HELLO

And welcome to the second edition of the Society for Human Ecology Newsletter! As we hit the ground running with another busy start to the year, we ask you to kindly take this time to pause and read through the contributions from our community. We have many announcements in this issue, from volunteer opportunities to centennial celebrations and several ways for you to get involved.

Welcome to the new SHE Board Members

We would like to start by giving a warm welcome to the new members of the Society for Human Ecology Board. Our newly appointed board members bring a wealth of knowledge and experience to their roles, and will help to shape the mission of SHE while supporting our programs, events and the wider community.

​
​Ricardo Barbosa Bitencourt holds a Ph.D. (2023) and a master’s degree (2014) in Human Ecology from the State University of Bahia (UNEB), where he also graduated in Pedagogy. He is a professor at the Federal Institute of Sertão Pernambucano (IFSertão-PE), leader of CODEC – Research Community in Digital Culture, Ecologies, and Computing, where he coordinates the Digital Humanities research line. He is a founding member of the Brazilian Society for Human Ecology (SABEH). His research focuses on Human Ecology with an emphasis on digital culture, digital games, and digital dependency, exploring the intersections between education, technology, and human ways of life.

​ricardo.bitencourt@gmail.com or ricardo.bitencourt@ifsertao-pe.edu.br​

Mpinda Tushiminine Martin Ph. D. Department of Environmental Sciences, Université Nouveaux Horizons (UNH), DR.Congo. I am a full-time associate professor at Nouveaux Horizons Université (UNH), where I teach environmental pollution, environmental chemistry, and solid, liquid, and hazardous waste management. I also serve as Director of the Natural Resource Governance Research Unit (UR-GRN). My scientific research focuses on the dynamics of heavy metals in termite mound soils and tropical soils, the role of phosphorus in soil, and establishing background and baseline data for an environmental reference framework for soils in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Additionally, I am Secretary General of the Congolese Environmental Observatory (OCE), an environmental protection NGO. I coordinate OCE activities, which focus on environmental protection around mining sites, corporate social responsibility, soil ecology, and tropical ecosystems.

​mtmartin925@gmail.com or mpinda_martin@yahoo.fr​

Ana Vitoria Alkmim de Souza Lima Ph.D. in Human Ecology (Universidade Nova de Lisboa) and currently engaged in a postdoctoral fellowship in Communication at the Federal University of Minas Gerais. She holds a degree in Social Communication from the Federal University of Minas Gerais (1995), a master’s in International Marketing from the Universitat de Girona (2004), and an MBA from PUC Minas (2005). Since 2003, she has been a professor at Fundação Dom Cabral and is also a member of ALED – the Latin American Association for Discourse Studies. Her professional trajectory spans the public, private, and third sectors, with expertise in Administration, Communication, and Sustainability. Her work emphasizes Communications, Organizational Discourse, Organizational Studies, Strategy, Social Organization Management, Entrepreneurship, and International Relations. ana.alkmim@fcsh.unl.pt
​​

Ron Jay Dangcalan is an Assistant Professor of Human Ecology and Political Economy at the College of Human Ecology, University of the Philippines Los Baños and Board

Member/Immediate Past Vice President of the Human Ecology Institute of the Philippines. In 2024, he led the formation of the Philippine Human Ecology Consortium. He has a BA-MA Political Economy from the University of Asia and the Pacific and is pursuing his PhD in Human Ecology at the Universidade Nova de Lisboa. Ron is passionate in learning and writing about Human Ecology and its applications in solving complex problems. He has participated either as project leader, study leader or project staff in various local and cross-country research projects related to climate change adaptation, disaster risk reduction, agricultural development and natural resource management. On his free time, he loves to walk and write calligraphy (baybayin) – the ancient Philippine writing system.

rpdangcalan@up.edu.ph​

​
​Kira West is Development Manager, Corporate Partnerships for WWF-Australia. With a background in environmental science and an M. Phil in Human Ecology, she currently builds purpose-led partnerships that advance the mission of WWF while supporting the corporate philanthropy sector. She works with businesses to influence systems change, while supporting communities and nature through on-ground conservation programs. She lives in Sydney, Australia and can often be found outside when not at her desk.

