About
My research interrogates the history of colonialism and high-altitude science in East-Central Africa, specifically in the eastern Rwenzori Mountains (Lwa-Nzururu, Rwenjura) of Uganda. It aims to understand the violence of 19th and 20th century colonial scientific and collecting practices within the context of the 18th and early 19th century trades in enslaved people and ivory that expanded labor and transport infrastructures to the East African coast. Bridging historical and ethnographic approaches, my work conveys and analyzes the social and material field of high-altitude scientific practice, technological innovation, and knowledge exchange/breakdown between colonial scientists, foreign and indigenous guides and porters, and mountain communities. A combination of methods including walking ethnography, oral history, archival, object, and provenance research allow me to follow ideas, objects, and specimens from the field to metropolitan museums and institutions, tracing the impact of their movement on imperial and colonial ideologies and policies.
