I completed my PhD at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada. My dissertation examines fiction and non-fiction texts from South America that are concerned with mineral extraction and its implications during the twentieth century. I am currently working with McGill-Queen’s University Press to publish my book manuscript Mineral narratives: Affects, Multitudes and Accumulation in the Andes (working title).
Mineral Narratives examines the political social and aesthetic consequences of intense mineral accumulation as it occurred in countries such as Bolivia, Chile and Peru during their respective commodity booms. Using sources and theories from eco-criticism, I analyze the effect and the affect that global mining and finance flows exerted over human and non-human bodies and how these effects were reflected in the literature of the time.
My work has been recognized with awards such as “Best Graduate Student Essay of the year” by the Department of French, Hispanic and Italian Studies (FHIS), the Four-Year Fellowship to support my dissertation work, and my public work in Cerro de Pasco, Peru was supported by the Bottom Billion Fieldwork Award, offered by the Liu Institute for Global Issues.
As a Liu Scholar, I led and directed the Latin America and the Global Group hosted at the Liu Institute for Global Issues, at the University of British Columbia. As a leader of the group, I organized several public roundtables and hosted monthly meetings where graduate students and faculty presented their current research. My Post-Doctoral Research “Lithium Zones” was shortlisted for the Canada Postdoctoral Research Award program funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council. I am a member of the Petrocultures Research Group and contributor to the Energy Humanities website.