Christopher Shepherd

Dr. Christopher Shepherd is a Postdoctoral Fellow at the School of Culture, History & Language at the Australian National University (ANU). His research spans across Timor-Leste and Peru with a focus on anthropology of development, Indigenous cultures, and environmental politics.

His educational background includes:

• PhD in Sociology of Science from the University of Melbourne (1996-2000), focusing on Indigenous knowledge and rural development in the Andes
• BA (combined Hons)

Dr. Shepherd's research interests center on the anthropology of development, social studies of science and technology, postcolonial studies, and regional studies of Latin America and Asia. His work examines how Indigenous communities navigate development processes, colonial legacies, and environmental challenges. He has conducted extensive fieldwork in Timor-Leste and Peru, exploring topics ranging from Indigenous religion (animism) to human trafficking in Amazonia and mining impacts in the Andes. His approach integrates historical, ethnographic, and political ecology perspectives to understand complex social-environmental systems.

His recent publications demonstrate a continued focus on Timor-Leste's colonial history and Indigenous religious practices, as well as expanding interests in human trafficking networks in the Amazon and Andean agricultural systems. The interdisciplinary nature of his work bridges anthropology, history, and environmental studies, with particular attention to postcolonial contexts and Indigenous knowledge systems.

Dr. Shepherd has received notable recognition for his scholarly contributions:

• ARC postdoctoral fellowship
• Two Wenner-Gren Foundation Postdoctoral Grants

Dr. Shepherd has been actively involved in research funding, securing an ARC-funded postdoctoral research project on rural development in Timor-Leste. He has collaborated with numerous development organizations in Timor-Leste and Peru over two decades. His current work focuses on human trafficking, while he intermittently engages in contract research and consultancy.

His research has resulted in two well-received books: "Development and Environmental Politics in East Timor" (2014) and "Haunted Houses and Ghostly Encounters: Animism and Ethnography in East Timor, 1860–1975" (2019), which has received ten reviews in major anthropology journals.