Wendy Luna Garcia

I am a MA student at the School of Geography, Development and Environment working with Dr. Lise Nelson. My master’s research focuses on the social, economic, and environmental impacts of the unconventional oil and gas sector (UOG) in the U.S. West, engaging and contributing to scholarship on energy and resource geographies, Latina/o Studies, and environmental justice. I am interested in the recruitment of Latina/o immigrant and non-immigrant workers into these production systems, and the ways gender, race and legal status shape labor regimes and social reproduction for Latino families. Beyond my thesis research, I am involved in a collaborative project, mapping Latina/o labor and population growth in the Bakken Shale Formation (North Dakota and Montana) for scholars to consider more closely how race, ethnicity and legal status shape social arrangements produced by UOG extraction. Such understandings are critical to designing effective policy responses to the social and environmental impacts of UOG production.