Subhankar Banerjee, an award-winning photographer, author, and conservationist has been named Trent’s 45th Ashley Fellow.

A passionate and renowned visual artist and environmental storyteller, Banerjee is the founding director of the Center for Environmental Arts & Humanities and a professor of Art & Ecology at the University of New Mexico.

Since 2002, Banerjee has been working with Indigenous elders, scientists, and conservationists in Alaska. He has released several acclaimed publications – including Seasons of Life and Land and Arctic Voices – and is currently working on four new books, including a collaborative work with Trent History professor, Finis Dunaway.

“Drawing from his lived experiences and a distinctive perspective that blends art with humanity, Subhankar perfectly embodies the ideals of the Ashley Fellowship, those of LEC, and the spirit of interdisciplinarity foundational to Trent,” said Dr. Christine Freeman-Roth, principal of Lady Eaton College. “We have no doubt that his photographs and reflections around biodiversity, Indigenous rights, global conservation, and other pressing issues of the time will resonate with students, staff, faculty, and community members.”

During his residency on campus from September 26 to October 10, Banerjee will visit classrooms, exchange knowledge with faculty, attend a college dinner, and host a public keynote address where he’ll discuss how art and visual culture can reframe our understanding of the biodiversity crisis, and help shape a more inclusive and just framework for conservation that honours the rights and needs of Indigenous and other rural peoples. Further details and registration information will be available online soon.

“Over the past nearly half a century, the Ashley Fellowship brought many Indigenous and other civil society leaders, artists, and scholars from so many different academic disciplines to Trent University, and I’m deeply honoured and humbled to have my name added to such a distinguished list,” said Banerjee. “I’m looking forward to connecting with students and faculty to discuss why visual culture and environmental humanities are essential in apprehending our precarious time – a time in which we are a witness to the intensifying biodiversity and climate crises.”