About

Kristina G. Douglass is an award-winning archaeologist and Associate Professor of Climate at Columbia University’s Climate School. Her research explores the dynamic co-evolution of people, land, and seascapes, with a focus on ethical, collaborative partnerships with local, Indigenous, and descendant communities as equal partners in the co-production of knowledge. Her work aims to address global challenges such as climate change, biodiversity conservation, and sustainability by integrating archaeological research with Indigenous knowledge, emphasizing the recording, preservation, and dissemination of LID knowledge to inform public discourse, policymaking, and community adaptation strategies. Douglass has directed the Morombe Archaeological Project in Madagascar since 2011, which combines archaeological research with community knowledge to examine how communities adapt to environmental change over time. She is a Smithsonian Institution Research Associate and a leading voice in climate-centered archaeology. Her academic background includes a PhD in Anthropology from Yale University earned in 2016, and she has held positions at Penn State University before joining Columbia. Recognized for her innovative approaches, she has received numerous accolades, including a 2025 MacArthur Fellowship and a 2021 Carnegie Fellowship. Beyond her scholarly pursuits, Douglass is also a mother, singer, dancer, Capoeirista, SCUBA diver, and gardener, integrating arts and movement into her work to foster community-building and social memory, with a focus on advancing resilience and equity in overburdened communities worldwide.

Research topics

• Geography
• Ecology
• Political Science
• Archaeology
• Environmental science
• Business
• Environmental resource management
• Paleontology
• Psychology
• Environmental planning
• Biology

Selected publications

• Changing the Landscape of Archaeological Publishing

  Current Anthropology · 2026-02-01

  article

  Disseminating research is a key component of scholarly labor, but the costs and benefits of the current structure of academic publishing are underexamined within anthropology. This paper brings together a range of authors from across archaeology and cultural anthropology to summarize current issues in archaeological publishing and offer potential interventions at multiple scales. The paper is divided into five core topics. “Ideology” discusses the relationship between publishing and academic history, gatekeeping, and the ideology of collaboration and coauthorship. “Publishing Dynamics in North America” covers intersections between identity, authorship, and citation practices, as well as gendered patterns in publishing. “Publishing Dynamics in Latin America” presents a case study of academic publishing in Brazil and Peru, highlighting the unique challenges for archaeologists based in the Global South. “Publishing Pathways” interrogates open science and data, standards for peer review and coauthorship, and the impact of different publishing models on individual researchers. Finally, “Media Coverage” investigates bias in popular media covering archaeological research and the monetization of scientific information. We conclude with a list of multiscalar interventions for authors, peer reviewers, editors, journals, departments, institutions, and granting agencies that will improve conditions for authors and readers, emphasizing strategies that lead to collaborative, reciprocal forms of knowledge production.

  PublisherDOI

• Changing the Landscape of Archaeological Publishing Supplemental Materials

  Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research) · 2026-01-14

  articleOpen access

  These are the supplemental materials for Changing the Landscape of Archaeological Publishing, to be published as a Forum on Public Anthropology in Current Anthropology in February 2026. Abstract: Disseminating research is a key component of scholarly labor, but the costs and benefits of the current structure of academic publishing are underexamined within anthropology. This paper brings together a range of authors from across archaeology and cultural anthropology to summarize current issues in archaeological publishing and offer potential interventions at multiple scales. The paper is divided into five core topics.“ Ideology” discusses the relationship between publishing and academic history, gatekeeping, and the ideology of collaboration and coauthorship.“ Publishing Dynamics in North America” covers intersections between identity, authorship, and citation practices, as well as gendered patterns in publishing. “Publishing Dynamics in Latin America” presents a case study of academic publishing in Brazil and Peru, highlighting the unique challenges for archaeologists based in the Global South. “Publishing Pathways” interrogates open science and data, standards for peer review and coauthorship, and the impact of different publishing models on individual researchers. Finally,“Media Coverage” investigates bias in popular media covering archaeological research and the monetization of scientific information. We conclude with a list of multiscalar interventions for authors, peer reviewers, editors, journals, departments, institutions, and granting agencies that will improve conditions for authors and readers, emphasizing strategies that lead to collaborative, reciprocal forms of knowledge production.

