Evie Garces-Foley ‘25

Evie Garces-Foley is working under Professor Susan Blum, a professor of cultural and linguistic anthropology with a focus on learning and education. Garces-Foley will be working in Professor Blum's School Story lab which uses storytelling to learn about students' educational experiences around the world. This semester, the lab will explore the factors that influence how college students choose their majors. Prior to working with Professor Blum, Garces-Foley worked with Professor Dan Miller on the factors and conditions associated with effective external funding for long-enduring biodiversity conservation outcomes. Building on her work with Professor Miller, Garces-Foley conducted an independent research project in the summer of 2024, funded by the Kroc/Kellogg Undergraduate Research Grant. Conducted for her peace studies capstone, her research examined how trust is established and perceived between international conservation organizations and local Indigenous communities in the Alto Mayo region of the Peruvian Amazon. In 2023 Garces-Foley was a recipient of the Summer Language Abroad grant from the CSLC, awarding her the opportunity to study Spanish in Madrid, Spain. In her senior year, Garces-Foley will be a student organizer for the Notre Dame Student Peace Conference as a recipient of the 2024-2025 Kroc Institute Student Conference Leaders Fellowship.

Thesis Title: Conservation Relationships: Evaluating Formations and Perceptions of Trust Between Native Communities and External Conservation Organizations in the Awajún Indigenous Communities of Alto Mayo, Peru