Bio

Dr. Meg Perret is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Global Languages and Cultures and an affiliate with the Women’s and Gender Studies Program. She completed her Ph.D. in History of Science with a secondary emphasis in Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies from Harvard University. Her research examines how narratives about nature shape our collective futures.

As an interdisciplinary scholar, she often publishes with scientists interested in the social and political dimensions of scientific research. She is also passionate about feminist climate justice activism and collaborates with environmental groups to amplify the voices of women, people of color, and LGBTQ people on the frontlines of climate change. At Texas A&M, her research is supported by the Accountability, Climate, Equity, and Scholarship Faculty Fellowship for her contributions to diversity and equity.

Research Agenda

Dr. Perret’s research examines how scientific narratives about nature are interwoven with stories about human identities, communities, and futures. In particular, she researches how cultural ideas of race, gender, and sexuality influence how scientists frame their research on environmental issues, and, conversely, how scientific rhetoric shapes broader cultural discussions about the future of humanity and nature in environmental activism and popular culture. By analyzing scientific language, her research explores the authoritative yet unanalyzed narratives that inform how scientists conceptualize environmental change, how policymakers respond to environmental crises, and how the public understands environmental issues in relation to social inequalities.

Education

Harvard University (Ph.D. History of Science):

• Secondary Field: Women, Gender & Sexuality Studies

UC-Berkeley (B.A. Triple major):

• Integrative Biology: Ecology, Evolution & Organismal Biology
• Gender & Women’s Studies
• Interdisciplinary Studies: Science, Technology & Society

Current Research Projects

Gendering Extinction in Biodiversity Science and U.S. Popular Culture

This book examines how gendered rhetoric mediates the relationship between biodiversity science and representations of endangered species in popular culture. The book analyzes gendered rhetoric in key debates in conservation biology, including endocrine-disrupting chemicals, climate change, captive breeding programs, and invasive species. This research finds that cultural ideas of gender and sexuality influence how scientists narrate their research on species extinctions and, conversely, that scientific rhetoric shapes discussions in popular culture about the future of biodiversity and humanity. For example, scientists and the media characterized endangered frogs exposed to pollution as “gay” or “transgender” which the alt right interpreted as evidence of crisis of white masculinity. The book argues that representations of endangered species are entangled with cultural discourses of an imperiled future for heterosexuality and masculinity. This research shows how cultural constructions of gender and sexuality influence how we imagine possible futures for humanity and nature in the midst of the biodiversity crisis. A portion of this research is available through Frontiers: A Journal of Women Studies.

Scientist-Activists and Environmental Justice in the U.S.-Mexico Borderlands

While her first book manuscript focuses on the interface between scientific and media representations, her second book project examines the interplay between science and activism. This book explores the history of conservation biologists who have advocated for environmental justice in the U.S.-Mexico borderlands. Using theoretical approaches from Latinx environmentalisms and queer and trans migration studies, she analyzes the relationship between scientists’ political vision for the future of the borderlands and the viewpoints of queer, feminist, and antiracist activists who advocate for migrant justice in the borderlands. For example, one chapter will consider how the controversy over the expansion of the U.S.-Mexico border wall under the Trump administration brought together environmentalists campaigning for environmental protections and migrant justice advocates. Scientists and activists variously used endangered monarch butterflies as symbols of environmental justice, feminist political consciousness, and queer migrant justice.

This book project deepens our understanding of the role of scientist-activists in creating political change through involvement with social movements, and finds that some, but all, of these activists and scientists frame the biodiversity crisis in ways that contrast narratives found in popular culture. New narratives about the future of nature and humanity enable us to imagine alternative environmental futures.

Recent Publications

52. Perret. “‘Transgender Frogs Turn Your Son Gay’: Estrogenic Pollution, Endangered Frogs & Environmental Justice.” Frontiers: A Journal of Women’s Studies 44, no. 1 (2023): 27-52. http://www.doi.org/10.1353/fro.2023.0002.

Research Interests

• Environmental Humanities
• Feminist Science Studies
• Gender & Sexuality Studies
• Science & Technology Studies
• Critical Animal Studies
• Latinx Environmentalisms
• Queer Ecologies
• Environmental Justice