Ailén Vega

My work looks at an emerging movement against mercury exposure from illegal gold mining within indigenous territories in the Tapajós River Basin of the Central Brazilian Amazon. I am particularly interested in the relationship between indigenous and western scientific knowledge practices in evidencing harm from chemical exposure within one of the most heavily mined indigenous territories in all of Brazil. Since 2016, I have worked in the Tapajós River Basin as a collaborator alongside indigenous (Munduruku) and riverine (Montanha-Mangabal) associations; I am currently a technical advisor for the Wakoborũn Munduruku Women’s Association. Within geography, my advisors are Michael Watts and Jake Kosek. At UC Berkeley, I am also a part of the Designated Emphasis (DE) in Science and Technology Studies (STS).

My individual research and studies have been supported by the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship (NSF GRFP), the Eugene Cota Robles Fellowship (UC Berkeley), FLAS for Portuguese language studies (UC Berkeley), and the CLAS Tinker field research grant (UC Berkeley). I am also a collaborator on a Wenner Gren Engaged Research Grant where I work together with Brazilian scholars and Munduruku professors on the production of educational material for village schools.