About

Elizabeth Oriel PhD works in the Environmental Humanities and also in conservation biology. Her PhD from University of London (SOAS and Royal Veterinary College) in Global Studies, examined human-elephant relations in Sri Lanka. She produced a relational field guide, looking at how plants, elephants, farmers, development agencies, and governments create conditions for coexistence and conflict. Her recent monograph, Shaped by Vegetal Matters: Phyto-Influence on Humans, Other Animals, and Place, with Lexington Books, explores several plant species and their agencies and influences. While writing the book, she developed an art practice that allows plants to guide the image-making process. Her new project explores wetlands and wetland plant species as participants in a multispecies politics and democracy. This project includes work around craft with plants as expressing plant perspectives and politics.