Elspeth Iralu

Elspeth Iralu is an Assistant Professor of Indigenous Planning at the University of New Mexico's Department of Community & Regional Planning within the School of Architecture + Planning. Her research focuses on Indigenous geographies, critical surveillance studies, and spatial justice, with a particular emphasis on how colonial surveillance technologies impact Indigenous territories globally. She holds a PhD in American Studies from the University of New Mexico and an MPH in Community Health Promotion from the University of Minnesota.

Education:

• PhD in American Studies, University of New Mexico (2022)
• MPH in Community Health Promotion, University of Minnesota
• MAT in Secondary Teaching, Western New Mexico University
• Postdoctoral Mellon Fellowship, Stanford Humanities Center (2022-2023)

Her research bridges academic and community-based work in Northeast India, the U.S. Southwest, and the Upper Midwest. Key projects include examining aerial surveillance's role in colonial territoriality and developing Indigenous mapping practices to support self-determination. She co-leads the NSF-funded 'Enhancing Indigenous Community Resilience to Climate Change' project and edits ACME: An International Journal for Critical Geographies.

Her scholarship appears in Political Geography, Antipode, and American Quarterly, with a forthcoming book on spatial surveillance and Indigenous resistance. Awards include the 2024 UNM Women in STEM Award and the American Studies Association's Wise-Susman Award.

Teaching focuses include Indigenous planning methodologies, community participatory methods, and artivism. Current projects involve the Desirable Futures Collective and Indigenous Atmospheres collaboration with the University of Washington.