Reading Lists

reading (etc) list

Below is an inexhaustive and ever-expanding list of papers and articles that I have found helpful throughout my science journey. Last updated April 04 2026.

Incorporating Indigenous ways of being and thinking in our 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.

On tap, not on top: An urgent call for academia to support Indigenous science and equitable conservation. Saavedra et al 2026, Earth Stewardship. "We call on academic institutions to recognize and support Indigenous sciences as central—not peripheral—to creating a sustainable future. This article presents a collective call for fundamental change: academia must transform the way it works if it is to meet the challenges and opportunities of biocultural conservation."
How Academia Can Contribute to Biocultural Conservation. Chavez et al 2023, Zenodo. This paper proposes a new framework for biocultural conservation, which must be (1) Collaborative, incorporate (2) Transdisciplinary knowledge, and be (3) Impact oriented. This paper is a great resource for how to incorporate these three tenets into our own scientific projects.
Time to support Indigenous science. Kimmerer & Artelle, 2024. Science. "Society needs other
ways of knowing to illuminate a different way forward. An urgent question is how institutions can appropriately support (and not hinder) Indigenous science’s key role in creating a sustainable future."
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. "A process article for weaving indigenous and mainstream knowledges within science educational curricula and other science arenas."
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. Her 2013 book, Braiding Sweetgrass, has become a cultural touchstone for many people (including myself!) who first encountered this way of science through her insightful prose and beautiful way of approaching science and nature. Her other books, Gathering Moss and The Serviceberry, also support this framework. I was fortunate enough to hear Dr. Kimmerer speak on this topic and her research at her 2023 seminar at Cornell University.

Decolonization
Decolonization 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:

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.

Land Acknowledgement and Action
See this page for more information on going beyond land acknowledgements.

What Good is a Land Acknowledgement, Dr. Cutcha Risling Baldy.
Sicangu CDC guide on land acknowledgement. [link]
Native Governance Center’s guide [link] and explainer video [link] on land acknowledgements, as well as their 2019 Indigenous Peoples’ Day panel [video].

Eugenics & Statistics
When I first began studying ecology, I had no idea how much both ecology and statistics are intertwined with the history of the eugenics movement in the United States.

Madison Grant and the Eugenics History of Biodiversity Conservation. Sarah Nason 2018 Rapid Ecology.
How Eugenics Shaped Statistics: Exposing the damned lies of three science pioneers. Aubrey Clayton 2020 Nautilus.
Statistics, Eugenics, and Me: A personal reckoning of my failure to acknowledge the origins of my field.Raphael Sonabend 2021 Medium.

Intersectionality in Feminism and Environmentalism
Intersectionality, first coined by Dr. Kimberle Crenshaw in 1989, describes the need to not only address specific marginalized pieces of a person's identity (specifically Black womanhood) but to understand that the combination of these two or more identities compound to create a unique situation of marginalization, violence, and oppression.

Demarginalizing the Intersection of Race and Sex: A Black Feminist Critique of Antidiscrimination Doctrine, Feminist Theory and Antiracist Politics. Crenshaw 1989, The University of Chicago Legal Forum.
The Intersectional Environmentalist: How to Dismantle Systems of Oppression to Protect People + Planet. Leah Thomas 2022.
Intersectional Experiences of Black South African Female Doctoral Students in STEM: Participation, Success and Retention. Idahosa & Mkhize 2021, Agenda.
Doing the ‘gender dance’: Black women professionals negotiating gender, race, work and family in post-apartheid South Africa. Jaga, Arabandi, Bagraim, and Mdlongwa 2018, Community, Work & Family.
Increasing diversity to save biodiversity: Rising to the challenge and supporting Indonesian women in conservation. Poor, Imron, Novalina, Shaffer, and Mullinax 2021, Conservation Science and Practice.

Discrimination and anti-racism
In October 2022, the publication Nature published a special issue entitled Racism: Overcoming science's toxic legacy. Here are some pieces that stood out to me (an evolving list):

Computer science has a racism problem: these researchers want to fix it. Newsome 2022, Nature

Other resources:

The climate crisis is a crisis of inequality. Pande 2023, Science eLetters.

The sting of sizeism in the scientific workplace. Arnold 2022, Nature.

Advice on being a scientist

Giving Shape to a Meaningful and Fulfilling Career in Science: Some No-Nonsense Advice Kamini Singha, 2023