Eric H. Thomas is currently a doctoral candidate in the Department of Anthropology at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. He grew up in midcoast Maine and earned his bachelor’s degree in Anthropology from Hamilton College in 2009 before coming to the University of North Carolina in 2014. He received his master’s degree in 2016, writing a thesis based on ethnographic fieldwork conducted among Chilean leñeros (woodcutters and transporters) in the Aysén region.
His current research focuses on political ecology along 21st Century resource frontiers, particularly the impact of new industries on traditional livelihoods, communities, and the environment. His doctoral dissertation examines community responses to the rapid expansion of salmon aquaculture in remote coastal communities in Chilean Patagonia, where he conducted extended dissertation fieldwork from 2017-2018.
