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Darren Ranco

Visiting Member, NE CASC Leadership Team
Associate Professor
University of Maine

Research Interests

My research focuses on the ways in which indigenous communities in the United States resist environmental destruction by using indigenous diplomacies and critiques of liberalism to protect cultural resources, and how state knowledge systems, rooted in colonial contexts, continue to expose indigenous peoples to an inordinate amount of environmental risk. I teach classes on indigenous intellectual property rights, research ethics, environmental justice and tribal governance. A member of the Penobscot Nation, I am particularly interested in how better research relationships can be made between universities, Native and non-Native researchers, and indigenous communities.

Education

Ph.D.: Anthropology, Harvard University, 2000
MSEL: Studies in Environmental Law, Vermont Law School, 1998
B.A.: Anthropology and Classical Studies, Dartmouth College, 1993