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Naya Jones is a critical geographer and healer, working at the intersection of critical geography and cultural work. With a focus on Black geographies and embodied studies of race and racism, she employs arts-based methods in her teaching and research. Her work addresses the mobilization of ecological knowledge amid gentrification and climate change, emphasizing community power and spatial justice. As an Assistant Professor at the University of California, Santa Cruz, she leads the Black Botany Studio and brings over 14 years of experience guiding meditation and embodied practices within social justice organizations. Currently, she is working on a multimedia project exploring Black botanical knowledge and the Great Migration, while also contributing to the Radical Food Geographies Book Project. Naya finds inspiration in the works of Katherine McKittrick, Toni Morrison, and Audre Lorde among others. Her research interests include critical health and food studies, Black geographies, traditional ecological knowledge, and arts-based research methods.
University of California Santa Cruz • Santa Cruz, CA
Naya Jones focuses on critical health studies and Black geographies.