Welcome to the Wang Lab

Doing science differently

Doing science is a political act. The work in our lab begins with a commitment to collective care, accountability, and horizontal leadership. We arrive here through constant self-reflection (to know our positions and privileges) and mutual trust building (to learn how to show up for and rely on each other). We approach with intention all aspects of our work, including how we relate to each other and the animals we study. Devoting our research practices to these values sometimes means swimming against the tides of dominant academic culture and capitalism. We embrace this tension when it arises because we believe that doing science differently is necessary for building safer, more inclusive communities–and safer, more inclusive communities are worth fighting for.

This is just the beginning. Our starting place is informed by the works of Max Liboiron (“do less, do it better”) and the CLEAR Lab, Mariame Kaba, Sara Ahmed, Mia Mingus, Isabelle Stengers, Mary H O’Brien, and many others. Where we go from here is up to you–the future members of the lab and the folks we interact with. If this speaks to you and you would like to take part in this work, please get in touch.

I gratefully acknowledge the Coast Salish peoples on whose ancestral territories members of the lab will live, work, and gather. The Wang Lab is situated on the stolen homelands of the Suquamish, Tulalip, and Muckleshoot tribes. I make this acknowledgement so we, as a lab and as individuals, may better uphold our responsibility in undoing the legacy of colonization and honor the ongoing connections of Native peoples, past and present, to these lands and waters.