Affiliation: University of California, Los Angeles
Dr. Justin Dunnavant is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Anthropology at UCLA. His current research in the US Virgin Islands investigates the relationship between ecology and enslavement in the former Danish West Indies. In addition to his archaeological research, Justin is co-founder of the Society of Black Archaeologists and an AAUS Scientific SCUBA Diver. In 2021, he was named a National Geographic Emerging Explorer and inducted into The Explorers Club as one of “Fifty People Changing the World that You Need to Know About.” In 2022, he was awarded the Stafford Ellison Wright Black Alumni Scholar-in-Residence at Occidental College. His research has been featured on Netflix’s “Explained,” Hulu’s “Your Attention Please” and in print in American Archaeology, Science Magazine, and National Geographic Magazine.
The development of plantation slavery radically transformed societies and environments in the Americas. In this talk, Dunnavant will delve into the colonial practice of coral mining and its environmental impacts in the Danish West Indies. Drawing from archaeological, historical, and environmental data, Dunnavant reveals how the use of coral as the dominant construction material for colonial buildings left a lasting legacy on the landscape and seascape that is still evident today on the island of St. Croix.
