Environmental Conservation in an Age of Data Sovereignty: Reflections from the North Coast

Geography Professor Max Ritts will speak about data sovereignty and environmental conservation.

Light refreshments will be provided.

Max Ritts is an environmental geographer exploring the intersections of social power, sensory practice, and ecological transformation, with a particular focus on Indigenous community contexts. His current book project, “A Resonant Ecology,” is rooted in collaborations with communities on the north coast of British Columbia and examines the force of industrial development through situated enactments of sonic culture (e.g., eco-acoustics, whale song, industrial noise, and Indigenous heavy metal). He is developing a partnership with the Gitga’at First Nation to assess capacities for data sovereignty and socio-cultural well-being. Ritts also is co-editing “The Raven Stories,” an anthology that centers voices of young Indigenous scholars and critical Indigenous perspectives. Ritts comes to Clark from King’s College, University of Cambridge, where he was a college research associate. He received his doctorate in geography from the University of British Columbia.