santa FE, N.M.: Synergetic Press. Forthcoming.
2021. “Why Multispecies Ethnography Matters for Human Rights and the Climate.” In Earth Cries: A Climate Change Anthology. Sydney University Press.
Peer Reviewed Special Issues
2020. “Oceanic Societies in COVID-19.” Oceania. Volume 90(S1): 1 – 140. Co-edited with Ute Eickelkamp.
Book Reviews
2021. “Engaged Anthropology: Politics Beyond the Text.” Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute. Forthcoming.
2020. “Matters of Care: Speculative Ethics in More Than Human Worlds, by María Puig de la Bellacasa (Minnesota University Press, 2017).” Catalyst: Feminism, Theory, Technoscience. 6(2): 1 – 5. DOI: 10.28968/cftt.v6i2.34034.
2020. “The Road: Uprising in West Papua [Book Review].” Australian Foreign Affairs. 10: 103 – 106.
2019. “Palma Africana, by Michael Taussig.” American Anthropologist. 121(3): 784 – 785. DOI: 10.1111/aman.13280.
2016. “From “Stone Age” to “Real-Time”: Exploring Papuan Temporalities, Mobilities and Religiosities.” The Australian Journal of Anthropology. 27(3): 410 – 411. DOI: 10.1111/taja.12214.
2016. “Elusive Caimans and the Anthropologist as Devil.” Anthropology Now. 8(1): 132 – 138. DOI: 10.1080/19428200.2016.1154775.
Edited Volumes
2014. Yangon Conference on Human Rights and Agribusiness. Bogor: Forest Peoples Programme and Centre for People and Forests. Available online.
2013. Conflict or Consent? The Palm Oil Sector at a Crossroads. Bogor: Forest Peoples Programme and SawitWatch. With Marcus Colchester. Available online.
2013. Agribusiness Large-Scale Land Acquisitions and Human Rights in Southeast Asia: Updates from Indonesia, Thailand, Philippines, Malaysia, Cambodia, Timor-Leste, and Burma. Bogor: Forest Peoples Programme. Available online.
2012. Human Rights and Agribusiness: Plural Legal Approaches to Conflict Resolution, Institutional Strengthening and Legal Reform. Bogor: Forest Peoples Programme and SawitWatch. With Marcus Colchester. Available online.
2011. Divers Paths to Justice: Legal Pluralism and the Rights of Indigenous Peoples in Southeast Asia. Bogor: Forest Peoples Programme and Asia Indigenous Peoples Network. With Marcus Colchester. Available online.
2011. Oil Palm Expansion in Southeast Asia: Trends and Experiences of Local Communities and Indigenous Peoples. Bogor: Forest Peoples Programme, Samdhana Institute, and Centre for People and Forests. With Marcus Colchester. Available online.
Academic Essays
“Living with Ashes.” Society for Cultural Anthropology, Hotspots. Submitted.
(forth) “Wetness.” Art + Australia.
2021. Storying Extinction: A Reflection on Loss, Crisis, and Co-existence. Sydney Environment Institute. 27 January. Available online.
2021. “They Grow and Die Lonely and Sad.” Society for Cultural Anthropology, Theorizing the Contemporary. 26 January. Available online.
2020. “What’s Left Unsaid When a Language Dies.” Review of A Death in the Rainforest, by Don Kulick, 2019. SAPIENS. 19 November. Available online.
2020. “Multispecies Stories: Why do They Matter for Human Rights?” Right Now. 27 July. Available online.
2020. “Encountering the Traveler’s Palm.” The Urban Field Naturalist Project. 7 July. Available online.
2020. “Health, Harm, and Habitus: Revisiting the Techniques of the Body in COVID-19.” Thesis Eleven. Living and Thinking Crisis. 7 July. Available online.
2020. Amphibious Justice. Sydney Environment Institute. 22 June. Available online.
2020. “West Papua and Black Lives Matter.” Inside Indonesia 140, Apr – Jun. Available online. (with response from Made Supriatma, Suara Papua, 3 July 2020).
2020. “How COVID-19 Makes Us Use Our Bodies Differently.” The Familiar Strange. 11 May. Available online.
2020. “When Crisis Brings Us Closer: Reflections on Family, Fieldwork, and Faraway Homes in the COVID-19 Pandemic.” Somatosphere. 31 March. Available online. (republished in A Journal of the Plague Year: An Archive of COVID-19).
2020. “Corporate “Sorcerers” Reveal the Magical Power of Capitalism.” SAPIENS. 22 January. Available online. (voted Editors’ Top 10 in 2020)
2020. A World of Ashes. Sydney Environment Institute. 9 January. Available online.
2019. “Food, Hunger, and Culture.” SOPHI Magazine. Issue 8. School of Philosophical and Historical Inquiry. University of Sydney. Available online.
2019. “Hunger and Culture in West Papua.” Inside Indonesia 137, Jul – Sep. Available online.
2019. “Cultivating Consent: Opportunities and Challenges in the West Papuan Oil Palm Sector.” New Mandala. 26 August. Available online.
2019. Engaged Anthropology Grant: Sophie Chao. Wenner-Gren Foundation for Anthropological Research. 6 August. Available online.
2019. Salovaara, Isabel M. and Shelmith Wanjiru. “Teaching Ontologies and Activism with Sophie Chao.” Society for Cultural Anthropology, Fieldsights. 15 February. Available online.
2019. “The Truth About “Sustainable” Palm Oil.” SAPIENS. 13 June. Available online. (Voted Editors’ Top 10 in 2019)
2019. Culture, Food, and Environment: Indigenous Experiences of Hunger in West Papua. Sydney Environment Institute. 12 June. Available online.
