This webinar series is intended for students and professionals seeking to design projects and research from the perspective of Nonhuman Nature which recognizes Nonhuman sentience, ontologies, and epistemes—consciousness and ways of being and knowing. We discuss the importance of avoiding colonial phagocytosis, that is, the appropriation of indigenous understanding and views into intellectually comestible “packets of knowledge.” Participants will learn how to develop a research proposal which meets standard criteria for academic study, grant submission, and publication. At the end of this course, the participating learner should able to:

1) Critically examine dominant, Western research paradigms to uncover biases generated by the misconception that Nonhumans are not sentient;

2) Develop new ways of understanding Nonhuman Nature and our relationships to them in ways that are participatory and collaborative, rather than excluding and objectifying;

3) Decolonize your own research, language, communication, and writing practices to accurately reflect Nature perspectives, sentience and ontological and epistemic authority;

4) Craft a research proposal that decenters white, Western, and objectivist ways of seeing the world and centers the Nonhuman Nature perspective;

5) Relate your research to indigenous, non-Western human perspectives;

5) Increase competence in critical reflection and presentation skills and communication, including self-awareness and ethical inquiry;

6) Improve relevance for policy and practice which supports these communities.