Dakota Kirkendall Straub is a doctoral candidate in the Anthropology department at Columbia University. She is interested in the ways that Western elites make stories about and interact with nonhuman worlds, especially during a time of ecological crisis, through science, communication technologies, and governance. Her dissertation research concerns wealthy individuals who fund and conduct private ocean exploration projects and how they understand their role in the field of marine science. Before beginning graduate studies, she worked for a wildlife conservation organization in Rwanda. She has a BA in English and Creative Writing from Barnard College and an MA in Social Sciences from the University of Chicago.
Angelica Modabber Sobhandost is a doctoral candidate in the Italian and Comparative Literature departments at Columbia University. Her dissertation explores how the representation of the natural environment is shaped and produced by religious convictions; she focuses on architectural history and the history of science in the 17th century. As a Public Outreach fellow, she hopes to create conversations surrounding the environmental consequences of colonialism in the Middle East, North Africa, and the Sahara.