M. Aspen Bataille

M. Aspen Bataille comes from the maroon communities around Les Cayes, in the bay of the southern mountains of Ayiti Kisikeya Bohio (popularly called Hispaniola (Haiti and Dominican Republic). Born on the mid-east coast of Northern Virginia, Aspen grew up walking shorelines from the concrete-lined Hudson Bay to the mountains and forested beaches of the Caribbean. Witnessing environmental degradation firsthand, including mangrove pollution and extractive-mass deforestation, sparked Aspen's interest in human-environment relationships through western science.

At George Mason University, Aspen earned a Bachelor of Arts in Anthropology (biocultural interaction focus) and minors in Latin American and Sustainability studies. He chose coursework to acknowledge the interdisciplinary nature of natural resource issues, like declining biodiversity and local food sovereignties, specifically surrounding coastal resource mismanagement and exploitation. Before graduation, he had the privilege of studying with Dr. Chris Morris to learn about political economy, human ecology, and traditional ecological knowledge in the face of modern, inequitable pressures.

Post-graduation, Aspen conducted community-engaged research on pressures facing artisanal fisheries in southern Puerto Rico as an extern with the Nature Conservancy and supported multinational conservation efforts with Oceana. Their work with the Ocean Conservancy emphasizes integrating interdisciplinary perspectives with science and policy for holistic, community-driven conservation.

Aspen aims to enhance ecological and structural resilience in indigenous and local coastal Caribbean communities and firmly believes in valuing traditional ecological knowledge for effective local management after learning first-hand that traditional resilient people often know more than they are often credited for. In his free time, Aspen enjoys staying active (hiking, swimming, surfing, martial arts), storytelling (comics, movies, video games, anime), cooking, and spending time with family.