2019. “Is Hunger Culture-Bound?“ Somatosphere. 6 June. Available online.
2019. “Sago: A Storied Species from West Papua.” The Living Archive: Extinction Stories from Oceania. 23 May. Available online.
2019. SEI News: Q+A with Postdoc Research Associate Sophie Chao. Sydney Environment Institute. University of Sydney. 11 April. Available online.
2016. “In Deforestation’s Wake, Wild Animals Turn Troublesome.” SAPIENS. 20 September. Available online. (Voted Editors’ Top 5 in 2016)
2016. “Plantworlds in West Papua.” Engagement: Anthropology and Environment Society. American Anthropological Association. 21 June. Available online.
2014. “Forest Peoples” Landmark Appeal to Curb Global Deforestation.” Our World 2.0, United Nations University. 21 March. Available online.
2013. “Securing Human Rights through Private Sector Standards? A Comparative Review.” Our World 2.0, United Nations University. 8 February. Available online.
2012. “Bali Declaration Calls for Palm Oil Justice.” Our World 2.0, United Nations University. 9 March. Available online.
2012. “Seeing the People for the Trees.” Our World 2.0, United Nations University. 8 June. Available online.
Book Chapters
2013. “PT Agrowiratama and the Melayu and Dayak peoples of Sambas, West Kalimantan.” In Conflict or Consent? The Palm Oil Sector at a Crossroads, 28 – 53. With Marcus Colchester, Emil Kleden, Norman Jiwan, Andiko, Hermawansyah, and Intan Cinditiara. Available online.
2013. “PT Mustika Sembuluh and the Dayak Temuan of Central Kalimantan.” In Conflict or Consent?, 69 – 100. With Agustinus Karlo Lumban Raja, Fandy Ahmad Chalifah, and Tawangatri Kusumohartono. Available online.
2013. “PT REA Kaltim Plantations and the Dayak and Kutai peoples of Kutai Kartanegara and Tabang, East Kalimantan.” In Conflict or Consent?, 125 – 158. With Emil Kleden, Agustinus Karlo Lumban Raja, Isal Wardhana, and Intan Cinditiara. Available online.
2013. “Update on IFC CAO mediation in PT Asiatic Persada (Jambi, Indonesia).” In Conflict or Consent?, 198 – 200. Available online.
2013. “Brief #1 of 8: Regional Overview.” In Agribusiness Large-Scale Land Acquisitions and Human Rights in Southeast Asia, 1 – 18. Bogor: Forest Peoples Programme. With Marcus Colchester. Available online.
2013. “Brief #7 of 8: Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste.” In Agribusiness Large-Scale Land Acquisitions and Human Rights in Southeast Asia, 118 – 137. Available online.
2013. “Brief #8 of 8: Union of Burma.” In Agribusiness Large-Scale Land Acquisitions and Human Rights in Southeast Asia, 138 – 155. Available online.
Reports
2017. “Respecting Communities’ Rights to their Lands and to Free, Prior, and Informed Consent through the High Carbon Stock Approach.” In HCS Approach Toolkit, edited by Grant Rosoman, Su Shin Sheun, Charlotte Opal, Patrick Anderson, and Ravin Trapshah, 4 – 25. Singapore: HCS Approach Steering Group. With Marcus Colchester and Patrick Anderson. Available online.
2015. Free, Prior and Informed Consent Guide for RSPO Members. Jakarta and Kuala Lumpur: Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil Human Rights Working Group. With Marcus Colchester, Patrick Anderson, and Holly Jonas. Available online.
2015. Kalau Tanah Adat dan Hutan Adat Kita Habis, Kitorang Mau ke Mana Lagi? Buku Panduan Bagi Masyarakat Hukum Adat Untuk Melestarikan dan Memperjuangkan Hak Tanah dan Hak Azasi Manusia Maskyarakat Hukum Adat. With Seksi Justice, Peace and Integration of Creation and Paroki Santa Teresia Kanak-Kanak Yesus Muting.
2014. Respecting Free, Prior and Informed Consent: Practical Guidance for Governments, Companies, NGOs, Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities in Relation to Land Acquisition. FAO Governance of Tenure Technical Guide No. 3. Rome: United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization. With Marcus Colchester. Available online.
2014. Assault on the Commons: Deforestation and Denial of Rights in Indonesia. Moreton-in-Marsh: Forest Peoples Programme. With Marcus Colchester and Patrick Anderson. Available online.
2013. “A Sweetness like unto Death:” Voices of the Indigenous Malind of Merauke, Papua. Bogor: Forest Peoples Programme, Pusaka, and SawitWatch. Available online.
2013. The Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) and Complaint Resolution: Guidance on Submitting a Complaint for Civil Society Organizations and Affected Local Communities. Moreton-in-Marsh: Forest Peoples Programme. Available online.
2013. Monitoring Protocol on High Conservation Value (HCV) Areas 5 and 6 with Guidelines on Best Practices in Community Engagement. Bogor: Forest Peoples Programme and Zoological Society of London. With Marcus Colchester. Available online.
2012. Securing Rights through Commodity Roundtables? A Comparative Review. Bogor: Forest Peoples Programme. With Marcus Colchester and Norman Jiwan. Available online.
2012. Free, Prior, and Informed Consent and the RSPO: Are the Companies Keeping Their Promises? Moreton-in-Marsh: Forest Peoples Programme. Available online.
