Luísa Reis Castro
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anthrobite.bsky.social
Luísa Reis Castro
@anthrobite.bsky.social
4K followers 1.2K following 320 posts
Anthropologist of science, health & the environment in an unequal 🌍 | thinks a lot about Brasil & bugs 🦟 🦠

Assistant Prof at the University of Southern California; before MIT, Maastricht Univ, UFMG

In a love-hate relationship with Los Angeles – ela/she
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anthrobite.bsky.social
Lecturer in Nature, Environment and Society #STSsky
About the role The postholder will be expected to develop a research programme in areas relevant to Science and Technology Studies, with a particular focus on nature- and environment-related subjects. For the purposes of this position, nature and environment may be construed liberally to include, but not be limited to, natural resources, human and more-than-human relationship, humans and other animals, the built environment, environmental history, environmental knowledge, climate change, environmental degradation, biodiversity loss, sustainability, all approached from an STS perspective. Applications from scholars with a focus on the Global South are especially welcome. This is a 100% FTE appointment starting in January 2026 until 31 July 2028.
September 4, 2025 at 8:13 PM
anthrobite.bsky.social
As I start advising grad students, I’m concerned by how little funding is available for their brilliant projects.
Even if we change course (& that will take work!), the long-term effects will be devastating. WG noted this in their letter ending Sapiens to focus on research.

bsky.app/profile/wenn...
We take our responsibility in this moment seriously. The Mellon Foundation is no longer a source of funding for our applicants; neither is the Ford Foundation. The U.S. Fulbright program, National Science Foundation, National Endowment for the Humanities, and other grantors are facing draconian cuts, restrictions or elimination. Many of our grant applicants have nowhere else to turn.
August 7, 2025 at 2:25 PM
anthrobite.bsky.social
🦟 Can the Mosquito Bite? 🦟
The Multispecies Transmutation of Wolbachia Mosquitoes as Biotechnologies of Epidemic Control in Rio de Janeiro

How does the use of a bacterium in vector control reconfigure biopolitical relations?

New article at @estsjournal.bsky.social! #STSsky #AnthroSky
Print Screen: Can the Mosquito Bite? The Multispecies Transmutation of Wolbachia Mosquitoes as Biotechnologies of Epidemic Control in Rio de Janeiro ABSTRACT A bite from the Aedes aegypti mosquito can transmit pathogenic viruses such as dengue, Zika, and chikungunya. While public health campaigns have historically focused on eliminating this vector species, a project in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, proposes to release A. aegypti carrying the intracellular bacterium Wolbachia. This microbe, passed from female A. aegypti to their progeny, would hinder viral transmission, making the bite less of a threat and promoting a more convivial coexistence. In releasing Wolbachia mosquitoes, project proponents presented their strategy as a solution for disease control that harnessed “nature,” instead of working against it. By juxtaposing historical accounts and ethnographic research in Rio with descriptions of biological processes, this article investigates how the microbe-mosquito dyad was turned into a biotechnology of epidemic control. Proponents of the Wolbachia project hoped that a change within multispecies relations—the novel human-bacterium-mosquito relationship—would change other multispecies relations—the historically constituted human-virus-mosquito relationships in Rio and beyond. This shift, which I term “multispecies transmutation,” highlights how relational alterations in both biologies and socialities created a new life-form (“Wolbachia mosquitoes”) and a new form of life (of multispecies coexistence). By tracing the more-than-human biopolitical arrangements put forward by the project, this article explores the recalibration of technoscientific solutions to global environmental health concerns. Multispecies transmutation offers a new framework for understanding the management of multispecies relations, showing how techniques of governance can target not individuals or populations per se, but rather interspecies connections.
August 6, 2025 at 1:17 PM
anthrobite.bsky.social
Visited the fantastic Cheech Marin Center for Chicano Art & Culture yesterday.
In this moment, when things seem so hopeless and overwhelming, I needed the reminder that this struggle is not new.

A luta continua!
A photo of four protest photographs from the 1970s. The first features a peace sign, the second a sign reading 'We will not be intimidated,' the third one saying 'Junto,' and the final one with 'If you love your people help. Photo of the painting “Beautiful Boyle Heights” by Wayne Alaniz Healy Photo of the painting "The Arrest of the Paleteros," by Frank Romero Photo of the painting: "Work Ethic" by Rosy Cortez
February 2, 2025 at 11:38 PM
anthrobite.bsky.social
Yes, #AnthroSky, join us at #AnthroCoWrite for some wonderful writing community.