​kira.west@humanecology.earth

Jérémy Lienaert I hold a bachelor’s degree in Social Ecology from the Haute École de Bruxelles Ilya Prigogine and a master’s degree in Social Transitions and Innovations from the University of Mons (UMons, 2022). My master’s thesis examined the transformations of subjectivity around urban waterways and the forms of gentrification that emerge from them. Since October 2023, I have been a PhD researcher at UMons, affiliated with the Department of Socio-Anthropology (ESHS), the Faculty of Architecture and Urbanism (FAU), and the SOCI&TER Research Institute for Societal and Territorial Development.

My doctoral research focuses on "Terrils" (coal spoil heaps) in Wallonia, exploring the ecologies that emerge from these artificial hills, the struggles and revalorization processes that unfold there, as well as the dynamics of exclusion, gentrification, and power at play. My approach combines Anna Tsing’s multispecies anthropology with critical geography.

​Jeremy.LIENAERT@umons.ac.be​

Dominique Arsenault I am a second year PhD student in ecological economics at the University of technology of Compiègne, in France, studying the potential growth and scale-up of commons based approaches to manufacturing. This project is part of the Economic Policies for the Global Bifurcation (EPOG) doctoral network, a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions funded doctoral network. Beyond this, I am also a "double" human ecologist - I have MSc in Human Ecology from Lund University in Sweden, and a BA in Human Ecology from College of the Atlantic in the United States. Throughout my studies, I have been interested in how the organization of the economy generates ecological contradictions and crises. This preoccupation carries on outside of academia, where I have been engaged with various projects of environmental and climate activism.

​dom24100@gmail.com​

Academic work & articles from our community ​​

Lessons from the Archives Samantha Alberts (PhD Student) and Denise Nicole Green (Associate Professor) ​Read here​​​​​

Growing a Sympoietic Art Organism Nadine Abd El Razek, Sara Arango-Franco, Lina Bulla, Gabriel Camacho-Cabrera, Phileas Dazeley-Gaist, Ellynne Dec, Louison Halgand, Emerson Paquette, Sonal Raghuvanshi, Kyle Thompson ​Read here​

Adapting Together: Human Ecology as an Ecology of Practices Maria João Horta Parreira ​​​Read here​

Student Corner

This is a place where we encourage our student community to share their current work, senior projects, Masters & PhD, particularly when seeking support from other academics and human ecologists. If you are an academic, we highly encourage you to share this opportunity with your students so that we can showcase their work.

Feminist Pedagogical Praxis Neha Panda, Current Senior Student, College of the Atlantic This academic term I began working on my senior project which is on the topic of Feminist Pedagogical Praxis. This project is a personal and academic exploration of alternative educational practices, looking at the intersection between student-centered learning, feminist pedagogy, and alternative ways of knowing within higher education. My project draws from methodologies such as autoethnography, narrative inquiry, as well as arts-based and contemplative practices and is an inquiry into educational practices and ways of teaching/learning that center collaboration, care, and embodied understanding within the curriculum/classroom. To get in touch with Neha about her work, please email her at npanda26@coa.edu.

SHE Spotlight

Keynote: Viksit Bharat (Developed India) with Sustainable Development Prof. T. I. Khan University of Rajasthan Jaipur, India The primary Goal of Viksit Bharat (Developed India) is to transform India into a Developed Nation by 2047 through inclusive economic participation for all citizens. It aims to take India’s economy to US $ 30 Trillion within two decades.

Philippine Human Ecologists convene in Mindanao for Social Development and Sustainability Jennifer Marie S. Amparo Dean, College of Human Ecology, University of the Philippines Third Vice President, Society for Human Ecology The College of Human Ecology, University of the Philippines, organized the first International Conference on Social Development and Sustainability in partnership with the Philippine Human Ecology Consortium 2025 (ICSDSxPHEC 2025) on November 18-19, 2025, at Central Mindanao University (CMU) in Maramag, Bukidnon. To read the full summary of the conference, click here.

Announcements

Cornell Human Ecology Celebrates Centennial

Nancy M. Wells, Senior Associate Dean for Research and Graduate Education; Professor, Human Centered Design Department, College of Human Ecology, Cornell University

On the occasion of Cornell Human Ecology’s centennial, Cornell historian and visiting lecturer Corey Ryan Earle joins Dean Rachel Dunifon for a fascinating discussion about Cornell Human Ecology's first 100 years and our exciting future. Please watch the video below to join the conversation!