2012. Forest Peoples: Numbers across the World. Moreton-in-Marsh: Forest Peoples Programme. Available online.
2011. Human Rights Abuses and Land Conflicts in the PT Asiatic Persada Concession in Jambi: Report of an Independent Investigation into Land Disputes and Forced Evictions in a Palm Oil Estate. Bogor: Forest Peoples Programme, HuMa, and SawitWatch. With Marcus Colchester, Patrick Anderson, Asep Yunan Firdaus, and Fatilda Hasibuan. Available online.
Podcasts
2020. “Applied Anthropology.” Australian Network of Student Anthropologists and The Familiar Strange. 7 September. With Marcus Barber, Jayne Curnow, Derek Elias, Bronwyn Hall, and Leslie Pyne, and Hanna Jagtenberg, Available online.
2020. “Ep #62. Job Fantasies, Working with Others, Extractive Calls & Reciprocity Revisited: This Month on TFS.” The Familiar Strange. 24 August. With Alexander d’Aiola, Deanna Catto, and Michael Dunford. Available online.
2020. “Ep #60. Adapting Methods, Human Difference, Virtual Dojos, and Foggy Field Notes: This Month on TFS.” The Familiar Strange. 27 July. With Alexander d’Aiola, Deanna Catto, and Simon Theobald. Available online.
2020. “Ep # 59. The Palm Oil Frontier: Sophie Chao and Walking the Forest with the Marind People.” The Familiar Strange. 1 June. With Alexander d’Aiola. Available online.
2020. “Nature in Culture: Multi-Sensory Mapping with the Marind People.” The Re(e)mergence of Nature in Culture Series. Sydney Environment Institute. 20 May. With Christine Winter. Available online. (reviewed by Christine Winter).
2020. “Culture, Food. and Environment: Indigenous Experiences of Hunger in West Papua.” Sydney Southeast Asia Centre Podcasts. 19 March. With Natali Pearson. Available online.
2020. “Agribusiness, Anthropology, and Activism: An Interview with Dr Chao.” Sydney Southeast Asia Centre Podcasts. 19 March. With Natali Pearson. Available online.
2020. “What Does Anthropology Sound Like: Activism.” With Cory-Alice André-Johnson and Bianca C. Williams. AnthroPod. Society for Cultural Anthropology. 20 January. Available online.
2019. “Palm Oil and Indigenous People.” Talking Indonesia. University of Melbourne. 11 July. With Jemma Purdey. Available online. (1 of 10 most popular podcasts in 2019)
2010. “Studying Anthropology at Oxford.” Department of Social and Cultural Anthropology, University of Oxford. 12 July. With Jennie Rothera, Darryl Stellmach, Santhy Balachandran, and Mette Berg. Available online (parts 1 and 2).
IN THE MEDIA
Below are selected essays, interviews, and podcasts I have published in national, international, print, and digital media outlets.
4A_LAB INTERVIEW
forthcoming
An interview on multispecies lifeworlds in West Papua, published by Kunsthistorisches Institute in Florenz – Max-Planck-Institut. With Sanja Savkic.
Watch the original guest talk here
STORYING EXTINCTION
27 Jan 2021
A reflection on storying crisis, loss, and co-existence, inspired by the Sydney Festival Requiem panel, "An Endangered Menagerie," and published by the Sydney Environment Institute.
ASIAN CURRENTS INTERVIEW
15 Jan 2021
An interview on the 2020 John Legge Prize-winning thesis, "In the Shadow of the Palms: Plant-Human Relations among the Marind-Anim, West Papua" published by the Asian Studies Association of Australia's Asian Currents.
A CANCER AT THE HEART OF THE UN
30 Dec 2020
On op-ed on the West Papua conflict, published by Southeast Asia Globe. Interviewed by Klas Lundstrom.
RACIAL JUSTICE AND INDEPENDENCE IN WEST PAPUA
15 Dec 2020
On op-ed on racial justice and independence in West Papua, published by TIME magazine. Interviewed by Amy Gunia.
FROM PHD TO BOOK
EXPERIENCES IN THE PUBLISHING INDUSTRY
24 November 2020
A webinar on turning a thesis into a book, hosted by the Asian Studies Association of Australia. With Nathan Hollier (University of Melbourne Press), Kevin Carrico (Monash University), and Benjamin Hegarty (Melbourne University).
Password: zfG7FHRY!=3y
WHAT HAPPENS WHEN A LANGUAGE DIES
19 Nov 2020
A review of anthropologist Don Kulick's A Death in the Rainforest, published by SAPIENS, the magazine of the Wenner-Gren Foundation for Anthropological Research.
EP #62. JOB FANTASIES, WORKING WITH OTHERS, EXTRACTIVE CALLS, AND RECIPROCITY REVISITED
24 Aug 2020
A current affairs podcast produced by the Australian National University's The Familiar Strange. With Alexander d’Aiola, Deanna Catto, and Michael Dunford.
AFTER 75 YEARS OF INDEPENDENCE, INDIGENOUS PEOPLES IN INDONESIA STILL STRUGGLING FOR EQUALITY
14 August 2020
An essay on the rights and realities of Indigenous peoples in Indonesia, published by The Conversation as part of a series to commemorate Indonesia Day. With Fidelis Sastriastanti.
INTERDISCIPLINARITY IN A MORE-THAN-HUMAN WORLD
6 - 7 August 2020
A two-day workshop on putting interdisciplinary research into practice, hosted by the Sydney Environment Institute and co-organized by Danielle Celermajer and Sophie Chao. This workshop was reviewed by Zsuzsanna Ihar and Hayley Singer.
KELAPA SAWIT MEMBUNUH SAGU
30 July 2020
An interview on the John Legge Prize for Best Thesis in Asian Studies and my research in West Papua, published by ABC News Indonesia. By Farid M. Ibrahim.
