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STS Speaker. Wild, Native, or Pure: Trout as Genetic Bodies

David Havlick, University of Colorado, Colorado Springs
Monday, February 15, 2021
4:00-5:15 PM
Virtual
Advances in genetics and genomics have raised new questions in trout restoration and management, specifically about species identity and purity, which fish to value, and where these fish belong. We examine how this molecular turn in fisheries management is influencing wild and native trout policy in Colorado. Examples from two small Colorado watersheds illustrate how framing trout as genetic bodies can guide managers to care for or kill trout populations in the interest of rectifying decades of genetic disruption caused by human activity. The turn to genetic science is prompting new classifications of lineage and taxa, altering long-standing conservation priorities, and reorienting the manipulation of biological processes such as reproduction and dispersal. As a result, other social and ecological factors may be pushed to the margins of management decisions. These changes warrant greater conversation about the consequences of molecular analyses and the values embedded in trout science and conservation more broadly.

David Havlick is Professor of Geography and Environmental Studies at the University of Colorado-Colorado Springs. His research on militarized landscapes, restoration geographies, conservation, and public lands has been supported by the National Science Foundation, American Geographic Society, and US Forest Service. He has published in journals including Science, The Geographical Review, Environmental Ethics, Progress in Physical Geography, Forestry, and Science, Technology and Human Values. His book, Bombs Away: Militarization, Conservation, and Ecological Restoration (University of Chicago Press, 2018), won the 2019 JB Jackson Prize from the American Association of Geographers. He is also the author of No Place Distant: Roads and Motorized Recreation on America’s Public Lands (Island Press, 2002); and co-edited (with Marion Hourdequin) Restoring Layered Landscapes: History, Ecology, and Culture (Oxford, 2016).
Building: Off Campus Location
Location: Virtual
Event Type: Livestream / Virtual
Tags: Biology, Ecology, Ethics, Research, Science, Technology, And Society Program
Source: Happening @ Michigan from Science, Technology & Society