Resources
Research tools and insights from our Observatories
A growing collection of environmental humanities resources.
Latest News
Thom van Dooren receives the Biophilia Award in Environmental Humanities
Thom van Dooren, co-Director of the Oceania Observatory, receives the BBVA Foundation’s Biophilia Award in Environmental Humanities and Social Sciences for his work on species extinction and biodiversity.
From Sea to Sky: Island Poetics, Figurative and Literal Islandness
From Sea to Sky is a Spring 2026 hybrid panel series that uses archipelagic thinking to place island and desert studies in dialogue, examining how seemingly discrete landscapes are bound by shared histories, ecologies, and imaginaries.
Research Projects
Our international collaboration has produced scalable and replicable research and pedagogical projects at each Observatory.
Project
Create the Change
November 25, 2025
Create the Change (CTC), supported by a President’s Special Initiative grant, addresses the moral, cultural, political, and economic complexities that hinder progress toward planetary health—challenges that cannot be solved by technology alone. The program mobilizes the social sciences and humanities in partnership with sustainability sciences to confront issues such as disinformation, social and environmental injustice, power imbalances, and cultural barriers.
Publications
From applied literature to educational resources, browse our collection of publications.
Publication
Global Population: History, Geopolitics and Life on Earth
Alison Bashford
A history of how population became a global problem, shaping ideas of development, governance, and reproduction.
Publication
Rethinking Invasion Ecologies from the Environmental Humanities
Jodi Frawley and Iain McCalman
An environmental humanities perspective on invasive species, examining how culture, history, and ecology intersect to shape responses to biological invasions in the Anthropocene.
Publication
Reading Aridity in Western American Literature
Jada Ach and Gary Reger
An ecocritical study of deserts in Western American literature, exploring how arid landscapes reshape ideas of ecology, culture, and human–nonhuman relationships.
Food Futures
Food Sovereignty
Indigenous Knowledge
Sustainable Farming
Article
Food Futures— Humanities and Social Sciences Approaches at the Asia-Pacific Observatory
Discover research, stories, and community initiatives that highlight how Indigenous food systems and traditional ecological knowledge foster food sovereignty, environmental justice, biodiversity conservation, and sustainable relationships with the land.
News
The Storying Just Futures Fellowships
The Storying Just Futures Fellowships invite graduate students to help shape youth vision and leadership at UNESCO by proposing solutions for a desired future. Up to ten students will collaborate to create a social change recommendation for UNESCO, gaining insights into international policy-making. Each Fellow will receive a $200 stipend and books.
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