SOPHIE CHAO AWARDED JOHN LEGGE PRIZE FOR BEST THESIS IN ASIAN STUDIES 2019
24 July 2020
The John Legge Prize for Best Thesis in Asian Studies is awarded annually by the Asian Studies Association of Australia. This year's Judging Panel was composed of Antonia Finnane (Melbourne), Garry Rodan (Murdoch), and Kirin Narayan (ANU).
See also
EP #60. ADAPTING METHODS, HUMAN DIFFERENCE, VIRTUAL DOJOS, AND FOGGY FIELDNOTES
27 July 2020
A current affairs podcast on COVID-19, memory and fieldwork, and ontological difference, produced by the Australian National University's The Familiar Strange. With Alexander d’Aiola, Deanna Catto, and Simon Theobald.
HEALTH, HARM, HABITUS
7 July 2020
An essay on pandemic phenomenologies in COVID-19, published by critical theory and historical sociology journal Thesis Eleven as part of the online collection "Living and Thinking with Crisis."
THE CULTURAL DIMENSIONS OF FOOD INSECURITY IN PAPUA
14 July 2020
An essay on the cultural dimensions of food, hunger, and the environment among Marind in West Papua, published by investigative research organizationsThe Gecko Project and Mongabay.
WEST PAPUA AND BLACK LIVES MATTER
17 June 2020
An essay on Black Lives Matter and endemic racism in West Papua, published in the online magazine Inside Indonesia.
RACISM AND SYSTEMIC OPPRESSION
IN INDONESIA
9 June 2020
A short interview on the resonances of Black Lives Matter and structural racism in West Papua, published by the ethical Indonesian jewellery venture Gardens of the Sun.
MULTISPECIES STORIES: WHY DO THEY MATTER FOR HUMAN RIGHTS?
29 July 2020
An essay on multispecies ethnography and human rights, published by the Australian human rights organization Right Now.
AMPHIBIOUS JUSTICE
22 June 2020
A blog on justice and amphibious living, published by the Sydney Environment Institute.
APPLIED ANTHROPOLOGY
7 September 2020
A podcast on the values of applied anthropology beyond academia, organized by the Australian Network of Student Anthropologists (ANSA) and produced by the Australian National University's podcast and blog series The Familiar Strange. With Sophie Chao, Jayne Curnow, Derek Elias, Marcus Barber, Bronwyn Hall, Leslie Pyne, and Hanna Jagtenberg.
THE PALM OIL FRONTIER
WALKING THE FOREST WITH THE MARIND PEOPLE
1 June 2020
A podcast on plants, ontology, and capitalism in West Papua, produced by the Australian National University's The Familiar Strange. With Alexander d'Aiola.
NATURE IN CULTURE
MULTI-SENSORY MAPPING WITH THE MARIND PEOPLE
20 May 2020
A podcast on Indigenous cartography in West Papua for the Re(e)mergence of Nature in Culture Podcast Series, hosted by the Sydney Environment Institute. With Christine Winter.
This podcast was reviewed by Christine Winter, Postdoctoral Research Associate at the Sydney Environment Institute and Convenor of The Re-(E)mergence of Nature in Culture Multimedia Series. Read Christine's reflection and check out her interview with morethanhumanworlds.com.
HOW COVID-19 MAKES US USE OUR BODIES DIFFERENTLY
11 May 2020
An essay on techniques of the body in COVID-19, published by the Australian National University's anthropology blog, The Familiar Strange.
TALES OF LOVE AND LOSS IN OCEANIA
25 April 2020
An interview with Kate Ryans on sago-human relations in West Papua, published in The Guardian.
CULTURE, FOOD, AND ENVIRONMENT
19 March 2020
A podcast on the interconnections between processed food, hunger, and Indigenous sovereignty in West Papua, hosted by the Sydney Southeast Asia Centre. With Natali Pearson.
AGRIBUSINESS, ANTHROPOLOGY, ACTIVISM
19 March 2020
A podcast on conducting anthropological research in West Papua, transitioning from activist to academic, and the palm oil industry's impact on the Marind communities of West Papua, Indonesia, hosted by the Sydney Southeast Asia Centre. With Natali Pearson.
ANTHROPOLOGY AND ACTIVISM
20 January 2020
A podcast on anthropology and activism with Anthropod, the podcast of the Society for Cultural Anthropology that explores conceptual, methodological, and pedagogical issues across the discipline, while striving to make anthropology more widely accessible to all publics. With Cory-Alice André-Johnson and Bianca C. Williams.
A WORLD OF ASHES
9 January 2020
An opinion piece on living with ashes in the aftermath of forest fires in Australia, published by the Sydney Environment Institute.
ANSA INTERVIEW
January 2020
An interview on applied anthropology and the climate crisis published by the newsletter of the Australian Network of Student Anthropologists, Australia's largest anthropological student association.
FOOD, HUNGER, AND CULTURE
December 2019
A short essay on the relationship between food, hunger and culture in West Papua's plantation nexus, published in the University of Sydney's biannual SOPHI Magazine.
SOPHIE CHAO AWARDED AUSTRALIAN ANTHROPOLOGICAL SOCIETY PHD THESIS PRIZE 2019
12 December 2019
Dr. Chao was awarded the 2019 Australian Anthropological Society (AAS) PhD Thesis Prize for her dissertation, "In the Shadow of the Palms: Plant-Human Relations Among Marind-Anim, West Papua".
IN WEST PAPUA, OIL PALM EXPANSION UNDERMINES THE RELATIONS OF INDIGENOUS MARIND TO FOREST PLANTS AND ANIMALS
16 October 2019
An article on the morethanhuman impacts of deforestation and oil palm expansion in Merauke published in The Conversation, a not-for-profit media outlet that publishes news stories written by academics and researchers.