*Of course, folks who are anthro-adjacent, and other kinds of writers, are also welcome.
A drawing of a slug wearing blue headphones, seemingly working out, with "Anthro Co-Write" written on top.
January 17, 2025 at 6:09 PM
anthrobite.bsky.social
As most other Angelines, I’ve been checking Watch Duty repeatedly these last days. It is indeed a great app!

But one of the first things I noticed when I downloaded it was this hole in the air quality map! Not surprisingly, these areas are predominantly Black and Latine communities…
Print screen of the Watch Duty app, showing a lack of monitors in the South LA area. Zoomed-in version of the print screen from the Watch Duty app, showing Westmont, Willbrook, and Huntington Park with no monitors.
January 14, 2025 at 10:42 PM
anthrobite.bsky.social
If you're like me & are currently finalizing your syllabus, you should add this book to your course. Really.
#AnthroSky #STSSky #MedAnthro

My students & I had the opportunity to read a final draft, and it’s SO GOOD!
It sparked thoughtful, thought-provoking conversations. Plus, it’s open access!
About the Book A free ebook version of this title is available through Luminos, University of California Press’s Open Access publishing program. Visit www.luminosoa.org to learn more. Mal-Nutrition documents how maternal health interventions in Guatemala are complicit in reproducing poverty. Policy makers speak about how a critical window of biological growth around the time of pregnancy—called the "first 1,000 days of life"—determines health and wealth across the life course. They argue that fetal development is the key to global development. In this thought-provoking and timely book, Emily Yates-Doerr shows that the control of mothering is a paradigmatic technique of American violence that serves to control the reproduction of privilege and power. She illustrates the efforts of Guatemalan scientists, midwives, and mothers to counter the harms of such mal-nutrition. Their powerful stories offer a window into a form of nutrition science and policy that encourages collective nourishment and fosters reproductive cycles in which women, children, and their entire communities can flourish.
January 7, 2025 at 8:45 PM
anthrobite.bsky.social
This week, I had the opportunity to organize a workshop to discuss ideas I’ve long been reflecting on.

We often talk about the craft of writing, but don’t always address how some of us are writing in a language that is not our first—and how different that makes the whole process. #AnthroSky
Slide cover – The Craft of Writing Ethnographies (in English) This writing workshop will focus on the craft of writing ethnographies. Many of us are writing ethnographies in English, even though it is not our first language. Thus, we will discuss what it means to write in a language you might not feel comfortable with (yet!) and explore writing techniques you can intentionally use to convey your stories. “Stories” can refer to descriptions of scenes, events, or processes that typically comprise ethnographic vignettes, or they can be the narrative of how you are making sense of the world (what we usually call “theory”). Often, it is both. Students will bring 600 words of writing, which can be a single 600-word piece or 2-3 shorter, different sections totaling 600 words.  During the workshop, we will read and listen to the text together and explore questions such as: How does the story come together? Could shifts in style better serve its purpose? How does the text engage readers, and where does it lead them? How does writing in English differ from writing in our first language? Are there patterns we should be aware of? This workshop is inspired by the 2020 workshop “Writing From the Inside Out,” organized by Harris Solomon and sponsored by the Society for Medical Anthropology, but with a focus on the particular questions, challenges, and triumphs of non-Anglophone ethnographers writing in English.
December 13, 2024 at 11:26 AM
anthrobite.bsky.social
Ich freue mich, diesen Vortrag später heute zu halten!

The World Will Become Brazil: Modified Mosquitoes and the Limits of Situated Knowledges in Times of Planetary Transformations – Goethe University Frankfurt @fixingfutures.bsky.social
Flyer for the talk. All the information can be found here: https://fixingfutures.eu/2024/11/lecture-luisa-reis-castro/
December 10, 2024 at 10:00 AM
anthrobite.bsky.social
We went old school this week and borrowed a DVD from the library – um mein Deutsch zu üben! 🙃

