Mathilde Gouin-Bonenfant mg975@cam.ac.uk
Canada
Social Anthropology, Clare Hall
PhD thesis: Knowing and Caring for the Mangrove Ecosystem: an ethnography of environmental collaborations in
the Saloum Delta (Senegal)
Research interests
- Epistemology and knowledge production
- Science communication and misinformation
- Language, translation, and collaboration
- Ethics and practices of care for nonhumans
I am interested in the articulations between knowledge and care within environmental collaborations in the Saloum Delta, in Senegal. My fieldwork looked at the practices of knowledge (co-)production, communication and translation within the projects of a sustainable development NGO based in the region. I interrogated these dynamics through the NGO's relationships with its donors, members of the communities it works with, and the mangrove ecosystem. I also looked at how environmental knowledge in the Saloum Delta was related to different (sometimes competing) ethics and practices of care for nonhumans.
Who or what inspired you to pursue your research interests?
I was inspired by my different experiences doing research and working with NGOs in Quebec and Senegal. Through these experiences, I have become fascinated by collaborative and intercultural contexts and the ways in which knowledge is (co-)produced, mediated, translated, and negotiated within these contexts.