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Decolonizing Ecology Series​

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Over the years, I've written several pieces about decolonizing ecology, Indigenizing science, and my own decolonization journey and action plan. This page is a landing site for all of these resources. Please note that I am not Indigenous nor do I claim any tribal membership -- I just care about these issues, as should we all!
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Decolonizing Ecology series

I: Decolonizing My Science
II: Land-Grab Universities
III: Where I Live & Work
IV: Beyond Land Acknowledgement

Blog Posts
06 April 2026 | The Personhood of Nature​

Reading Lists
Click here to see my full reading list and associated commentary.
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Indigenizing Science
There are many ways to experience the world, to gain knowledge, and to understand connections in nature and reality. Science shouldn't just acknowledge these ways, but embrace them through "braiding knowledge" and "two-eyed seeing". Beyond decolonization, there has been a recent recognition of the need for Indigenous ways of seeing and knowing, and a push for these ways to be accepted and celebrated by scientific institutions.​
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• On tap, not on top: An urgent call for academia to support Indigenous science and equitable conservation. Saavedra et al 2026, Earth Stewardship. 
• How Academia Can Contribute to Biocultural Conservation. Chavez et al 2023, Zenodo. 
• Time to support Indigenous science. Kimmerer & Artelle, 2024. Science. 
• Two-Eyed Seeing and other lessons learned within a co-learning journey of bringing together indigenous and mainstream knowledges and ways of knowing. Bartlett, Marshall & Marshall, 2012. Journal of Environmental Studies and Sciences. 
• Why I made a river my co-author: Anne Poelina gives first authorship to a source with deep knowledge about water — the river itself." A 2026 Career Feature from Nature by Lesley Evans Ogden on the Nyikina Warrwa conservationist who has been naming the Martuwarra Fitzroy River as a coauthor since 2020. 
• I can't have a list on merging Western and Indigenous ways of knowing without acknowledging the depth of gratitude I have for the writing of Robin Wall Kimmerer. ​

 

​Decolonization 
Decolonizaiton is the practice of "actively undoing [colonial] systems and ways of thinking" (Trisos et al 2021). Decolonization is not a metaphor or a stand-in for other diversity, equity, and inclusion work (Tuck & Yang 2012); it specifically centers on acknowledging and dismantling the history, present, and future of settler colonialism in our own scientific work. Decolonization cannot only happen "in the mind"; it must be an action in the world to unwork the harms of settler colonialism. That being said, these are some good places to start:​
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• Decolonization is not a metaphor. Tuck & Yang 2012, Decolonization: Indigeneity, Education & Society.
•  Decoloniality and anti-oppressive practices for a more ethical ecology. Trisos, Auerbach, & Katti 2021, Nature Ecology & Evolution.
• Decolonizing geoscience requires more than equity and inclusion. Libioron 2021, Nature Geosciences.
• Replacing “parachute science” with “global science” in ecology and conservation biology. Asase et al 2022. Conservation Science and Practice.
• Decolonizing place-names: Strategic imperative for preserving indigenous cartography in post-colonial Africa. Nna 2015, African Journal of History and Culture.
• The Global South. Dados & Connell 2012, Contexts.