Clare Beer

My research and teaching draw from the fields of economic geography and political ecology, and broadly concern the governance and justice dimensions of environmental sustainability. In previous work I examined the changing nature of conservation and development policy in Chilean Patagonia, including environmental philanthropy’s efforts to reimagine the country’s position within a global economic system undergoing rapid green transition. I am currently working on three new projects. The first investigates the role of Chile’s public finance apparatus, specifically state subsidies for extractive industry, in shaping geographies of biodiversity loss, as well as geographies of state-led biodiversity protection. A second project investigates the Wallis Annenberg Wildlife Crossing in greater Los Angeles: novel rewilding infrastructure addressing conflict and risk in the wildland-urban interface. Though not slated to open until 2026, it is already being framed as an important test case in (re)engineering ecological resilience. Lastly, I am collaborating with Dr. Sara Salazar Hughes (CSU–Monterey Bay) to study the relationship between settler colonialism and sustainability capitalism in California.