Research

My scholarship currently explores three related trajectories, all of which consider the intersections among power, place, and our environments:

(1) Resource geographies and critical geopolitics

To date much of this work has focused on the former Soviet Union, specifically in the South Caucasus and the Republic of Georgia. However, these interests are global, and move across borders. Through this ongoing project I investigate dimensions of territory, citizenship, and political subjectivity stemming from metal and mineral mining; human-animal relations; and the role emotion plays in environmental protest.

(2) Environmental citizenship and more sustainable, just, and resilient campuses

I am pursuing several efforts intended to both foster and better understand notions of environmental citizenship within campus spaces. These include ongoing processes and politics of land acknowledgement, community education related to permaculture and alternative campus land use, and international educational programming.

(3) Environmental media production and analysis 

I combine my past professional and research experiences to guide students through both the production and analysis of diverse forms of environmental media. Project examples include documentary films, creative non-fiction pieces, podcasts, and more. I am currently recruiting students to join my new Power, Place, & Environmental Media Lab, and interested students should contact me for more information.

Manuscripts in Preparation:

“Critical Geopolitics of the Nascent Deep Sea Mining Industry” [in preparation with L. Mendoza (’22)].

“Uncertain Ecologies: Emotional Geographies and Extractive Politics in Post-Soviet Space” [in preparation with A. Otruba, Moravian College]

“Fostering Environmental Citizenship Through International Study in Germany” [in preparation with J. Ludewig, Allegheny College]

Recent publications:

Swann-Quinn, J., E. Pallant, K. Boulton, J. Michael, S. McRae, and R. D. Bowden. (2022). “Growing a resilient campus forest: Opportunities, barriers, solutions.” In W. Leal Filho, A. Lange Salvia, B. Choate, E. Pallant, & K. Pearce (Eds.), Educating the Sustainability Leaders of the Future. Springer.

Bowden, R. D., K. Ams, T. Bensel, M Bethurem, K. Boulton, L. Branby, C. Bradshaw-Wilson, D. Byrnes, I. Carbone, B. Choate, L. Demi, W. Kedzierski, E. Pallant, K. Pearce, C. Shaffer, J. Swann-Quinn. (2022). “College-Community Environmental Collaborations: Guidance for successful community-based projects and research.” In W. Leal Filho, A. Lange Salvia, B. Choate, E. Pallant, & K. Pearce (Eds.), Educating the Sustainability Leaders of the Future. Springer.

Swann-Quinn, J. (2021). “Toward Extractive Archipelagos.” Territory, Politics, Governance 9(2), 180–202.

Swann-Quinn, J. (2020). “Digging Deep: Crossing Scale in the Georgian Mining Industry.” In A Research Agenda for Environmental Geopolitics, O’Lear, S. (ed.), Northampton, MA: Edward Elgar Publishing.

Swann-Quinn, J. (2019). “Mining the Homeland: Imagining Resources, Nation, and Territory in Post-Soviet Georgia.” Eurasian Geography and Economics 60(2), 119–151.

Swann-Quinn, J. (2019). “More-Than-Human Government and the Tbilisi Zoo Flood.” Geoforum 102: 167-81.

Quinn, J. (2017). “gatekhili Mountains, gatekhili State: Fractured alpine forest governance and post-Soviet development in the Republic of Georgia.” Journal of Alpine Research | Revue de géographie alpine, (105-1).

Dissertation title – Malleable Territories: The Politics and Effects of Mining Governance in Post-Soviet Georgia

For other recent publications, please see my Academia.edu and ResearchGate.net profiles. Draft manuscripts forthcoming and currently under review are also available upon request.

Photo credits: Martha Swann-Quinn and Jesse Swann-Quinn