Re-reading @maxliboiron.bsky.social’s Pollution Is Colonialism & this sentence from the introduction really leapt out at me in this technofascist neocolonial moment: “You can’t make & hoard capital without stealing Land first.”
Cover
Over 250 people were involved (inside page with names and photos)
Page from report: most of the time when we look for plastics, we find nothing (English and inuttitit)
Data viz showing plastics are very small, comparing size of plastics to common items like a grain of rice, Tylenol pill
We’re in Nunatsiavut this week to share results in the final year of a nine year plastic monitoring project! And it’s good news: we’re not concerned about plastics as a contaminant in the region.
If you’d like a copy of the final report, let us know!
The first one at LSE is along the main themes from Pollution is Colonialism, ie, how to do research when our disciplines, institutions, and methods are based in colonialism.
The second talk at UCL is a deeper dive into one example of that-- contaminant statistics. For non-statisticians . :)
I'm giving two talks in London-- one today, one tomorrow!
Research is a Land Relation
3 February 2026, 5-6.30pm, LSE, OLD 3.24
www.lse.ac.uk/geography-an...
Counting across worlds
IAS Common Ground, G11, South Wing UCL
Wednesday, Feb 4 from 5 pm to 7 pm
www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/counting-a...
Day after tomorrow in Oxford, UK. A workshop on theories of change for folks who try to move the mountain with their research, writing, teaching, etc.
New paper! "Struggling with Citational Politics as a Pathway to Unlearning and Relearning for Collective Action" on the material challenges of trying to cite ethically.
We did a citation experiment. We found there were specific stages, and they didn't advance linearly.
kula.uvic.ca/index.php/ku...
If you're in London in February and want to get your geek on with me:
"This presentation outlines the rocky efforts of 2 Indigenous researchers to collaborate through an extremely relational form of Western knowledge: statistics."
www.ucl.ac.uk/institute-of...
Hello London-ish people! I will be there doing a book talk on Pollution is Colonialism week after next! Feb 3. Free and open to all!
Thanks for posting the OA link!
Full disclosure: I blurbed this book and I blurbed it hard. I think it’s methodologically brilliant, especially coming out of a PhD project originally. And that’s my fav kind of brilliance.
Holding up a book, whose cover shows a White House with ‘homesick’ written underneath.
Very excited for Homesick by Nick Shapiro.
It tells a story of formaldehyde exposure from prefab trailers, which does some heavy, complex lifting itself. But what I love most is how it chronicles multiple approaches to activist research & how to let the research lead you. @dukepress.bsky.social
If you're in London in February and want to get your geek on with me:
"This presentation outlines the rocky efforts of 2 Indigenous researchers to collaborate through an extremely relational form of Western knowledge: statistics."
www.ucl.ac.uk/institute-of...
I (Max) highly recommend this book. The ethnography is beautiful. The methods of an activist/researcher are exceptional. The theories of change are poetic and grounded. The case study is holy shit.
We’re waking up our social media presence!🌱Every week, a different CLEAR member will share what life looks like in the lab, from wet lab work to community authorship. Each perspective is unique, showing the diff ways we think about what we do and *how* we do it. Stay tuned! 1/8
Our editor @historiamagoria.bsky.social chose "Catching an Authentic Lake Trout: Knowledge Legitimization in Academia" by Alex Flynn, with Rui Lui, @maxliboiron.bsky.social, Kaitlyn Hawkins, and Molly Lahn Rivers as our latest Editor's Pick!
niche-canada.org/2025/06/12/c...
#indigenous #academia
🎙️ This snippet offers a glimpse into Verena's comprehensive Seminar in our Series, which is full of strategies, tactics and tools related to the science of policy making and changing.
And there's even more to explore— join our Seminar Series in September! ires.ubc.ca/news-and-events/
It's a really great collection, and to my knowledge is was created through invitation and commission by editors at @universitypress.cambridge.org Prisms: Plastics. Thank you and kudos to that group, and to all the authors.
"The petrochemical historical bloc: Exposing the extent and depth of opposition to a high-ambition plastics treaty" identifies a bloc of petrostates, industry & their allies to ferret out disingenuous rhetoric and identify potential counter-alliances.
www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
My piece echos Lynn Jacobs', but focuses on how even the best version of the Treaty includes Indigenous knowledge, but not Indigenous Peoples. Meaning, it's not a rights-based model like the one outlined by the UN Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
.@konwaiatanonwes.bsky.social (Lynn Jacobs) has a great piece on "Indigenous rights, knowledge, and participation in the global plastics treaty" that details how Indigenous Peoples have been systematically blocked in the creation process
www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
While there are a lot of articles in the collection, the briefing today covers:
A shift in focus to human health
A rights-based approach to the Treaty
Safeguarding scientific integrity
High ambition vs delay (and my new favourite term: "low-ambition nations")
The urgency for binding action
Today there's a public briefing on the collection, "Act boldly or fail: academic perspectives at a pivotal moment in global plastics treaty negotiations," where 60+ experts outline the consequences of delayed or diluted action 1/
www.eurekalert.org/news-release...
We're using the workshop to fine-tune these resources, after which they'll be available on the IndigeLab Network website. Videos of the orientation portion of the workshops will also be available there.
Everyone is welcome, even if you're not going up for promotion & don't do community work.
3/3
We'll cover "8 Maxims for a promotion and tenure file", "Strategies for representing community-based research in tenure files," "Measures and metrics for demonstrating impact in promotion and tenure files," and provide a P&T file checklist. 2/3
You can still register for tomorrow & Wednesday's workshops on promotion & tenure files for community-based research. Day 1 is CVs & Day 2 are dossiers. The team includes @arnkeeling.bsky.social @rosiealegado.bsky.social & Letitia Henville
1/3
cryptpad.fr/form/#/2/for...
Teen Vogue really does have some of the best reporting. This collection is great and includes a piece from @maxliboiron.bsky.social . Will definitely be using this entire list for teaching.
www.teenvogue.com/tag/plastic-...
Last day in Nunatsiavut with this fantastic crew - Jacquelyn Winters, @maxliboiron.bsky.social, Katrina Anthony, @paulmccarney.bsky.social (and Liz Pijogge, who was back in Nain).
📸: Dillon Shiwak
A short blog post with @maxliboiron.bsky.social for @clear-lab.bsky.social on the ethics of summary stats and why choice matters. It might seem obvious, but these problems still appear in papers when summarizing plastics data
civiclaboratory.nl/2025/06/30/t... #PlasticPollution #ornithology
A bunch of yellow post it notes on a desk with two computers showing graphs in the background.
Squeeeee! Outlining a paper with @thelabandfield.bsky.social & @paulmccarney.bsky.social about community-based metrics & measure for contaminants research. Spoiler: they aren’t the usual Western science metrics.
Two black dogs look to the right in a foggy, slightly hilly landscape.
Good morning! It’s a mild and foggy start to the day here.
