Maya Livio

Maya Livio is Assistant Professor of Climate, Environmental Justice, Media and Communication and Associate Director of the Center for Environmental Filmmaking at American University. Her work bridges environmental studies, media theory, and digital technology through an intersectional feminist and justice-oriented lens. Dr. Livio's research examines the contact zones between ecosystems and technological systems, with particular focus on media technologies used for biodiversity conservation.

Dr. Livio's educational background includes a PhD from the University of Colorado-Boulder, an MA from the University of Amsterdam, and a residency at Caltech. Her professional experience extends beyond academia to include curatorial work at the Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art and the Media Archaeology Lab, where she developed expertise in environmental media and digital justice.

Dr. Livio's research interests center on climate and sustainability, environmental equity and justice, and the intersection of media technologies with ecological systems. She examines how tools like camera traps, digital twins, and AI for conservation operate within complex social and ecological contexts, with particular attention to issues of power, access, representation, and Indigenous sovereignty in conservation efforts. Her work challenges conventional approaches to environmental technology by applying intersectional feminist perspectives that highlight the importance of community knowledge and Indigenous sovereignty in conservation efforts.

Dr. Livio's recent scholarly output demonstrates consistent productivity across multiple venues, with publications spanning academic journals, conference proceedings, and art catalogs. Her work shows a clear trajectory toward examining the ethical dimensions of environmental technologies, with increasing focus on avian conservation, queer ecology, and feminist approaches to data and technology.

• Greenberg Faculty Fellowship (2023-2025)
• Airlie Research & Innovation Award (2023)
• Caltech-Huntington Art + Research Residency (2023)
• Creator Development Fund from New Music USA (2022)
• INSITE Fund from RedLine Contemporary Art Center and Andy Warhol Foundation (2019-2020)

Dr. Livio actively mentors students through research projects and has served as co-PI on grants that support collaborative knowledge production. Her approach to supervision emphasizes interdisciplinary collaboration and justice-oriented research practices. She has been involved in organizing symposia and workshops that create spaces for feminist and critical approaches to media technology and environmental studies.

Currently, Dr. Livio is leading several significant projects including a feature film and paper on AI for avian conservation through queer ecology, a multimodal research project on camera trapping in Los Angeles, and a book on digital conservation. She also serves as curator for 'Data Rich, Dirt Poor,' a museum-wide exhibition at the Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art (2025-2026).