Natalia is an herbalist, wildlife rescue & rehabilitation apprentice, and Ph.D. candidate in the Study of Religion at Harvard University, where she recently completed a Master of Theological Studies degree with a focus on the intersection of ecology and spiritual practice. She researches relational ontologies, posthuman ethics, and diction on personhood in scientific discourse, specifically neuroscience. Her secondary work is in Celtic Studies on trans-species soul migration in mythology and plants addressed in the vocative in Old Irish poetry.
She holds three research and administrative positions at Harvard University. First, she serves as the Associate Director of the Program for the Evolution of Spirituality under Dan McKanan. Second, she leads “Interspecies Dialogues: A Conversation Group Exploring Animism, Posthumanism, and Entangled Roots of Interrelation” which regularly features scholars, writers, scientists, filmmakers, and animacy practitioners. Finally, she co-leads the Thinking with Plants & Fungi Initiative at the Center for the Study of World Religion with Rachael Petersen.
Her work has been featured in New York Magazine, The New Yorker, Time Out New York, Vice, For The Wild, and more. For more information + publications, visit selkieprojects.com.