INSIGHTS ON WEST PAPUA
28 November 2019
A podcast hosted by the Australian National University's Pacific Institute, bringing together voices and scholarships to support and highlight the ongoing debates and struggles of West Papua. With Sophie Chao, Miranda Forsyth, Veronika Koman, Jacob Rumbiak, Reverend James Bhagwan, Hipolitus Y.R Wangge, and Chris Ballard.
WEST PAPUAN FOREST PEOPLES' SURVIVAL
9 December 2019
An interview about Indigenous foodways and agribusiness expansion in West Papua on The Daily at Sydney-based community radio channel 2SER (107.3 FM).
HUNGER AND CULTURE IN WEST PAPUA
31 October 2019
An article on Indigenous experiences of food insecurity in West Papua, published by Inside Indonesia, a quarterly magazine on the people, culture, and politics of Indonesia.
BBC WORLD NEWSDAY PROGRAMME
30 August 2019
A guest interview on anti-racism protests in West Papua on BBC World's live Newsday Programme.
RITUALS GONE ROGUE IN WEST PAPUA
26 August 2019
Video recording of a guest seminar on ritual success and failure in West Papua, co-hosted by the University of Sydney's Sydney Southeast Asia Centre and Department of Indonesian Studies.
CULTIVATING CONSENT
26 August 2019
An article on free, prior, and informed consent in the West Papuan oil palm sector, published in New Mandala, a news outlet hosted by the Australian National University and providing scholarly analysis and perspectives on Southeast Asia.
RACE, RIGHTS, AND RESISTANCE
4 September 2019
An op-ed on the anti-racism protests in West Papua, published in Turkish Radio and Television Corporation (TRT World), the national public broadcaster for Turkey.
CAN THERE BE JUSTICE HERE?
18 August 2019
Video recording of a presentation on social and environmental justice in the West Papuan oil palm sector, hosted by Sydney Environment Institute's Multispecies Justice FutureFix project.
BIOCAPITALISM AND AGRIBUSINESS IN RURAL INDONESIA
August 2019
A research feature published in the Sydney Southeast Asia Centre's 2018 - 2019 Yearbook.
ENGAGED ANTHROPOLOGY
8 August 2019
A blog on oil palm, human rights, and sustainability in West Papua, a project funded and published by the Wenner-Gren Foundation for Anthropological Research.
HUNGER IN THE RUBBLE OF THE FOREST
(游荡在印尼马老奇森林废墟里的饥饿感)
9 August 2019
An article on Indigenous phenomenologies of hunger, published in Others (他者), a special section on Indigenous cultures in the Chinese-language online magazine The Paper (澎湃).
FIVE MINUTES WITH DR. SOPHIE CHAO
5 August 2019
An interview for Sydney University's Staff News newsletter on anthropology, activism, and interdisciplinarity.
BIODIVERSITY AND EXTINCTION – CAN WE ACHIEVE JUSTICE FOR ALL?
19 June 2019
A talk on biodiversity, conservation, and agribusiness in West Papua with Sydney Ideas, the University of Sydney's premier public lecture series.
HOW LAND GRABBERS WEAPONIZE INDIGENOUS RITUAL AGAINST PAPUANS: AN INTERVIEW WITH ANTHROPOLOGIST SOPHIE CHAO
28 March 2019
A full-length interview with international environmental news platform Mongabay and environmental NGO The Gecko Project on contemporary land grabs and Indigenous experiences of monocrop oil palm developments in West Papua.
SEI NEWS: Q+A WITH POSTDOC RESEARCH ASSOCIATE SOPHIE CHAO
11 April 2019
Q&A with the Sydney Environment Institute, one of the University of Sydney's MultiDisciplinary Initiatives.
VICE-CHANCELLOR'S COMMENDATION FOR SOPHIE CHAO
15 February 2019
Sophie Chao receives a Vice-Chancellor's Commendation for her doctoral thesis titled, “In Shadow of the Palms: Plant-Human Relations among Marind-Anim, West Papua.”
MALAYSIA: THE MURUT STRUGGLE AGAINST PALM OIL, FOR LAND AND LIFE
12 December 2016
An investigative research-based article on oil palm and land grabbing in Malaysia, published in The Ecologist.
LOCAL COMMUNITIES KEY TO SAVING FORESTS
7 April 2014
An article on deforestation and Indigenous peoples' rights, published in The Jakarta Post, Indonesia's top English-language daily newspaper.
LES PEUPLES DES FORÊTS RÉCLAMENT LEURS DROITS
22 March 2014
An interview on forest peoples' land rights with francophone news outlet La Voix de l’Amérique (Voice of America).
FOREST PEOPLES' LANDMARK APPEAL TO CURB DEFORESTATION
21 March 2014
An article on deforestation and Indigenous peoples' rights, published in the United Nations University news and analysis outlet, Our World 2.0.
SECURING HUMAN RIGHTS THROUGH PRIVATE SECTOR STANDARDS? A COMPARATIVE REVIEW
8 February 2013
An article on human rights in corporate sector standards, published in Our World 2.0.
BALI DECLARATION CALLS FOR PALM OIL JUSTICE
9 March 2012
An article on the Bali Declaration on Human Rights and Agribusiness, published in Our World 2.0.
SEEING THE PEOPLE FOR THE TREES
8 June 2012
An article on forest peoples and the right to land, published in Our World 2.0.
