PhD Candidate, University of Georgia
Research Fellow, FUNCEME (Cearense Research Institute for Meteorology and Water Resources)
Contributing Editor, Platypus, The CASTAC Blog
Research Interests
Environmental anthropology | Infrastructure | Philosophy of Technology | Theatre | Water |
About Cydney
Cydney is a PhD Candidate in Anthropology and Integrative Conservation (ICON). Their dissertation work explores how socionatural (i.e., interrelated sociopolitical, environmental, and technological) processes shape and are shaped by the lived experience of water insecurity and in Ceará, northeast Brazil. Before pursuing her PhD, Cydney studied chemistry and Spanish language at the University of Michigan, graduating from the Residential College and Honors College in 2013.They then relocated to Madrid, Spain, where they served as a Fulbright English Teaching Assistant, studied acting at the theater school La Lavandería, and ran competitively.
Contact
Contributions to Platypus, The CASTAC Blog
View all of Cydney's posts on Platypus, The CASTAC Blog.
Madam Cistern
The following monologue was originally written in Portuguese for the ongoing theatrical project Dramaturgias da água e da seca (Water and Drought Dramaturgies), developed by Pavilhão da Magnólia, a professional theatre group from Fortaleza, Ceará, Northeast Brazil. Based on 24 months of fieldwork in Quixeramobim, Ceará, the monologue explores the dynamics of human-water relations in the semi-arid region of Northeast Brazil from the perspective of a social technology that has transformed yearlong access to potable water in the region: the cement, rain-harvesting cistern. (more…) (read more...)
Making Forecasts Work: The Evolution of Seasonal Forecasting by Funceme in Ceará, Northeast Brazil
Every January, government officials, urban dwellers, and rural families across the state of Ceará, Northeast Brazil anxiously await the rainy season forecasts from Funceme, the Research Institute for Meteorology and Water Resources of Ceará. Yet throughout the state, many also proclaim that Funceme’s forecasts are “wrong,” that the forecasts do not work. (more…) (read more...)