Maria Alejandra Perez

Associate Professor of Geography

West Virginia University

maria.perez@mail.wvu.edu

Read profile here.

I am an Associate Professor in the Geography Program at West Virginia University’s Department of Geology and Geography. A cultural anthropologist by training, I investigate the cultural and historical context of scientific practice. In other words, I approach science as a cultural activity.

Speleology (cave science and exploration) serves as a case study with which I examine a range of topics such as:

• identity (Who are we? What brings us together?);
• place and emotion (How do places become meaningful? Why is it that we come to love some places more than others?);
• value (How do we come to value certain places over others, beyond dollars and cents?); and
• politics (Who has access to or owns what, and how far underground?
• Who has the means and power to represent the hidden dimensions of the Earth and to what effect?).

Really, these questions are relevant well beyond caves, karst, and even bunkers, another site of research!