1.3 BILLION PEOPLE DEPEND ON FORESTS TO SURVIVE
26 May 2012
An interview on Indigenous peoples rights and deforestation with New Scientist, a weekly, English-language magazine that covers all aspects of science and technology.
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HAR INVESTERT MILLIARDER I OMSTRIDT SELSKAP
3 April 2012
An interview on Indigenous peoples rights and agribusiness expansion by the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation.
STUDYING ANTHROPOLOGY AT OXFORD
12 July 2010
A two-part podcast on studying anthropology at the University of Oxford, hosted by the Institute of Social and Cultural Anthropology. With Jennie Rothera, Darryl Stellmach, Santhy Balachandran, and Mette Berg.
GUEST TALKS
Below is a selection of guest talks I've given as a doctoral and postdoctoral researcher.
For conference papers, please see my CV.
5 Mar 2021. “Eating and Being Eaten: The Changing Meanings of Hunger among Marind, West Papua.” Centre for Southeast Asian Studies Friday Forum Lecture Series. University of Wisconsin-Madison.
24 Jan 2021. “Entanglements.” Requiem, Sydney Festival. Sydney. Panelist.
22 Jan 2021. “An Endangered Menagerie.” Requiem, Sydney Festival. Sydney. Panelist.
4 Dec 2020. Normative Eco-Relations. Princeton University. Discussant.
24 Nov 2020. From PhD to Book. Recent Experiences in the Publishing Industry. Asian Studies Association of Australia. Panelist. Available online (password: zfG7FHRY!=3y).
10 Nov 2020. “Taking Plants and People Seriously: Multispecies Entanglements in the West Papuan Oil Palm Nexus.” 4A_Lab: Art Histories, Archaeologies, Anthropologies, Aesthetics. Kunsthistorisches Institut in Florenz – Max-Planck-Institut. Available online.
6 Nov 2020. Making and Maintaining a Public Research Profile. Multispecies Justice HDR Collective. Panelist.
2 Oct 2020. “The Beetle or the Bug? Multispecies Biopolitics in the West Papuan Oil Palm Nexus.” Department of Anthropology Seminar Series. London School of Economics.
25 Sep 2020. “Land Use Change and Impacts on Health and Livelihoods: Experiences from West Papua.” Social Public Health Round #1: Planetary Health. Universitas Udayana, Bali. Available online.
21 Sep 2020. “West Papua – Depths of Loss and Heights of Resistance.” Webinar: International Day of Struggle Against Monoculture Tree Plantations. Global Forest Coalition. Available online.
16 Sep 2020. “Plants as Kin, Plants as Foe: Vegetal Ontologies in the West Papuan Oil Palm Nexus.” Department of Anthropology Seminar Series. University of Melbourne.
24 Aug 2020. “The Beetle or the Bug? Multispecies Resistance and Collaboration in the West Papuan Oil Palm Nexus.” History and Philosophy of Science Seminar Series. University of Sydney.
6 Aug 2020. Doing Fieldwork in the Time of COVID-19. Sydney Southeast Asia Centre. Panelist.
30 Jul 2020. “The Beetle or the Bug? Multispecies Resistance and Collaboration in the West Papuan Oil Palm Nexus.” Department of Anthropology Seminar Series. University of Waikato. Aotearoa/New Zealand. Available online.
14 Jul 2020. “The Promise of Multispecies Justice: Thinking across Sites, Scales, and Species.” Environmental Justice, Climate Justice, Multispecies Justice: Virtual Symposium. Sydney Environment Institute.
25 Jun 2020. “There are no Straight Lines in Nature: Mapping Multispecies Worlds in West Papua.” Territorial Agency: Oceans in Transformation. TBA-21 Academy. Available online.
18 Feb 2020. “Invasives or Allies? The Multispecies Biopolitics of Oil Palm Ecologies in West Papua, Indonesia.” When Species Travel: On the Rise and Consequence of Invasive Ecologies in Asia and the West Pacific. Asia Research Institute and Yale – NUS College. Singapore.
28 Jan 2020. “Plants as Kin, Plants as Foe: Sago and Oil Palm Ontologies in Indonesian West Papua.” Oriental Society of Australia Lunchtime Seminar Series. University of Sydney.
2 Dec 2019. “Applied Anthropology: Roundtable of the Australian Network of Student Anthropologists.” Australian Anthropological Society Conference, Canberra. Panelist.
28 Nov 2019. “Development, Deforestation, Dispossession - Experiences in Merauke, West Papua.” Insights into West Papua: Public Forum. Pacific Institute, Australian National University. Canberra. Available online.
19 Sep 2019. “More-Than-Human Environmental Subjects in the West Papuan Oil Palm Nexus.” Tomorrow’s Country: Environmentality after “Recognition.” Alfred Deakin Institute. Melbourne.
13 Sep 2019. “The Plastic Cassowary: Problematic Pets in West Papua.” Gender and Cultural Studies Seminar Series. University of Sydney.
26 Aug 2019. Wrathful Ancestors, Corporate Sorcerers: Rituals Gone Rogue in Merauke, West Papua. School of Languages and Cultures and Sydney Southeast Asia Centre Seminar. University of Sydney. Available online.
22 Aug 2019. “Maps that Won’t Sit Still: Cartographic Conundrums in a West Papuan Village.” Department of Anthropology Seminar Series. University of Sydney.
7 Aug 2019. “Pressure Points: Topographies of Violence in West Papua.” Thinking Space Seminar Series. School of Geosciences. University of Sydney.
6 Aug 2019. “Children of the Palms: Growing Plants and Growing People in Merauke, West Papua.” Sydney Pacific Studies Network Seminar Series. University of Sydney.
