My dissertation work

My dissertation advances scholarship in climate adaptation, Indigenous studies, and environmental governance by addressing a conceptual gap in how culture figures into climate resilience: despite growing recognition that Indigenous communities possess deep adaptive knowledge, most research treats culture either as a variable influencing adaptation behavior or as a vulnerable asset threatened by climate change. What happens when we instead recognize culture as an active mode of adaptation in its own right?

The first part of my dissertation presents a systematic review of the global Indigenous climate adaptation literature, mapping how researchers conceptualize the relationship between culture and adaptation. I develop a three-level analytical framework that distinguishes between culture as a factor shaping adaptation decisions, culture as an object requiring protection from climate impacts, and culture as infrastructure through which adaptation actively occurs. Using this framework, I show how the dominant framing of culture in adaptation scholarship constrains both research and practice, and where an emerging body of work points toward more dynamic understandings.

The second part of my dissertation examines tribal climate adaptation plans through the lens of Indigenous data sovereignty and the CARE principles (Collective Benefit, Authority to Control, Responsibility, and Ethics). Through document analysis, I consider how Indigenous nations articulate the role of cultural systems in their own adaptation planning, and how these framings compare to those found in the broader academic literature.

The third part of my dissertation presents a case study of Indigenous cultural initiatives in southern Louisiana, focusing on collective memory work with the Houma Language Project, and supporting work with Bvlbancha Public Access and Traditional Houma Indigenous Cultural Association. This chapter grounds the dissertation's theoretical arguments in lived practice, examining how cultural production and revitalization efforts function as climate adaptation infrastructure in a region facing acute environmental change.

In addition to contributing to theoretical work on the culture-adaptation relationship, my dissertation has implications for adaptation policy and for researchers working alongside Indigenous communities. Grounded in Indigenous data sovereignty principles, the dissertation argues for frameworks that recognize culture not merely as something to be saved from climate change, but as a vital system through which communities navigate it.