Michael Petriello

Mike Petriello is an interdisciplinary conservation social scientist interested in the many connections and feedbacks between human cultures and the environment. In particular, his work centers on the recognition, inclusion, and maintenance of Indigenous and local knowledge in conservation and natural resource management, empowerment, and transdisciplinary approaches to collaborations such as knowledge co-production. He received his PhD in Recreation, Park and Tourism Sciences and Applied Biodiversity Science in 2020 from Texas A&M University, where he worked with small-scale farmers (campesinos) in Nicaragua to explore the cultural significance and boundaries of local knowledge tied to wildlife hunting. Mike continues to work with many past and present research partners, including collaborators from his previous participatory work as a postdoctoral fellow at Dalhousie University with the Sustainable Nunatsiavut Futures Project. As a postdoctoral research scholar in the Columbia Center for Science and Society and Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, Mike built on these experiences to explore good relational practices for the ethical co-production of knowledge in climate change research while co-developing research with diverse groups at Columbia University and beyond.  He is working with the Resilient Coastal Communities Project as a Fellow.