Ned Wilbur
267 19th Ave S
Minneapolis,
MN
55455
I am a PhD candidate in Geography, Environment and Society who specializes in cultural geography, human-environment relations, and science and technology studies. My dissertation examines scientific stories of human origins, relatedness, and ancient migration and the work they do across and between planetary, continental, national, bodily, and molecular scales. I focus in particular on the ways that studies of the ancient peopling of the Western hemisphere continue to embed and foreground a white claim to the North American past, and on how Indigenous-led repatriation activism continues to challenge such claims. I have held more than 15 graduate appointments at the University of Minnesota, including as instructor of record (4 semesters); lead teaching assistant (6 semesters); lab instructor (7 semesters); writing teaching assistant (2 semesters); and research assistant (2 semesters). Prior to graduate school, I was a nonprofit development, fundraising, and operations professional, raising more than $8 million in funding for educational, youth development, media, and science organizations in New York City and Washington, D.C.
Educational Background
- B.A.: Hispanic Studies, Oberlin College, 2003
Specialties
- Critical geographies of human origins, migration, and relatedness
- The politics of genetics and ancient DNA
- Science and technology studies
- Environmental theory and history
- Indigenous studies
- Settler colonialism
- Critical race theories
- Feminist theories