Original version in Portuguese: https://ineaf.ufpa.br/ultimas-noticias/236-docente-do-instituto-amazonico-de-agriculturas-familiares-realiza-missao-cientifica-na-universidade-da-georgia-eua
From October 14 to 21, 2023, Prof. Monique Medeiros of the Amazonian Institute of Family Agricultures (INEAF) at the Federal University of Pará visited the University of Georgia campus as part of ongoing cooperation under the Brazil Natural Resource Governance Initiative (BNRGI).
Prof. Medeiros participated in meetings with UGA faculty through the Teaming for Interdisciplinary Research Pre-Seed Program, and interacted with undergraduate and graduate students through a variety of events over the course of the week.
Prof. Monique Medeiros (left, UFPA) with Prof. Don Nelson, BNRGI co-director and professor of Anthropology (right).
In particular, on October 17th, Prof. Medeiros participated in a coffee hour with graduate students where she presented her projects in collaboration with Afro-descendant quilombola communities on the island of Marajó in the Brazilian Amazon, and participants discussed the importance of decolonial studies and intercultural research.
Participatory seminar on Afro-descendant communities in the Brazilian Amazon.
On October 18th, Prof. Medeiros led a participatory seminar with UGA faculty and students on the topic, “Amazonian quilombola territories in transformation: between development projects and resistance strategies.” Following the seminar, she met with Prof. Gregory Thaler (International Affairs) and Dean Matthew Auer of the School of Public and International Affairs (SPIA). In that meeting, Profs. Medeiros and Thaler discussed with the Dean the ongoing collaborations between UGA and UFPA.
The next day, Prof. Medeiros met with students in the upper-level undergraduate Environmental Politics course taught by Prof. Thaler, where she shared perspectives on the intersections of gender and environment.
Prof. Medeiros’s visit strengthened ties between UGA and UFPA and advanced scientific cooperation between students and faculty at the two institutions. One product of the visit was a proposal for a roundtable, to take place in 2024 at the 76th Annual Meeting of the Brazilian Society for Scientific Progress (SBPC), titled “Climate resilience in productive agroforests in the Brazilian Amazon.” If accepted, the proposed roundtable will deepen reflections and initiatives related to a developing project on these topics involving researchers at UFPA, UGA, and rural communities in the state of Pará.