Postdoctoral Research Associate, Department of Crop & Soil Sciences, University of Georgia
Contributing Editor, Platypus, The CASTAC Blog
Research Interests
Environmental anthropology | Infrastructure | Philosophy of Technology | Theatre | Water |
About Cydney
Cydney recently earned their PhD in Anthropology and Integrative Conservation from the University of Georgia. Their dissertation work explored how the lived experience of water insecurity is recursively shaped through socionatural (i.e., intertwined social, political, ecological, and technological) relations in Ceará, Northeast Brazil. They are currently working as a postdoctoral fellow to examine climate-smart agricultural procesesses across different ecoregions in the United States.
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Contributions to Platypus, The CASTAC Blog
View all of Cydney's posts on Platypus, The CASTAC Blog.
The Politics of Translation Across Policy, Grant Proposal, and Agricultural Landscapes
On Monday, April 14th, my stomach sank as I read an e-mail from the principal investigators of a large-scale, multi-institutional project funded by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) that supported half of my livelihood as a postdoctoral research associate. Following that day’s press release from the USDA—“USDA Cancels Biden Era Climate Slush Fund, Reprioritizes Existing Funding to Farmers”—the email transformed the cloud of uncertainty that loomed over all federally funded scientific inquiry into concrete dejection. (more…) (read more...)
From Foraging to Keeping Bees in Northeast Brazil
“This,” explained Chico Filho, gesturing to the lush, flowering Caatinga shrubland surrounding us, “is the bees’ pasture.” Chico Filho, a state extension officer and avid beekeeper, was reflecting on the changes in small farmers’ perception and actions toward the Caatinga, the biodiverse ecoregion unique to Northeast Brazil characterized by shrubs, thorn trees, and ongoing deforestation. The faint buzzing of bees accompanied our conversation as Chico Filho led a farmhand (and fellow beekeeper) and me along a path through the Caatinga to one of the apiaries (bee yards) on Fazenda Normal. (more…) (read more...)
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...)