UNT Special Collections 2024 Research Fellowship Awardee

Meredith Cawley

Project Title

Extraterrestrial Custodians: Reimagining Conservation Through Speculative Fiction

Project Description

This project seeks to leverage the UNT Special Collections’ Jim Marrs archives to construct a speculative fiction narrative around bear conservation. Focused on an alternate reality where extraterrestrial forces intervene to prevent bear extinction, the work aims to meld cultural research with elements of science fiction. The proposed research will involve examining Marrs’ materials on UFOs and conspiracy theories to draw parallels with environmental stewardship and interspecies ethics. Artistic outputs will include a series of multimedia works that invite reconsideration of our ecological challenges and responsibilities.

Biography

Meredith Cawley is a multimedia artist based in Texas. She currently teaches at the University of North Texas. Her 10 years as an outreach educator at the Brazos Valley Museum of Natural History inspire, inform, and drive her practice. Her current line of inquiry focuses on how cultural opinions represent, shape, and affect the bear.