  PublisherDOI

• The Archaeology of Madagascar

  Oxford University Press eBooks · 2026-01-27

  book-chapterSenior author

  Abstract This chapter surveys the archaeology of Madagascar, one of the world’s largest islands and one of the last major landmasses to be permanently settled by humans. Despite its proximity to Africa, Madagascar’s archaeological and linguistic records reveal a complex history of settlement by seafaring populations from across the Indian Ocean, especially Southeast Asia and East Africa. The authors trace the development of archaeological research on the island, from colonial-era antiquarianism and post-independence national scholarship to recent international and community-based initiatives. The chapter highlights emerging contributions of Malagasy archaeology to global island and coastal archaeology, particularly in areas such as human impacts on biodiversity, long-term sustainability, climate adaptation, and sociopolitical diversity. The authors spotlight innovative, interdisciplinary work led by Malagasy researchers that combines paleoecological, archaeological, oral historical, and geospatial methods. Structural barriers—including limited access to funding, publication, and training—remain serious challenges for Malagasy scholars, but new collaborative models and decolonial approaches offer promising paths forward. The authors argue that Madagascar’s archaeology is positioned to contribute substantially to international debates on resilience, mobility, inequality, and heritage justice. Realizing this potential will depend on a stronger commitment to inclusive, community-engaged, and ethically grounded scholarship that makes Madagascar’s past meaningful and accessible to local and global audiences alike.

  PublisherDOI

• Changing the Landscape of Archaeological Publishing Supplemental Materials

  Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research) · 2026-01-14

  articleOpen access

  These are the supplemental materials for Changing the Landscape of Archaeological Publishing, to be published as a Forum on Public Anthropology in Current Anthropology in February 2026. Abstract: Disseminating research is a key component of scholarly labor, but the costs and benefits of the current structure of academic publishing are underexamined within anthropology. This paper brings together a range of authors from across archaeology and cultural anthropology to summarize current issues in archaeological publishing and offer potential interventions at multiple scales. The paper is divided into five core topics.“ Ideology” discusses the relationship between publishing and academic history, gatekeeping, and the ideology of collaboration and coauthorship.“ Publishing Dynamics in North America” covers intersections between identity, authorship, and citation practices, as well as gendered patterns in publishing. “Publishing Dynamics in Latin America” presents a case study of academic publishing in Brazil and Peru, highlighting the unique challenges for archaeologists based in the Global South. “Publishing Pathways” interrogates open science and data, standards for peer review and coauthorship, and the impact of different publishing models on individual researchers. Finally,“Media Coverage” investigates bias in popular media covering archaeological research and the monetization of scientific information. We conclude with a list of multiscalar interventions for authors, peer reviewers, editors, journals, departments, institutions, and granting agencies that will improve conditions for authors and readers, emphasizing strategies that lead to collaborative, reciprocal forms of knowledge production.

  PublisherDOI

• Africa-wide diversification of livelihood strategies: Isotopic insights into Holocene human adaptations to climate change

  One Earth · 2025-06-01 · 3 citations

  articleOpen accessSenior author
  PublisherDOI

• Advancing transdisciplinary research on Madagascar's grassy biomes to support resilience in ecosystems and livelihoods

  Ecological Monographs · 2025-05-01 · 2 citations

  articleOpen access

  Abstract Grassy biomes (savanna and grasslands) are globally extensive and host a unique biodiversity that is of central importance to human livelihoods. We focus here on the island of Madagascar—a microcosm of the global tropics, covered in 80% grassy biomes—to illustrate how transdisciplinary approaches to research can clarify ecosystem dynamics, from evolutionary history to human land use. Research on Madagascar's human‐environment interactions has sparked debates about the role of past and current land use in shaping grassy biomes (e.g., pastoralism, cultivation, fire use). These debates echo those in other regions globally, and highlight obstacles to understanding and supporting both ecosystem and livelihood resilience. Like many tropical biodiversity hotspots, Madagascar faces converging challenges that can be aided by transdisciplinary research, including food and health insecurity, economic inequities, biodiversity loss, climate change, land conversion, and limited resource access. We present a framework to guide transdisciplinary research centered on improved understanding and management of grassy biomes on Madagascar by: (1) establishing a globally common terminology; (2) summarizing data contributions and scientific knowledge gaps relating to Madagascar's grassy biomes; (3) identifying priority research questions for Madagascar with applicability in other regions; and (4) highlighting transdisciplinary, inclusive approaches to research that can co‐benefit people and the ecosystems with which they interact.

