Walker DePuy is a Visiting Fellow in Cornell University’s Southeast Asia Program (SEAP). Trained as an environmental anthropologist, his research examines the politics and sustainability of human-inclusive, mosaic landscapes.

For his research project entitled, “An Integrative Assessment of Indonesia’s Capital Relocation and “Forest City” Aspirations,” he is supported by Universitas Mulawarman (UNMUL) in Samarinda, East Kalimantan. His research period is November 2022 to August 2023.

This research brings together multi-sited ethnography and collaborative science to better understand Indonesia’s ongoing capital relocation and its plans for the new capital to be a “forest city.” In particular, this work will capture the voices and experiences of government, civil society, academic, and community actors to tease apart 1) how the concept of a “forest city” is envisioned and enacted and 2) what the diverse impacts of the relocation will be. This project also advances community-centered research that aims to unpack the biocultural significance of sound in the region’s forests and help develop novel soundscape research tools for collaboratively monitoring human-environment change in East Kalimantan.