History of Science, Technology, the Environment, and Medicine

This paper examines the entangled histories of conservation biology and border militarization in the U.S.-Mexico borderlands. In particular, I consider how the construction of the U.S.-Mexico border wall during the Trump presidency shaped biodiversity conservation in the region. Using archival research and oral history interviews, I analyze the production and circulation of scientific research about the environmental effects of the construction of border barriers through national parks and the consequences for the endangered species that live there. While scholars in environmental studies have examined the co-construction of border militarization and environmental policy and advocacy in the borderlands, they have not closely attended to how U.S. immigration policy has influenced the production of scientific knowledge in conservation biology. Drawing upon frameworks from science and technology studies and environmental humanities, this research investigates how scientific knowledge production shaped and was shaped by political controversies and social movements surrounding the environmental consequences of border militarization. I consider how U.S. immigration policy has reconfigured relationships among conservation biologists, environmentalists, migrant justice advocates, and other borderlands communities.

_________________

Dr. Meg Perret is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Global Languages and Cultures at TExas A&M University and an affiliate with the Women’s and Gender Studies Program. She completed her Ph.D. in History of Science with a secondary emphasis in Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies from Harvard University. Her research examines how narratives about nature shape our collective futures.