  PublisherDOI

• Africans survived 10,000 years of climate changes by adapting food systems – study offers lessons for modern times

  2025-07-15

  preprintSenior author
  PublisherDOI

• Traditional land use is integral to ecological function in SW Madagascar

  Scientific Reports · 2025-08-25

  articleOpen accessSenior author

  Historic land-use practices are important for understanding present-day patterns of ecological productivity and resilience. A longstanding challenge, however, has been how to discern different land-use activities across landscapes from archaeological and historic data. Here, we show how multispectral satellite imagery and machine learning can identify different subsistence strategies of past human land-use. Looking at coastal, southwest Madagascar, a location often cited as an example of how human land-use has degraded the island's ecosystems, we show that centuries of traditional land-use practices are positively correlated with ecosystem function. Therefore, future actions to address contemporary ecological degradation on Madagascar, and elsewhere, should consider historic land-use practices and their long-term effects on ecosystem function. Such relationships are fundamental for protecting environmental systems.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Escribir en comunidad: Construcción de relaciones y responsabilidad en la producción de conocimiento

  American Anthropologist · 2025-05-08

  articleOpen access

  ABSTRACT As anthropology reckons with its past, present, and future, anthropologists increasingly seek to challenge inequities within the discipline and academia more broadly. Anthropology, regardless of subdiscipline, is a social endeavor. Yet research often remains an isolating (though not necessarily solitary) process, even within research teams and in coauthorship contexts. Here, we focus on peer‐reviewed publication as the principal manifestation of knowledge production and propose a method for challenging division, hierarchy, power differentials, and adherence to tradition: writing in community . Writing in community is a collaborative form of writing that centers care, abundance, joy, and personal satisfaction over the individuality currently rewarded by the academy. This process engenders consensus, circumvents normative hierarchical research and writing, and promotes relationship building. Here, we experiment by inviting reviewers and editors into our community to collectively contribute to the writing process and reflect on that experience together. Ultimately, we challenge norms for scholarship, (co)authorship, and ways of knowing to offer a more equitable praxis of knowledge production. We propose that writing in community can help anthropologists enact values of multivocality and research transparency.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Writing in community: Relationship building and accountability in knowledge production

  American Anthropologist · 2025-04-24 · 2 citations

  articleOpen access

  Abstract As anthropology reckons with its past, present, and future, anthropologists increasingly seek to challenge inequities within the discipline and academia more broadly. Anthropology, regardless of subdiscipline, is a social endeavor. Yet research often remains an isolating (though not necessarily solitary) process, even within research teams and in coauthorship contexts. Here, we focus on peer‐reviewed publication as the principal manifestation of knowledge production and propose a method for challenging division, hierarchy, power differentials, and adherence to tradition: writing in community . Writing in community is a collaborative form of writing that centers care, abundance, joy, and personal satisfaction over the individuality currently rewarded by the academy. This process engenders consensus, circumvents normative hierarchical research and writing, and promotes relationship building. Here, we experiment by inviting reviewers and editors into our community to collectively contribute to the writing process and reflect on that experience together. Ultimately, we challenge norms for scholarship, (co)authorship, and ways of knowing to offer a more equitable praxis of knowledge production. We propose that writing in community can help anthropologists enact values of multivocality and research transparency.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

Recent grants

• Doctoral Dissertation Research: The Role of Mobility in Human-Environment Interactions

  NSF · $32k · 2021–2023

• Long-term effects of socioeconomic activity on ecological stability

  NSF · $143k · 2022–2024

Frequent coauthors

• Dylan S. Davis

  Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory

  24 shared

• George Manahira

  17 shared

• Sean Hixon

  Oregon State University

  16 shared

• François Lahiniriko

  13 shared

• Teresa J. Feo

  Smithsonian Institution

  12 shared

• Tanambelo Rasolondrainy

  University of Toliara

  11 shared

• Katharine E. T. Thompson

  Pennsylvania State University

  11 shared

• Glenn R. Summerhayes

  University of Otago

  11 shared

Labs

• Olo Be Taloha Lab (@OBTLab)PI

Education

• PhD, Anthropology

  Yale University

• Post-Baccalaureate Program in Classical Studies, Classics

  University of Pennsylvania

  2009

• Bachelor of Arts, Classics

  Dartmouth College

  2007

Awards & honors

• 2021 Carnegie Fellow