{"id":12,"date":"2020-07-16T03:13:15","date_gmt":"2020-07-16T03:13:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/box2328.temp.domains\/~mattliba\/?page_id=12"},"modified":"2025-07-30T14:22:54","modified_gmt":"2025-07-30T14:22:54","slug":"about-2","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/mattlibassi.com\/","title":{"rendered":""},"content":{"rendered":"
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I am a researcher and educator interested in the relationships between people, nature, and power. I serve as an Assistant Professor in the School of Politics and Global Studies at Arizona State University (ASU)<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

My work focuses on natural resource use, conflict, and governance, as well as more broadly on the intersection of environmental change and social inequality. My current research examines the multi-scalar politics of resource extraction in Indonesia. I am particularly interested in small-scale gold mining, energy transition minerals, and the relationships between mining and local communities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I ground my research in political ecology, an interdisciplinary field that combines historical, political-economic, and cultural analysis with appreciation for the agency of nature. I draw on training in environmental social science that spans human geography, anthropology, critical development studies, Southeast Asian studies, and environmental justice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

My teaching covers topics in environment, development, and international politics. I have recently taught courses such as \u201cGlobal Environmental Politics,\u201d \u201cUneven Environments: Nature, Power, and Inequality,\u201d and \u201cPrinciples of Global Studies.\u201d I ground my teaching in a pedagogy that emphasizes collaborative, student-to-student learning and case-based exploration of topics. I draw on experience teaching at ASU, Rutgers, UC Berkeley, and two universities in Indonesia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Before arriving at ASU, I served as an American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Science and Technology Policy Fellow with USAID\u2019s Land and Resource Governance team. Previously, I completed a postdoc at Rutgers University\u2019s Center for Cultural Analysis, where I worked on the theme of \u201cthe Commons.\u201d I completed my PhD in Society and Environment at UC Berkeley\u2019s Department of Environmental Science, Policy, and Management.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

My research has been awarded funding by the Fulbright Program, the American Institute for Indonesian Studies (AIFIS), and UC Berkeley\u2019s Institute of International Studies, among others.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I am a researcher and educator interested in the relationships between people, nature, and power. I serve as an Assistant Professor in the School of Politics and Global Studies at Arizona State University (ASU). My work focuses on natural resource use, conflict, and governance, as well as more broadly on the intersection of environmental change … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-12","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"aioseo_notices":[],"yoast_head":"\n- Matthew Libassi<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/mattlibassi.com\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"- Matthew Libassi\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"I am a researcher and educator interested in the relationships between people, nature, and power. 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