Research Interests:

Indigenous languages and peoples
Language revitalization
Language documentation and description
Heritage collections and community accessibility

Research Approaches:

Ethnography of speaking
Interdisciplinary
Decolonial
Collaborative and community-based methods

My scholarship is deeply rooted in more than a decade of collaboration with Indigenous communities.
I have developed a long-term research program grounded in an ethnographic approach to language in use.
This work has been shaped especially by my collaboration with the Iskonawa Indigenous people, whose linguistic and cultural journey toward revitalization forms the core of my research.

Fieldwork

My fieldwork is based in the Ucayali region of the Peruvian Amazon, including Indigenous riverine communities along the Callería River Basin and the city of Pucallpa. Using an ethnographic approach to language in use, I study the Iskonawa language and its speakers, as well as its interactions with the Shipibo-Konibo language.

With over a decade of collaboration with Indigenous communities, my research reflects a sustained commitment to community-based scholarship and to supporting Indigenous-led linguistic and cultural initiatives.

Archival Research

My archival research builds on questions that emerged from my long-term collaboration with the Iskonawa. In order to trace their dispersed heritage, I have conducted research in more than ten museums and archives across South America, North America, and Europe, identifying fragmented collections of texts, recordings, and material culture. I examine how archival documents and objects become meaningful resources in Iskonawa language revitalization and how this process reshapes relationships between communities and the institutions that hold their heritage collections.

Collaborative and Community-based Methodologies

My research is grounded in collaborative and community-based approaches, with projects emerging from shared interests with the communities I work with.

I actively involve community members as part of the research team, co-developing ideas, collecting data together, and co-presenting results.

I have trained Indigenous community members in language documentation, including the use of equipment and software, and actively involved them in all stages of the process, from data processing to final archiving.

Mentoring Indigenous youth has been an enriching experience, and it is deeply fulfilling to see them find in these projects opportunities to pursue their own goals and aspirations.

From the field

First visit to the Callería River (2013)

Visiting the Upper Callería River with Elías (2022)

Training Florinda in the use of a video camera (2023)

Working together with the Iskonawa Artisan Collective (2018)

With Iskonawa elder Nelita in the Callería Native Community (2016)

Visiting Shipibo elders Elena and Marta in the Callería Native Community (2019)

Paiting Iskonawa designs with Neyra (2025)