Mark Borthwick

My doctoral project focuses on values and practices surrounding salmon farming. One billion salmon are farmed every year, with ~1.2 trillion aquatic animals being processed into fish feed to support the industry. Salmon farms continue to be flare points for land use issues, animal welfare concerns, and indigineous rights. I intend to explore the interplay between cosmologies, eco-ontologies, and the (trophic, aquacultural, spiritual) relationships between humans and salmon.

My undergraduate research project at the University of Edinburgh was into deep ecologies and endangered species ethics. A subsequent MSc focused on the collision of Christian conservation ontologies and Indigenous food systems in the Yosemite Valley. My supervisors in this project are Professor Graham Harvey and Dr. Nick Bingham. 

Feel free to reach out to me at mark.borthwick@open.ac.uk.