L.R. (Linde) Draaisma, MA

A Sea of Voices – Climate Change and Ontological Imaginaries in the Great Barrier Reef

Collaboration between Faculty of Theology and Religious Studies at the University of Groningen (The Netherlands) and College of Science and Engineering at James Cook University (Australia)

This PhD project provides an exploration of local interpretations of climate change, in this case around climate disturbance events, such as coral bleaching, in the Great Barrier Reef (GBR). The focus lies on how local Indigenous people make sense of and respond to climate disturbance events affecting the reefs, and how such understandings interact with dominant discourses around these events based on climate science. These understandings and responses are studied in the context of actors’ ontological imaginaries, a concept based on Taylor's concept of social imaginaries (2007). Ontological imaginaries include ideas about nature and humanity in relationship with each other, and possibly also with the divine. By bringing different voices into conversation with each other, I hope to contribute to a more inclusive and nuanced understanding of climate change impacts on the GBR. Additionally, as a collaboration between the College of Science and Engineering at James Cook University and the Faculty of Theology and Religious Science at the University of Groningen, this project aims to demonstrate the significance of combining climate science with more human-centered disciplines, such as anthropology and religious studies, in order to better understand the consequences of climate change.