FPGA: Collections & Mindmap
The Formosa archive is organized around PECE essays for specific Formosa plants (e.g. Formosa Point Comfort) and counties (e.g. Calhoun County).
The Formosa archive is organized around PECE essays for specific Formosa plants (e.g. Formosa Point Comfort) and counties (e.g. Calhoun County).
For my PhD research, I am interested in understanding what kind of data capacities and data infrastructures are needed to support "the long game" of transnational environmental activism against petrochemical expansion in the US and East Asia.
My early ethnographic researched focused on the design of digital infrastructure in refugee shelters in Germany. I have also collaborated with researchers in informatics to develop so-called cultural probes for participatory technology design with elderly citizens. In 2019 I co-organized ethnographic field campuses in St.
I have experience designing WordPress and Jekyll websites. Through PECE, I have learned how to work with Drupal-based content management systems.I also have a background in digital video and audio production. Most recently, I worked on a short video about soil lead contamination in Santa Ana, California. Since 2021, I am co-assitant producer for the documentary film Red Sea: Vietnam's Modern Disaster.
I first became interested in data sharing through fieldwork with open data and free software movements in Europe. In Germany, groups like the Chaos Computer Club and Open Knowledge Foundation play important roles to debates about civic technology and increasingly work in consulting roles for political parties.
From the begining, the Formosa archive has been designed to support the transnational network of activists and researchers involved (see quote below).Activists like Diane Wilson have been in touch with and traveling to Taiwan on multiple occasions (see 2010 Black Planet Award ceremony). The project began through a conversation about Wilson's data collection.
Over time, members of the Design Group have collaborated with different partners and groups, thereby advancing understanding of who the audience for the archive is. Stakeholders include:
Material from the Formosa Archive has been included and narrated in different kinds of "toxic tours". For example, the digital exhibit Sugar Plantation, Chemical Plants, COVID-19 features stops at the Whitney Plantation, located on land that used to be owned by Formosa Plastics (with plans to build a rayon plant). In 2021, the No Formosa USA coalition organized a virtual toxic tour webinar with around 200 participants.
The archive is designed to supplement already existing connections between Formosa communities.
The archvie is hosted on the Disaster STS Network: https://disaster-sts-network.org