12 Jul 2019. “Mapping More-Than-Human Worlds in an Age of Mass Extinction: Indigenous Cartography in West Papua.” The (Re)Emergence of Nature in Culture II. Sydney Environment Institute.
8 Jul 2019. Culture in Conversation: Creating Inclusive Food Communities. Sydney Environment Institute, FoodLab Sydney, YARN Australia, and University of Sydney Union. Panelist.
27 Jun 2019. Post-Honours: What Comes Next? Sydney Southeast Asia Centre. Panelist.
19 Jun 2019. “Biodiversity and Extinction: Indigenous Perspectives on Multispecies Justice in West Papua.” Sydney Ideas: Biodiversity and Extinction – Can we Achieve Justice for All? University of Sydney. Available online.
17 Jun 2019. “The Moral, Legal, and Political Status of Humans, Animals, and the Environment.” Multispecies Justice Symposium, Sydney Environment Institute. Discussant.
13 Jun 2019. “Economies After Plantationocene Capitalism: Lessons Towards Multispecies Justice from the West Papuan Oil Palm Sector” Economies after Anthropocene Roundtable. University of Sydney.
4 Jun 2019. “Food, Culture, Hunger: Towards a Field in Ethnonutrition?” Charles Perkins Centre Breakfast Seminar Series. University of Sydney.
31 May 2019. “Strange Flesh, Strange Fluids: Transforming Bodies and Selves in a West Papuan Agro-Industrial Zone.” Meeting the Human Halfway. Biopolitics of Science Research Network. University of Sydney.
17 May 2019. “Mana Wahine, Hawaiian Feminism, and Decoloniality in Hawaiʻi.” Brandy Nālani McDougall. Gender and Cultural Studies Seminar Series, University of Sydney. Discussant.
23 Apr 2019. “Keamanan Pangan dan Budaya Sagu di Merauke, Papua: Penilaian Metodologi dan Teori Anthropologis.” Dialog Selasa Siang. Department of Indonesian Studies. University of Sydney.
17 Apr 2019. “Eating and Being Eaten: Gastro-Politics in a West Papuan Village.” Department of History Seminar Series. University of Sydney.
13 Mar 2019. Human Rights in the Palm Oil Sector. National Training Course: Non-Knowledge: Vectors of Inventiveness. Institut des Hautes Études pour la Science et la Technologie, Paris.
12 Oct 2017. “The Plastic Cassowary: Problematic Pets in West Papua.” Anthropology Colloquium. Macquarie University.
28 Apr 2015. “Gastro-Politics in a Marind Village, West Papua.” Pacific Research Cluster Talanoa. Macquarie University.
5 Dec 2013. Free, Prior and Informed Consent and the Palm Oil Sector: Experiences, Challenges and Advances in Policy and Practice. Institut International pour les Etudes Comparatives. Paris.
18 Mar 2013. Securing Rights through Commodity Roundtables? A Comparative Review. Centre for International Forestry Research. Bogor.
13 Mar 2019. From PhD to Postdoc. Department of History, University of Sydney.
6 Mar 2013. Oil Palm Expansion and the Rights of Forest Peoples in Southeast Asia. Focus on the Global South and United Nations Development Programme. Chulalangkorn University. Bangkok.
12 Dec 2012. Free, Prior and Informed Consent and Oil Palm Expansion in Indonesia: Experiences in Human Rights Advocacy with the Palm Oil Sector. University of Darma Agung. Medan.
5 Nov 2012. “Securing Rights through Commodity Roundtables? A Comparative Review.” Sustainable Agriculture through Multi-Stakeholder Initiatives. Agricultural Research for Development. Montpellier.
GRANTS, AWARDS, AND SCHOLARSHIPS
My research has been supported by a number of academic, national, and international funding bodies, including the Australian Research Council, the Wenner-Gren Foundation for Anthropological Research, the Australian Ministry of Education and Training, the University of Sydney, and Macquarie University.
PRIZES
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John Legge Prize for Best Thesis in Asian Studies, 2,000 AUD, Asian Studies Association of Australia, 2019
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PhD Thesis Prize, 1,000 AUD, Australian Anthropological Society, 2019
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Vice-Chancellor's Commendation for PhD Thesis, Macquarie University, 2019
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College Prize for First in the Final Honor School Examinations, St Anne’s College, University of Oxford, 2009
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College Scholarship, St Anne’s College, University of Oxford, 2009
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College Scholarship, St Anne’s College, University of Oxford, 2008
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Dudbridge Prize for Outstanding Performance in Moderations, Chinese Institute, University of Oxford, 2007
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College Prize for a Distinction in the First Public Exam (FPE), St Anne’s College, University of Oxford, 2007
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College Scholarship, St Anne’s College, University of Oxford, 2007
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College Exhibition for a Distinction in Exams, St Anne’s College, University of Oxford, 2006
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College half prize for a Distinction in the Qualifying Exam, St Anne’s College, University of Oxford, 2006
GRANTS
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Discovery Project Grant, 173,000 AUD, Australian Research Council, 2020 - 2022
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Post-PhD Research Grant, 19,760 USD, Wenner-Gren Foundation for Anthropological Research, 2019
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Sydney Southeast Asia Center Conference Fund, 2,000 AUD, University of Sydney, 2019
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Faculty Research Support Scheme, 5,000 AUD, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, University of Sydney, 2019 - 2020
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Postdoctoral Startup Grant, 15,000 AUD, Charles Perkins Center, University of Sydney, 2019 - 2021
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Engaged Anthropology Grant, 5,000 USD, Wenner-Gren Foundation for Anthropological Research, 2018
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Biennial Conference Postgraduate Award, 190 AUD, Asian Studies Association of Australia, 2017
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Dissertation Fieldwork Grant, 9,196 USD, Wenner-Gren Foundation for Anthropological Research, 2015
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Fieldwork Research Grant, 10,000 AUD, Macquarie University, 2015
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Postgraduate Travel Grant, 300 AUD, Australian Anthropological Society, 2015 (declined)
SCHOLARSHIPS
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Endeavour International Postgraduate Scholarship (PhD), Australian Ministry of Education and Training, 2015 - 2018
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Tuition Gap International Research Excellence Scholarship, Macquarie University, 2015 - 2018
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International Macquarie Research Excellence Scholarship (IMQRES), Macquarie University, 2015 - 2018 (declined)
ECOLOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
February - June 2016, 2018
MEDICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
July - November 2018
PSYCHOLOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
July - November 2017
RESEARCH PARADIGMS
February - June 2017, 2019
This undergraduate course explores anthropological approaches to nature and society, with a particular focus on the Anthropocene. It introduces students to the entanglements of humans and non-humans in contexts including mass species extinction, capitalist extractivism, Indigenous cosmologies, and biodiversity conservation.
