About and Research
Kyle Piispanen, PhD
Environmental Anthropologist and Agroecologist
I am an environmental anthropologist, agroecologist, and educator based in San Andrés Cholula, Puebla. My ethnographic research examines the social, political, and multispecies relationships that shape agroecology and food systems in Mexico and Latin America. I am particularly interested in milpa agroecosystems, foraged foods, and the ways people cultivate relationships with plants, fungi, insects, soils, and changing landscapes.
In progress
Dictionary of Milpa Agroecosystems
Edited reference project in developmentAn edited reference project documenting the ecological, cultural, agricultural, and linguistic diversity of milpa agroecosystems. The dictionary is designed to support collaboration among researchers, practitioners, and community knowledge holders and will include a public digital edition.
Foodscapes, Agrobiodiversity, and Cultural Identity in the Chiloé Archipelago
Unpublished manuscriptParticipatory research with small-scale farmers examining how agricultural practices, local foodscapes, and agrobiodiversity contribute to ecological memory, livelihood, and cultural identity in Chile's Chiloé Archipelago.
Alliances for Milpa Agriculture: Maize–Human–Insect
Manuscript in progressA multispecies ethnography of the relationships among maize, people, and insects in milpa cultivation. The chapter is being prepared for the edited volume Great Human Master Plans and Their Non-Human Challengers.
De comida marginalizada a superalimento
Manuscript in progressA study of the gourmandization of chapulines in Oaxaca and Mexico City, considered alongside their foraging in the Puebla–Tlaxcala Valley.