Free as a bird? Entangling the mobility of seabirds and researchers in the Anthropocene

Keywords: seabirds; fieldwork; Arctic; geography of science; Anthropocene; STS
Abstract Type: Virtual Paper Abstract

Abstract

Modes of understanding the mobility of seabirds through direct observation or implementation of tracking devices are reconditioning the relationship between researchers and birds. Their encounter extends beyond the field, and the bird then always carries a part of the researcher, just as the researcher carries a part of the bird on his computer. If their trajectory separates from the colony site, the mobility of birds remains just what links them. My PhD project explores what alters the common trajectory of researchers and seabirds, from their encounters and beyond. Based on a study of the researchers’ mobilities to the field, I am interested in the disruption of their common trajectories with the seabirds. The introduction of tracking devices and other new technological progress is already one, by prolonging their contact beyond the field site. Secondly, the Anthropocene links them in a common affect to climate change. These changes affect all the environments the seabirds cross; while the researchers are confronted with the alteration of the birds they study, of their field site, but also their own responsibility. Based on quantitative mapping and the analysis of interviews conducted with researchers working on seabirds in the Arctic, an area particularly affected by these changes, I seek to explore the evolution of researching seabirds in the Anthropocene and its geographical translation. In particular, I am interested in the concentration (overgrazing) and deconcentration of researchers in field sites, and how their impact on birds is conceived beyond a human-centric perspective.