Please join us for the The Ohio State University Anthropology Speakers Series talk on 9/30 by Dr. Marta Castilho da Silva.
How can we mitigate the climate crisis through a culture of care that can recover ecosystems while promoting well-being? Dr. Castilho da Silva’s research in Mato Grosso do Sul addresses this question. Situated below the Legal Amazon, this state has the second-largest Indigenous population in Brazil. However, much of its ecosystem has been replaced by transgenic fields, driving a drastic increase in pesticide use. Consequently, plants considered "medicine" by indigenous communities are disappearing. Collaborating with the Dourados Indigenous Women Association, her research includes a study case with effective microorganisms to recover the ecosystem and establish "well-living" — a sociability grounded on care and harmony. Additionally, she aims to develop policy guidelines aligned with caring and just politics and advance scientific understandings about how cultural frameworks have fueled grassroots strategies for thriving in unfavorable environments.
Dr. Marta Castilho da Silva holds a Ph.D. in Social Anthropology combined with a Graduate Diploma in Latin American & Caribbean Studies from York University. She is the postdoctoral external fellow of the 2024-25 Global Arts + Humanities Discovery Theme Society of Fellows Faculty Cohort and a postdoctoral researcher at the Department of Anthropology at The Ohio State University.
