Deseret Weeks

Background

About Deseret Weeks

I am a critical geographer, rising complex socio-ecological systems management scientist, and Ph.D. candidate in the Management of Complex Systems at the University of California, Merced. I teach physical geography at two California state prisons as well as climate justice and inclusive innovation at UC Merced. As a critical geographer, I promote social and environmental justice through my research and work as a professor. I am a proponent for bringing about systems-thinking to transition human society to one that can attain infinite sustainability. This requires cooperation, education, and valuation of both social and environmental (socio-environmental) community resilience as opposed to mere monetary wealth. My research interests encompass the political ecology and management of global change (climate change, biodiversity loss, chemical pollution). I am a proponent of adaptive cooperative management which brings indigenous and local knowledge into governance. Complex systems and critical theories as well local social and environmental dynamics (environmental injustice, local knowledge) play key roles in understanding systemic dynamics and outcomes with an overall goal of sustainability management. Reverence for the Earth and rights of nature are also key for attaining symbiosis between human society and Earth systems.