Research

My current research explores the emerging market for ‘ceremonial-grade’ cacao and the ensuing socio-cultural relations between Latin American cacao producers and new age spiritual consumers around the world.

Contributing Editor for AnthroPod

As part of a collaborative, nonhierarchical collective, I propose and produce original episodes featuring conversations between leading anthropologists and experiments in sonic ethnography. A project of the Society for Cultural Anthropology.

Lead Editor for the Cocina Campesina Cookbook

I am currently translating and adapting a collection of traditional Guatemalan recipes authored by indigenous Guatemalan women and nutritionally optimized by the field staff of Seeds for the Future. Proceeds from the cookbook will support the organization’s efforts to combat chronic malnutrition and micronutrient deficiencies in rural Guatemala.

BeDo

In 2021, I co-founded the emotional learning initiative BeDo, aimed at enhancing the emotional resilience of impact-driven individuals. We designed and delivered original workshops on various aspects of emotional intelligence to researchers, humanitarians, and activists from around the world. You can download the slides from original workshops like Compassionate Interviewing and Trauma Sensitivity on our website, or check out our two-day workshop on Practical Tools for Climate Distress on YouTube.

Publications

n Culver, D. (2024) ‘Forest Bathing as an Embodied Practice for Cultivating Multispecies Kinship in Moments of Polycrisis.’ EASA2024: Doing and Undoing with Anthropology. Barcelona. https://nomadit.co.uk/conference/easa2024/paper/78886
n Culver, D. (2021) [Book Review] ‘Micha Rahder, An Ecology of Knowledges: Fear, Love, and Technoscience in Guatemalan Forest Conservation (Durham, NC, and London: Duke University Press, 2020), pp. 316, $27.95, pb.’, Journal of Latin American Studies, 53(3), pp. 620–623. doi:10.1017/S0022216X21000596.
n Culver, D. (2020) ‘Vivir Mejor - An Integrated Approach to Chronic Malnutrition and Living Better in Rural Guatemala.’ MSc International Development, University of Edinburgh, School of Social and Political Science. https://www.echocommunity.org/en/resources/b3350818-6dd7-4e3b-afd1-e77d36df12fe