Public Concerns in Sustainability Research: Observations on a Naturalist Expedition in Papua New Guinea

Abstract

The evolution of the concept of nature from the positivist idea of a given entity towards a political problem has contributed to the transformation of scientific infrastructures. Today’s naturalist enquiries into the loss of biodiversity extend beyond a mere research problem to a public concern. In this paper, I will outline an experimental approach for ethnographic research on this transformation through the prism of a classic, albeit still vibrant field of sustainability research, namely taxonomic expeditions in so-called “postcolonial” venues.