Interspecies Health Knowledges develops projects that explore how health, care, and environments are co-constructed through long-term interspecies relations. Grounded in multispecies anthropology, these projects foreground local and vernacular knowledges as central to understanding interspecies practices, ecological dynamics, and shared worlds, while initiating dialogue with different disciplines.
A multispecies exploration of health, environment, and co-evolving relations between Lua herders and their buffaloes in Nan
A project coordinated by Nicolas Lainé.
The BufFarm project focuses on extensive buffalo farming among the Lua (Prai) in Nan Province (Thailand). Grounded in Anthropology the project has a strong participatory dimension. Rather than considering local knowledge solely as a source of data they constitute research partners. The project started with a collective ethnography which helped in describing herder’s practices and understanding the local context. This allowed scientific acculturation and fostered dialogue between the herders and the various disciplines involved (anthropology, botany and ecology). The project is currently engaged on various aspects such as the exploration of buffalo diet and medicine in relation with ethnomedicine, an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) targeting the role of buffalo for forest regeneration, the surveillance of antimicrobial resistance genes in the area, as well as an indeepth analysis the co-evolution of Lua and Buffalos.
More info and update at hypotheses.org
Investigating equine self-medication and human–horse health ecologies in the highland landscapes of Northern Thailand
A fieldwork coordinated by Suriyawut Ketui (DVM, vet-anthropologist - CMU) supported by MNHN, OPUS Sorbonne, and IRD to Nicolas Lainé
The ChevalAutoMedic project investigates equine self-medication and multispecies healing practices among Chin Haw horse communities in Doi Ang Khang (Northern Thailand). As one of the last working horse cultures in the country, the Chin Haw maintain equine practices deeply shaped by centuries-old mountain trade routes, where horses have long supported livelihoods while grazing in semi-autonomy. Rooted in anthropology and vernacular ethology, the project adopts a deeply collaborative approach in which local expertise and equine knowledge holders are central research partners. Current work explores horse foraging behaviour and self-medication repertoires, the ethnoveterinary pharmacopeia employed by handlers, and the environmental conditions shaping equine mobility in highland borderlands.
Through this work, ChevalAutoMedic aims to illuminate how human–horse relations contribute to environmental knowledge, health practices, and the co-creation of shared cultural landscapes.
More info and update at hypotheses.org