Profile
Dana Burton is Assistant Professor of Anthropology and Design at The New School for Social Research.
She is an anthropologist who sits at the intersection of the anthropology of outer space, feminist science and technology studies, and multispecies studies. Diving into the world of astrobiology, Dana followed scientists from the Atacama Desert, Chile to NASA centers around the US, to (models of) planetary bodies across the solar system to explore the efforts to comprehend and materialize life beyond Earth. Burton teaches classes on anthropology and design, sensory-based methods, and the critical and creative potential of the planetary. She is also engaged in artistic practices and draws on her background in dance, painting, mixed-media, and poetry across her research and teaching endeavors.
Degrees Held
2023 PhD in Anthropology, George Washington University
Recent Publications
2024 Essay. “The Blue Planet Event.” Co-author: Valerie Olson. In Future Histories. Berggruen Institute. https://futurehistories.berggruen.org
2023 Chapter. “Astrobiology and the Immanence of Life amidst Uncertainty.” In Handbook for Social Studies of Outer Space. Eds., Juan Francisco Salazar Sutil and Alice Gorman. Routledge/CRCPress.
2022 Chapter. “Chapter 10: Planetary Protection and Astrobiology: History, Science, and Considerations for the Future.” In Astrobiology Primer 3.0. Vol eds. M. Schaible and N. Szeinbaum. Co-Authors: Tristan Caro, Jordan McKaig, Frank Tavares, Monica Vidaurri.
2021. Article. Burton, Dana, Sarah E. Raskin, Leyla Safta-Zecheria, and Paul Stubbs. “Anti-Racism for an Anthropology of Policy Otherwise.” Anthropology News website, November 16, 2021.
2021 Essay. “Is there life in outer space?: The Antaeus Report and sample return in the 1970s.” AHA Perspectives Daily. February 18.
2020 White Paper. “Ethical Exploration and the Role of Planetary Protection in Disrupting Colonial Practices.” arVix website, October 15. Tavares, Frank et al. arXiv:2010.08344
2019 Essay. “Encounters with Lunar Dust.” Anthropology News website, July 12, 2019.
2017 Book Review. Bell, J. and E. Hasinoff, ed. The Anthropology of Expeditions: Travel, Visualities, Afterlives. New York: Bard Graduate Center, 2015. Anthropology Quarterly, Vol 90 (4).
2017 Essay. “Asking for the Interview.” Fieldworking website, March 18, 2017.
2016 Essay. “The Written World: Using Fantasy Literature to Understand Culture.” The Geek Anthropologist website.
Performances and Appearances
2024 “Rethinking Extremes with Microbes in the Atacama Desert, Chile” | Big Question Faculty Talks | New York University
2024 “On the Edges of Evidence” | Astrobiology Series |Colorado Boulder Geobiology Department
2023 “Roadmaps: Futures, Futurities, and Seedings” | Talk | American Philosophical Society
2023 “Crafting the Science Goal” | Anthropology Colloquium Series | University of Pennsylvania
2022 “What’s in a Mission?” | Ames Research Center | NASA
2021 “Materializing an Interplanetary Biology” | Brown-bag Seminar | Applied Physics Laboratory-Johns Hopkins University
2021 “Research Reflections” | Residency Q&A | LandArt Agency
2021 “Thinking Anthropologically about Astrobiology” | Planetary Seminars | Georgia Tech
2021 “Thinking Anthropologically about Astrobiology” | Early Career Council Meeting | Network for Life Detection, NASA
2020 “Andromeda Strain Inspired Conversations” | Interplanetary Festival | Santa Fe Institute
2020 “Planetary Encounters” | Brown-bag Seminar | NASA Headquarters
2019 “Reflections on Ethics of Space Exploration” | Whole Earth Dialogue Conference | Breakthrough Institute
2018 “Mars on Earth” | Becoming Interplanetary Event | Library of Congress
2018 “Human Bodies in Space” | Decolonizing Mars Unconference | Library of Congress
Research Interests
outer space, multispecies, infrastructure, planetary/planetarity
Awards And Honors
2023-2024 Chrysalis: Care through Collaboration | Global Initiative Grant | Wenner-Gren Foundation
2022-2023 Excellence through Diversity Fellowship | University of Pennsylvania
2022 Summer Short-term Resident Research Fellow | American Philosophical Society
2020 Edward A. Bouchet Graduate Honor Society Member | George Washington University Chapter
2020 Doctoral Dissertation Fieldwork Grant | Wenner-Gren Foundation
2020 Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Grant | National Science Foundation
2019-2020 Society for the History of Technology-NASA Fellowship | NASA Historical Division
2015, 2018 Lewis R. Cotlow Grant | George Washington University