Tarsh Bates

Tarsh Bates (she/they) is a postdoctoral research fellow at Umeå Institute of Design and the Department of Molecular Biology at Umeå University. Their work bridges Biological Art, molecular biology, and decolonial research, focusing on microbial odorants as interspecies communication in ecologies affected by climate change and colonialism.

• Education: MSc & PhD in Biological Art from SymbioticA, The University of Western Australia

Research centers on olfactory landscapes in three projects:

• Scents of Solastalgia (SoS): Olfactory relations in environmental change, supported by Perth Institute of Contemporary Art and Western Australia's Department of Local Government
• Scents of Consumption (SoC): Lichen-reindeer olfactory dynamics under climate change in Sápmi, funded by the Centre for Volatile Interactions at the University of Copenhagen
• Scents of Asilomar (SoA): Biotechnological olfactory practices, supported by The Edinburgh Hub for Responsible Innovation's Future Organisms project

Grants and collaborations span multispecies climate impacts, gaseous metabolisms, and speculative futures. Their work emphasizes decolonial methodologies and sensory research in microbial ecosystems.