​

Call for Volunteers - European College of Human Ecology

Dr. Wolfgang Serbser and Prof. em. Dr. Dieter Steiner

As shareholders of the European College for Human Ecology (COHE), a non-profit limited liability company (German abbreviation: gGmbH), we would like to draw your attention to the following announcement. We are in the process of revitalizing our project of establishing an actual college and thereby hope to find younger people willing to eventually take over and continue the work.

Five volunteer roles are currently available - view them here.

For past activities visit our website here.

Call for Papers - Animals & Society Section of the American Sociological Association

The Animals & Society Section of the American Sociological Association invites you to submit to one of our two open sessions for our annual meeting in NYC this August 7-11:

Entangled Species - Animals in Society This is an open session for papers that consider our interactions with other species. We invite those who are deeply immersed in the area of Animal Studies, those who are just dipping in, and all in between. This session is aimed at exploring the broad spectrum of sociological inquiry into our relationships, perceptions, and other entanglements with non-human others.

Animals from a Sociological Perspective This is an open roundtable session for work that delves into the area of Animal Studies. We invite those who are deeply immersed in the area of Animal Studies, those who are just dipping in, and all in between. This roundtable session is aimed at exploring the broad spectrum of sociological inquiry into our relationships, perceptions, and other entanglements with non-human others.

​Submit here by February 25th, 2026. Reach out with any questions to Seven Mattes, bryant22@msu.edu​

Ecological Society of America Annual Meeting

Kennedy "Ned" F. Rubert-Nason, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Chemistry, University of Maine Fort Kent

Members of the Human Ecology section of the Ecological Society of America are planning several activities for the upcoming Ecological Society of America annual meeting in Salt Lake City, UT, U.S.A., July 26-31, 2026. These activities include a business meeting and publicity table for the section, as well as proposed sessions titled "Ecopedagogy for reimagining a sustainable future: Transforming human-Earth relationships in troubled times through critical reflection and action," "Teaching ecology in an era of uncertainty: Challenges and opportunities," and "Neurodivergence in ecology."

Session proposals were developed collaboration with the members of the Environmental Justice, Education, Inclusive Ecology and Senior & Advancing Generations of Ecologists sections of the Ecological Society of America, along with faith-based and Indigenous groups. Current leaders of the Human Ecology section (Drs. Huidong Li of Vanderbilt University and Yehui Zhong of McGill University) as well as former leaders (Drs. Yiyi Zhang and Kennedy Rubert-Nason) are open to opportunities for collaboration with members of the Society for Human Ecology and other organizations engaged in complementary work.

The Human Ecology section of the Ecological Society of America is always looking for volunteers and would love to hear from you. For more information about the annual meeting or how to get involved, contact Ned Rubert-Nason at kennedy.rubertnason@maine.edu.

Sharing the “Guidelines for non-extractive research on the Social and Solidarity Economy” from RIPESS Europe

Social solidarity economy (SSE) has been increasingly studied by researchers interested in how alternative economic practices can allow our societies to adapt to the social and ecological challenges we face. However, just as our economies and societies must adapt, so must our research practices. Research on SSE can quickly become extractive: SSE practitioners are not always adequately informed of the context and nature of the research they participation in; they are not always allowed access to the results of this research; and as a result, they are sometimes excluded from the benefits of the knowledge they helped to created.

In this context, the RIPESS Europe Knowledge Commons Circle has developed the Guidelines for non-extractive research on the Social and Solidarity Economy. These guidelines are a set of principles for conducting research on SSE that constructs a collaborative relationship with practitioners, ensuring that they are agents in the research process and that they benefit from the resulting knowledge. They were developed in conversation with the broader RIPESS network and inspired by other, similar guidelines that have been developed. We invited researcher interested in SSE research to read these guidelines and apply them to their own researcher, and educators to share these guidelines with their students.

These guidelines are a living document and will continue to evolve. We therefore invite comments and feedback, which can be addressed to socioeco.org@ripess.eu

To view the guidelines in their entirety, click here.

Next Call for Content As a reminder, this is a quarterly newsletter. The next call for content will be in March, but please feel free to send feedback or submissions any time to Kira West at kira.west@humanecology.earth. Thank you to everyone who contributed!