This undergraduate course explores the anthropology of health, illness, and healing. It introduces students to central concepts, methods, and theories of medical anthropology, including evolutionary biology, Western biomedicine and traditional therapeutic systems, the illness experience, and the social, psychological, and biological origins of disease.
This undergraduate course explores psychological anthropology, including emotional, cognitive, developmental, and perceptual dynamics across cultures. It introduces students to the conceptual roots of psychological anthropology and to contemporary anthropological debates about the relationship between self, psyche, and culture.
This postgraduate course explores research paradigms in the Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences. It introduces students to a range of theoretical frameworks, the assumptions that underwrite these diverse approaches, their inter-disciplinary relevance, their strengths, and their conceptual relationships.
INTRODUCTION: ANTHROPOLOGY
July - November 2018
This undergraduate course introduces students to methods and principles of sociocultural anthropology through topics including exchange and reciprocity; language and culture; kinship; magic, ritual, and witchcraft; race, ethnicity and inequality; the body and culture; globalization; and sex and gender.
In addition to designing, coordinating, and delivering courses, I have guest-lectured in undergraduate and postgraduate modules at a range of universities, and in topics including: Living in the Anthropocene, Food Across Cultures, Anthropology of Law, Culture, Myth, and Religion, Ethnology of the Pacific, Science, Ethics, and Society, Posthumanism, Indonesian Studies, International and Global Studies, Population Health and Sustainable Development, History & Historians, Development Practice, and Fundamentals of Regulation. I have also led interdisciplinary case studies and research projects in courses on Medical Science and Interdisciplinary Impact.
TEACHING
Since 2015, I have tutored, lectured, and convened undergraduate and postgraduate courses in anthropology and the social sciences more generally at Macquarie University. I continue to give guest lectures as a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Sydney. My teaching philosophy is anchored in a strong work ethic, the pursuit of excellence, and respect for intellectual diversity. My goal as a teacher is to support my students lead lives of impacts as engaged citizens and creative thinkers. For further details, please see my Teaching Dossier.
TEACHING
Since 2015, I have tutored, lectured, and convened undergraduate and postgraduate courses in anthropology and the social sciences more generally at Macquarie University. I continue to give guest lectures as a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Sydney. My teaching philosophy is anchored in a strong work ethic, the pursuit of excellence, and respect for intellectual diversity. My goal as a teacher is to support my students lead lives of impacts as engaged citizens and creative thinkers. For further details, please see my Teaching Portfolio.
Secretary, Executive Committee, Australian Anthropological Society (2019 - present)
Co-convener and Administrator, Australian Food, Society, and Culture Network (2019 - present)
Co-organizer, Biopolitics of Science Research Network (2020 - present)
Co-convener, HDR Multispecies Justice Reading Group (2020 - present)
Co-secretary, Charles Perkins Centre Early and Mid Career Researchers Network (2019 - 2020)
Honorary Postdoctoral Fellow, Macquarie University (2019 – 2021)
Full Member, Royal Society of New South Wales (RSNSW)
Member, Society for Social Studies of Science (4S)
Member, Asian Studies Association of Australia (ASAA)
Fellow, Australian Anthropological Society (AAS)
Member, Australian Association for Pacific Studies (AAPS)
Member, Native American and Indigenous Studies Association (NAISA)
Member, World Public Health Nutrition Association (WPHNA)
Member, The Pacific Circle
Member, Planet Politics Institute
Member, Oriental Society of Australia (OSA)
Member, AgriFood Research Network (AFRN)
Member, Food Studies Research Network (FSRN)
Member, Agriculture, Nutrition and Health Academy (ANHA)
Member, Charles Perkins Centre (CPC)
Researcher, Sydney Environment Institute (SEI)
Academic Member, Sydney Southeast Asia Center (SSEAC)
Academic Member, Chinese Studies Center, The University of Sydney
Member, Sydney Food and Nutrition Network (SFNN)
Member, Sydney Social Sciences and Humanities Advanced Research Centre (SSSHARC)
Member, Mosaic Network, The University of Sydney
Member, Human Animal Research Network (HARN)
Member, UNESCO Inclusive Policy Lab
Advisory Board Member, Cultural and Medical Anthropology Division, Adventurous Midwives
Cultural Horizons Prize Jury Member, American Anthropological Association, 2015
MEMBERSHIPS
GET IN TOUCH
Please get in touch if you would like to know more about my academic and applied research, discuss potential collaborations, or if you have any other inquiries.
School of Philosophical and Historical Inquiry
The University of Sydney