Toller Film!
Photo of the DVD case for the film Toni Erdmann. It has a yellow strip in the middle, with the words LOS ANGELES PUBLIC LIBRARY.
December 7, 2024 at 6:16 PM
anthrobite.bsky.social
Back in LA and enjoying the best this city has to offer: food! 😋
A photo of the front of a restaurant. The sign above reads 'Thiên Hương' in red and 'Vietnamese Restaurant' in green. On the right, a group of people is waiting in line, sitting on a bench.
December 2, 2024 at 12:53 AM
anthrobite.bsky.social
Call for Manuscripts: SubAtlantic – Latin American, Caribbean and Luso-African Ecologies #EnvHum

Submissions in English, Spanish and Portuguese

More info here: blog.degruyter.com/call-for-man...
Call for Manuscripts: SubAtlantic – Latin American, Caribbean and Luso-African Ecologies Jens Andermann , Victoria Saramago , Gabriel Giorgi | 26.09.2024 We are looking for book proposals in English, Spanish and Portuguese for an exciting new series on environmental humanities in the Iberian South Atlantic. We welcome submissions spanning the field in its geographical and historical breadth, from the pre-Columbian and colonial period to the present, including approaches from Amerindian and Afrodescendent perspectives.
November 29, 2024 at 9:34 PM
anthrobite.bsky.social
Visiting Chicago for the first time and really liking the city!

Bonus points for making it so easy to take the metro from the airport (looking at you, LA!).
Photo of the Marina Towers in Chicago, also known corncob towers. Photo from the Chicago Riverwalk. On the right, you can see the river with a boat passing by; on the left, a metro is passing. Two large glass buildings are in the foreground. Photo of the pier in Chicago, with the Ferris wheel visible in the background. Closer up, there's a drawing that represents 'No Swimming. Photo of the lake and the Chicago skyline.
November 28, 2024 at 12:40 AM
anthrobite.bsky.social
Convocatoria: "Lactancias humanas, cuidados e interseccionalidad" – Revista Uruguya de Antropología y Etnografía #AnthroSky #MedAnthro

ojs.fhce.edu.uy/index.php/re...
Poster: Coluna vermelha do lado esquerdo com o nome da revista (RUAe) Informações podem ser encontradas aqui: https://ojs.fhce.edu.uy/index.php/revantroetno/announcement/view/107
November 26, 2024 at 3:27 PM
anthrobite.bsky.social
Assistant/Associate Professor of Portuguese (Tenure Track) – Department of Portuguese at UMass Dartmouth

"The Department is particularly interested in candidates with a teaching and research focus in comparative Luso-Afro-Brazilian studies."

careers.umassd.edu/en-us/job/52...
November 25, 2024 at 12:53 AM
anthrobite.bsky.social
The OU Brazil Studies Program publishes an open-access One-Pager series, reporting on findings from cutting-edge research on various aspects of Brazilian development in a concise way.

More info here: www.ou.edu/cis/research...
Screen shot: One-Pager Series The OU Brazil Studies Program publishes a One-Pager series, initiated with generous support from the OU Faculty Senate Ed Cline Faculty development award. The series reports on findings from cutting-edge research on various aspects of Brazilian development in a concise way (one page, two-sided if necessary). The series is open to contributions from scholars from any academic discipline. By maintaining this series, the OU Brazil Studies Program wants to narrow the gap of quality information about Brazil and contribute to a more informed conversation about the past, present, and future of that country among scholars, professionals, and activists based in the Anglo-American world. Our One Pagers are published in an “open access” format and have been successfully used in classroom settings, in courses about Brazil or comparative studies. For submissions or inquiries, please feel free contact brazilstudies@ou.edu.
November 25, 2024 at 12:41 AM
anthrobite.bsky.social
The Socio-Environmental Knowledge Commons (SEEKCommons) project is dedicated to building pathways for horizontal collaborations across Science and Technology Studies (STS), Open Science (OS), and socio-environmental researchers and community organizers. #STS #STSSky

