Notes

My research is rooted in place, which means that my projects are discursively and geographically tied to places and relations. The past decade, I have lived, worked, and carried out research (independently and in affiliation with institutions) in the Philippines, Australia, the Kingdom of Tonga, and Hawaii. This has shaped a line of inquiry around conceptions of place and violence tied to it. Whether I am filming at quarries, interviewing and meeting with residents in mining-affected areas, or visiting the National Archives of the Philippines, my work is field-based. This process fosters and makes possible collaborations and relations. Through the years I have maintained a consist practice of documentation through videos, photos, sketches, and writings. Most of this is generative for more sustained and focused multi-year projects, like my 2023 MA thesis, but it's mainly a way to think through and engage critically around my main thematic concerns and the conversations and issues that shape it. It also keeps me attuned on what is at stake. On this page I share some thoughts and materials from my research.

Image: Fieldwork in Naga City, Cebu in the Philippines; conducting interviews and documenting a quarry where a landslide killed over 70 people and displaced over 8000 people in September 2018. (2019)

Between 2018 and 2019, I spent 5 months in the Kingdom of Tonga to research mining as part of a project spanning Brazil, the Kingdom of Tonga, and the Philippines. This work was supported through residencies at ‘Atenisi Institute in Tonga, the East-West Center in Hawai’i and Tropical Futures Institute in the Philippines.