CDL & CRI Seminar - Helina Jolly

Dr. Helina Jolly, Assistant Professor at the Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources at the University of Vermont

Rethinking Human–Nature Relations Through Indigenous Epistemologies

What if wild animals were not managed, but listened to? What if fires were not a threat to suppress but a presence to learn from? In many Indigenous cultures, environmental stewardship is not about control but fostering connections and relationships. From cultural burning that renews ecosystems to tending plants guided by ancestral protocols to seeing animals as kin, these practices reflect a relational, place-based understanding of the more-than-human world. These perspectives contrast the dominant conservation and ecosystem management approaches rooted in separating humans from nature.

While the contribution of Indigenous and local communities is widely acknowledged as necessary for biodiversity conservation, in practice, they often remain marginalized or tokenized. Too often, Indigenous knowledge is superficially referenced or instrumentalized without an adequate understanding of what shapes them. We still lack clear ways to understand and engage with Indigenous peoples and their knowledge respectfully and collaboratively. My research sits at this critical interface and begins with this proposition: What if conservation began with conversations instead of instructions? Through ethnographic and collaborative research with communities in Asia and North America, my research asks – how people understand, engage, and value their local environment, what knowledge systems, histories, and worldviews shape their relationships with it, and how these support communities in responding to contemporary environmental challenges.

In the talk, I will discuss my long-term research with the Kattunayakan, a hunter-gatherer community in the Western Ghats of South India, and their ways of living with wildlife. I will explain how their understanding of animals as rational, conversing beings, gods, teachers, and kin with shared origins, practicing dharmam (ethical conduct) shapes their behaviours and practices towards wildlife, promoting coexistence. By citing these, I explain that rethinking human-nature relations through Indigenous epistemologies is a relational endeavour in which learning about people's history, experiences, and stories with animals is just as crucial as understanding animals and theirs. Finally, I will talk about why it is important to combine Indigenous and Western knowledge, the challenges that come with it, and how we can move forward. 

Dr. Helina Jolly is an Assistant Professor at the Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources at the University of Vermont (UVM), where she leads research on traditional ecological knowledge. She is an interdisciplinary environmental researcher, National Geographic Explorer, and documentarian whose work lies at the interface of people and nature. Dr. Jolly uses ethnographic approaches, qualitative interviews, participatory mapping, and other mixed-method approaches to understand how Indigenous knowledge systems and lived experiences shape their relationship with ecosystems and help them adapt to contemporary environmental changes. She has worked with diverse communities— hunter-gatherers in the Western Ghats in South India, farmers in Sri Lanka, and berry pickers of Miawpukek First Nation in Canada on topics ranging from wildlife coexistence, cultural burning, traditional livelihoods, and biocultural food systems. Before UVM, she was a postdoctoral research fellow at the University of California San Diego and the University of Guelph. She earned her PhD from the University of British Columbia and an MSc from the London School of Economics and Political Science as a Commonwealth Scholar. She is a podcast host of Biodiversity Speaks. She brings to her research extensive experience working in South Asia as an advisor and policy analyst to government agencies and development banks.  
 
Podcast - https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/ibios  
Documentary film trailer - https://youtu.be/dIJrsAeVQzI  

To join on Zoom, please see below:

https://cam-ac-uk.zoom.us/j/82226637198?pwd=BaNY6vBJ9AnRTJjUnXId2lnQL1WyMf.1
Meeting ID: 822 2663 7198
Passcode: 728543

Photo credit: Khushbu hirpara on Unsplash