seekcommons.org/fellowship-a...
About SEEKCommons The Socio-Environmental Knowledge Commons (SEEKCommons) project is dedicated to building pathways for horizontal collaborations across Science and Technology Studies (STS), Open Science (OS), and socio-environmental researchers and community organizers. The SEEKCommons Fellowship is an initiative to bring graduate students and early-career researchers to socio-environmental research with common technologies. Our program is designed to: Encourage new integrative practices involving socio-environmental and climate action research with OS practices; and Provide a space for fellows and network members to collaborate on common research tools, issues, and challenges. We are seeking 9 fellows for the 2025 SEEKCommons Fellowship. More details below: Application Form ** Open: Nov. 7–Dec. 15, 2024 ** Successful Fellows notified: Jan. 31, 2025 Fellowship begins: Feb. 10, 2025 Fellowship ends: Nov. 10, 2025
November 21, 2024 at 11:00 PM
anthrobite.bsky.social
Happening now! #AAA2024Tampa #AnthroSky
Screen Shot of a zoom video, with Andrea Ballestero, Alpa Shah, Marianna Reis, and Ghassn Hage.
November 21, 2024 at 7:40 PM
anthrobite.bsky.social
My colleague, Andrea Ballestero, who is the chair of this search (but not on Bluesky), posted this in the other place, and I thought I should share it here as well. #AnthroSky #Anthropology

Deadline is tomorrow: usccareers.usc.edu/job/los-ange...
Screenshots of two tweets: Andrea Ballestero @aballes2 A few days before our deadline (11/15) to submit applications for the search of an Assistant Professor to join our #Anthropology Department @USC Pls don't restrain from applying because you have done so before. E/search is its own universe! Second one: There are so many incredibly qualified anthropologists doing amazing work, it is impossible to make justice to that. We are thankful for you taking the time to submit your materials even knowing the numbers we are dealing with.
November 15, 2024 at 2:19 AM
anthrobite.bsky.social
Este ano está sendo votado na Califórnia (estado considerado um dos mais progressistas do país) se TRABALHO FORÇADO deve ou não continuar sendo legal.
Pois é…
Photo of Ballot – Proposition 6 – Eliminates Constitutional Provision Allowing Involuntary Servitude for Incarcerated Persons. Legislative Constitutional Amendment. More info here: https://lao.ca.gov/BallotAnalysis/Proposition?number=6&year=2024
November 5, 2024 at 11:48 PM
anthrobite.bsky.social
Super feliz que meu texto, originalmente publicado no
@castac.bsky.social, foi traduzido pelo João Bardy e publicado no blog Passagens, da UFRJ:

www.passagensufrj.com/blog/o-vetor...
O vetor, os vírus e o "mundo saudável". Situando o Aedes aegypti no Brasil Luísa Reis-Castro Tradução: João Bardy *** Nota do tradutor: Os processos descritos por Luísa Reis-Castro continuam profundamente atuais. O agravamento da crise climática, assim como a pandemia de Covid-19, posteriores a escrita do texto, chamam atenção para a urgência do tema, assim como ressalta as propostas de enfrentamento a estas crises devem ser refletidas não só de maneira técnica, mas também de maneira política. Um dos maiores méritos do texto é a forma como ele convida a imaginar-se vivendo com os mosquitos e não contra eles. O Conselho Nacional de Saúde (CNS) publicou nota em fevereiro deste ano alertando que em 2024 teríamos a pior epidemia de dengue já registrada no país. Em Março, a Fio-Cruz afirmou que “A dengue está de volta”. Refletir sobre as lutas passadas travadas contra o A. Aegypti ressalta como a linguagem e, consequentemente, a percepção sobre estas epidemias ainda permanece a mesma. As piores epidemias de nosso tempo ainda devem acontecer dadas as tendências e elas continuam a ser descritas como um
May 23, 2024 at 6:37 PM
anthrobite.bsky.social
USC-AAUP Statement in Response to USC's Militarized Response to Student Protest
IN RESPONSE TO USC’S MILITARIZED RESPONSE TO STUDENT PROTEST, April 24, 2024 USC-AAUP condemns President Carol Folt and our administrative leaders’ decision to invite LAPD officers in riot gear and armed with batons, rubber bullet launchers, tear gas and guns (per the Daily Trojan) to our campus today in response to peaceful protest by our students. Instead of allowing our students to go ahead with their planned events, which today included Yoga and Meditation, Kite-Making, a Kaddish reading with Jewish Voices for Peace, and a Sunset Vigil, all staged in Alumni Park as a "Gaza Solidarity" action, USC administrators chose to turn our campus into a militarized zone. DPS initiated confrontations with student protesters from early this morning at Alumni Park. After 5pm the LAPD issued a mass dispersal order; police in riot gear entered the campus; and dozens were arrested. We are deeply concerned for all of our students’ well-being and safety. USC students (of many faiths, including many Jews) are challenging the mass slaughter of over 30,000 civilians in Gaza as well as Islamophobia on our campus. Our Muslim students also feel silenced and abandoned. There can be no business as usual when our campus is occupied by city police who are preventing our students from engaging in a peaceful demonstration of their first amendment rights. The USC administration's choice to quell student protest, on the eve of their graduation, after silencing their commencement speaker is obscene. By bringing militarized and armed forces onto our campus, and refusing to call them off even with ample evidence of police abuse and endangerment of students, USC administrators have made our entire campus community unsafe. We condemn their choice to suppress and endanger our students in the strongest possible terms.
April 26, 2024 at 12:31 AM
anthrobite.bsky.social
The OA essay I co-wrote with @lisaonaga.bsky.social on “Ambivalent Insects” is out in the world @isisjournal.bsky.social!

