Maasi man watching elephants

Narrating Nature, Decolonizing Conservation: Reflections with Maasai in East Africa

March 10, 2023

Mara Goldman Associate Professor, Geography Director, Environment & Society Program, IBS University of ֱ Boulder In Person: GUGG 205 Mar 10, 2023, 3:35 PM - 5:00 PM Or Join Zoom Meeting: Zoom login required (free account available at zoom.us ) Abstract As the global community grapples with how to improve...

Walking elephants

Mara Goldman: Why biodiversity matters and what the world is doing about it

Jan. 25, 2023

On Dec. 19, more than 190 countries—excluding the U.S. and the Holy See—signed onto an agreement to protect 30% of land and oceans by 2030 and take 22 other measures to reduce global biodiversity loss this decade. The agreement, signed at the United Nations Convention of Biological Diversity’s 15th Annual...

Police cars in front of King Soopers grocery store

Mara Goldman: Op-Ed on Gun Violence in Daily Camera

April 6, 2021

Gun violence: Squarely hitting home When the regularity of gun violence in American comes to our own neighborhood, or to that of someone we know, we all say that it is getting “too close to home.” So, when the latest “mass shooting” happened at the King Soopers food store just...

2020 Spring Newsletter cover of laptop with photo of coronavirus

2020 Spring Newsletter Published

June 21, 2020

The 2020 Spring Newsletter has been published and is available for viewing. The newsletter is filled with department news, alumni updates, and articles by faculty and students. Contents: Message from the Department Chair, pg 2 ​Mara Goldman: Reaction to Coronavirus, pg 3 Page Hartwell: An Undergraduate's Perspective on COVID-19, pg...

2018 Fall Newsletter Cover

2018 Fall Newsletter Published

Dec. 13, 2018

The 2018 Fall Newsletter has been published and is available for viewing. The newsletter is packed with department news, alumni updates, and student and faculty articles. Contents: Bill Travis : Message from the Chair, pgs 2-3 von Dreden Stacey Fellowship Winners, pgs 4-6 Mark Serreze : Climate Change Becomes Persona...

Elephants passing by African field with African onlookers

GEOG 3422 Political Ecology

‘The environment’ figures dominantly in our daily lives and academic pursuits—from concerns over climate change and biodiversity loss, to energy policy and agricultural development. Yet we rarely stop to consider how environmental concerns are tied to specific contexts, histories, and power struggles. In this class we do just that, through...

Mara Goldman’s research cited in a story in The Atlantic

Sept. 11, 2015

The story is about a reality TV show in Tanzania that showcases women’s empowerment. Goldman’s paper, written together with Jani Little (ֱ-Boulder, IBS), is cited in the final paragraph of the story: "What Kibona is referring to—“empowerment”—is exceedingly difficult to define and measure. In a recent paper on NGO work...

Conservation efforts might encourage lion-hunting

Aug. 9, 2013

To many observers, East Africa's Maasai pastoralists hunt lions for two distinct reasons: to retaliate against lions that kill livestock or to engage in a cultural rite of passage. But that binary view reflects mistranslations of Maasai terms and simplification of their cultural traditions and their relationship with wildlife, a...

Drought-squeezed African Maasai suggest climate-change strategies

Aug. 6, 2013

The devastating drought of 2009 in northern Tanzania generated new coping strategies by Maasai people, suggesting that Maasai with more money and social connections are better able than their poorer, less-connected neighbors to endure extreme events such as drought and, potentially, climate change, a team of University of ֱ Boulder...