Laura Dev

I am interested in changing relationships between humans and their environments in the face of globalization and global changes. My studies draw from political ecology, science & technology studies (STS), and environmental anthropology. I teach about land, justice, and conservation.

I am particularly interested in plant-human relationships. For my doctoral research and current book project, I used a multispecies ethnography approach to investigate the relations and practices surrounding culturally important medicinal plants associated with ayahuasca, a psychoactive plant mixture from the Amazon. Specifically, I focused on pathways by which plants, rituals, and knowledge travel between Indigenous Shipibo communities in the rural Peruvian Amazon and the Global North. I found that the commodification of ayahuasca and the rituals around it created both challenges and opportunities for Indigenous communities that are mediated by interspecies entwinements.

I also work with Indigenous Peoples to develop community-led responses to local environmental concerns. My postdoctoral research focused on Indigenous-led forestry and climate justice collaborations.

I hold a PhD in Environmental Science, Policy, and Management from the University of California, Berkeley and an MS in Ecology from Colorado State University. For my masters, I studied the interactive effects of climate change and grazing on grassland plant communities.