I’m honored to be part of this focus section on “Magnifying Insect Histories,” with such a stellar group of scholars.

Here: www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/full/10....
“Ambivalent Insects” as Tools and Targets Lisa Onaga and Luísa Reis-Castro Abstract The binary categories of harm and benefit have often shaped how historians frame discussions of insects. Scientists also leverage the binary framing of insects as tools and targets to carry out their work, especially in the development of biological technologies for pest control. This essay emphasizes how binaries function in scientific practice. Two case studies spanning from the twentieth century to the recent past illustrate the shift away from chemicals in pest management and, in doing so, show the instability of binary categories over the longue durée. Noticing “ambivalent insects” affords a way to widen narrative options and identify new opportunities for investigating insect histories. Cover of the ISIS journal, Volume 115, Number 1, March 2024. Drawing of an insect on a tree Also found here: https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/toc/isis/current
March 2, 2024 at 4:56 PM
anthrobite.bsky.social
Very excited for this to come out soon!
"Ambivalent Insects” with @lisaonaga.bsky.social

It will be part of a @isisjournal.bsky.social focus section on "Magnifying Insect Histories," edited by the wonderful @dominikhhh.bsky.social & @lisaonaga.bsky.social! 🐛🦟🪲🐜
“Ambivalent Insects” as Tools and Targets Lisa Onaga, Max Planck Institute for the History of Science Luísa Reis-Castro, University of Southern California Abstract: The binary categories of harm and benefit have often shaped how historians frame discussions of insects. Scientists also leverage the binary framing of insects as tools and targets to carry out their work, especially in the development of biological technolo- gies for pest control. This essay emphasizes how binaries function in scientific practice. Two case studies spanning from the twentieth century to the recent past illustrate the shift away from chemicals in pest management and, in doing so, show the instability of binary categories over the longue durée. Noticing “ambivalent insects” affords a way to widen nar- rative options and identify new opportunities for investigating insect histories.
February 25, 2024 at 6:04 PM
anthrobite.bsky.social
¡Súper contenta de que mi artículo "Becoming Without" haya sido publicado en castellano!

A partir de las relaciones humanos y mosquitos (transgénicos), examino la idea de "devenir sin": de experimentar relacionalmente la (potencial) ausencia y distancia como valiosa.
revistes.ub.edu/index.php/45...
DEVENIR-SIN: MOSQUITOS TRANSGÉNICOS, CONTROL DE ENFERMEDADES Y EL VALOR DEL NO-ENCUENTRO EN LAS RELACIONES MULTIESPECIES Luísa Reis-CastroUniversity of Southern California, USA https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2564-629X ISSN 2013-3294183Resumen || El zancudo Aedes aegypti, conocido como el vector de los virus del zika, dengue, chikungunya y fiebre amarilla, ha sido históricamente el objetivo de campañas de salud pública en las que se le concibe como un enemigo a eliminar. Sin embargo, han surgido nuevas estrategias, como el enfoque transgénico, que implicase modificar biológicamente el A. aegypti para utilizarlo en el control de su propia población. En este enfoque, la cría y el apareamiento de zancudos se convierten en un insecticida. Con ello, el insecto pasa a ser simultáneamente amigo y enemigo, recibe cuidados y es eliminado y debe establecer encuentros y no encuentros. Con base en un trabajo de campo etnográfico realizado en una «biofábrica» en el noreste de Brasil dedicada a la producción masiva de estos mosquitos transgénicos, Reis-Castro explora las nuevas dinámicas de trabajo y de generación de valor que surgen de e
February 8, 2024 at 2:19 PM