Luísa Reis Castro

Luísa Reis-Castro is a Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Southern California’s Society of Fellows in the Humanities, hosted by the Anthropology Department and affiliated with the USC Dornsife Center on Science, Technology and Public Life. She will transition to an Assistant Professor role in the same department starting August 2023. Her research bridges anthropology, science and technology studies, and environmental humanities to examine human-nonhuman relations in health and disease control, particularly focusing on mosquito-borne diseases in Brazil.

• BA in Social Sciences (Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Brazil)
• MSc in Cultures of Arts, Science and Technology (Maastricht University, Netherlands)
• MA in Studies on Society, Science and Technology (Maastricht University, Netherlands)
• PhD in History, Anthropology, and Science, Technology, and Society (MIT, USA)

Reis-Castro’s work investigates the sociopolitical and ecological dimensions of mosquito science, particularly Aedes aegypti, in Brazil. Her research explores how biotechnological interventions to control pathogens like Zika and dengue reflect and reconfigure national ideologies, racialized ecologies, and global health disparities. She employs multi-sited ethnography and interdisciplinary methodologies to critique the entanglement of science, environment, and inequality.

Her publications analyze transgenic mosquito projects, microbial geographies, and epidemic narratives, linking these to broader debates on biotechnology, public health ethics, and environmental justice. Notable awards include the Rappaport Student Paper Award, Jane Goodall Award, and Sérgio Buarque de Holanda Prize. She has been supported by the Wenner-Gren Foundation, National Science Foundation, and Social Science Research Council.

• Rappaport Student Paper Award (AAA)
• Jane Goodall Award (ASA)
• Sérgio Buarque de Holanda Prize (LASA)
• Best Dissertation Honorable Mention (LASA Brazil Section)

Reis-Castro’s research contributes to the LOST Network (Law, Organization, Science, and Technology) and engages with global questions of science’s role in addressing planetary health crises. Her upcoming book, Vectors of Health, synthesizes her fieldwork in Brazil, tracing how mosquito science intersects with racialized politics and environmental transformation.